MADEFEATURE
MADEXXX
open up a meth lab down the road. When
they get to know me, it shifts for them in
an instant. They realize that whoever told
them, or whatever perception they had
that was negative about other cultures, is
now gone.
Allison Kugel: You've been in show busi-
ness now for about 50 years?
Pam Grier: Fifty years, plus. My career is
older than you!
Allison Kugel: (Laughs) How do you
want your body of work to be studied?
Because it will be studied in years to
come?
Pam Grier: It already is studied, and they
always tell me I'm a master class or thesis,
and I'm going, "Whoa. Oh boy!" I'll tell
you this, when I started doing stunts, that
I'm feeling the pain from now, I didn't
have a sports bra and it was a lot harder
to be very physical and authentic. I don't
want to be remembers as being perfect. I
want to be remembered as being real.
Allison Kugel: You are thought to be
the first African- American female to
headline action films. Where are your
successors? Where is the next Pam Grier?
Pam Grier: They're probably out there
limping, as I did. They got hurt and said,
"Don't wanna do that again!" I was a
gymnast and I skied; I ran track. Anything
to keep from doing the dishes, I loved.
You have to have a little bit of that in your
nature to be that physical. Not everyone
is, or can be. You might be able to act the
part, but If they didn't have that in their
upbringing, they may not be following in
my footsteps. Right now I see some white
actresses like Charlize Theron and Rachel
Weisz, who I never thought would do
martial arts and stunts and action movies,
who really enjoy them. But they did say
they got a couple of "ow-ies," and they
don't know if they will do it again. Not
everybody is rushing into doing that kind
of physical work.
Allison Kugel: Is there any type of role
you wouldn't take on, because it's not in
your wheelhouse?
Pam Grier: I was sexually attacked and
raped at the age of 6, and then again at
18 in college, and then there was a third
attack that I fought off. I couldn't believe
what was happening. I didn't understand
it. But I know that I cannot portray that
in a movie, because I don't want to revisit
those moments and emotions. A lot of
actresses who will be up for the casting
to play me in the film of my life, many of
them may have had those same experienc-
es and won't be able to re-live them, okay?
Not everyone can do that; not everyone
wants to re-visit that. If they can, it will
be fantastic, but I know that I have had
to turn down roles that have those kinds
of attacks, because I couldn't do it. I had
to pass. There were major directors and
producers through the years, where they
didn't know why I was passing, but I just
passed. I knew I might snap. I don't know
if I can go there. Not every actor can play
every role, and there is a reason, and it may
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