Overcoming Adversity

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

Tabs

About

"I remember hearing over and over again… ‘Oh God, you’re going to go into show business, eek if there’s anything else you can do, please go do that.’ But they never said why. … And in many ways it has been way more than fine but, in the last five or six years I kept thinking about why does everybody say that? Why is there this dread about going into show business? And for me, I would say, because it made me care about things that don’t matter. And, that’s a really destructive and heavy load to bear." - Yeardley Smith, Actress

Interviewees discuss difficult moments in their lives and careers.

Highlights

Yeardley Smith on the challenges of show business: "It made me care about things that don't matter"

02:26

Geri Jewell on how she does not see herself as being "courageous" for doing stand-up comedy, but instead attributes it to "the theory of the bumblebee"

01:49

Edie Falco on being diagnosed with breast cancer during the run of The Sopranos

03:31

Nanette Fabray on her difficulty with her hearing, and on her participation in issues involving the deaf community

06:26

Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Gary David Goldberg helping her with a contract dispute with Warner Bros. and the valuable lesson she learned from him

02:09

J. Michael Straczynski on being a big believer in failure

03:43

Who talked about this topic

Kevin Bright

Kevin Bright on Bright/Kauffman/Crane developing shows for Warner Bros., and the challenge of networks wanting Dream On for network (which was impossible)

01:31

Michael Chiklis

Michael Chiklis on playing John Belushi in the film "Wired" and getting blackballed

04:30

Ann Curry

Ann Curry on being hired as a reporter at KTVL in Medford, Oregon, a station that had never before had a female reporter, and on the sexism she faced on the job

04:27

Nanette Fabray

Nanette Fabray on her difficulty with her hearing, and on her participation in issues involving the deaf community

06:26

Edie Falco

Edie Falco on being diagnosed with breast cancer during the run of The Sopranos

03:31

Felicity Huffman

Felicity Huffman on two stories of being fired: one, in a Neil Simon play (by Simon himself) and again on a TV show which was recast after they had shot the pilot

06:02

Geri Jewell

Geri Jewell on how she does not see herself as being "courageous" for doing stand-up comedy, but instead attributes it to "the theory of the bumblebee"

01:49

Geri Jewell on having to perform a dance number on the first The Facts of Life episode on which she appeared ("Cousin Geri")

03:26

Geri Jewell on being made a recurring character on The Facts of Life, then her role being downsized, and her challenges navigating the entertainment industry and her own sexuality and identity

10:40

Geri Jewell on the difficulty she faced while filming a scene with Peter DeLuise on 21 Jump Street

02:33

Geri Jewell on filming a particularly challenging scene on Deadwood where she had to dance

03:40

Kim Kimble

Kim Kimble on being underestimated as a Black woman working as a hair stylist in the entertainment industry, especially early in her career

04:52

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Gary David Goldberg helping her with a contract dispute with Warner Bros. and the valuable lesson she learned from him

02:09

Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow on playing the Bijou Theater in Philadelphia with Andy Kaufman as his opening act

01:59

Rose Marie with Emerson College

Rose Marie on being convinced to stay on The Dick Van Dyke Show after the death of her husband

02:54

David Milch

David Milch on "leading a double life" while writing for Hill Street Blues and his duties as Story Editor

02:39

Pat Morita

Pat Morita on his family being placed in an internment camp during World War II

04:46

Nina Shaw

NIna Shaw on her involvement in The Hollywood Reporter Women In Entertainment Mentorship Program and the importance of mentorship

06:57

Yeardley Smith

Yeardley Smith on the challenges of show business: "It made me care about things that don't matter"

02:26

Yeardley Smith on creating balance in her life, starting her shoe line, and creating her development company

02:56

J. Michael Straczynski

J. Michael Straczynski on being a big believer in failure

03:43

Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace on being hospitalized for exhaustion, and on dealing with depression

03:51

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Malcolm-Jamal Warner on being cast as "Theo Huxtable" on The Cosby Show

05:26

Jeff Zucker

Jeff Zucker on being diagnosed with colon cancer

09:29

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