Upcoming
Actress Shoshannah Stern was profiled in the Winter 2004 issue of World Around You. Below is an interview with her and Cathryn Carroll, World Around You Editor.
An Interview with Shoshannah Stern
 |
Shoshannah
Stern |
Shoshannah Stern, who wanted to be an actress from the dramatic moment of her birth, plays Holly Brodeen on ABC’s Threat Matrix.
Tell us about your current role...what is your character like?
Any word on if her character will be added to the show and if the show
will be on next season?
Stern: I currently play Holly Brodeen on Threat Matrix.
She plays a visual interpreter and image analyst trained by the NSA. Her
specialty is interpreting satellite images and heat signatures. She's
also like a pit bull, she stays at the task she is given until she finishes
it, no matter how challenging the circumstances. I'm not sure what you
mean by "added to the show," but I assume you mean as a regular.
Holly was not written as a main character. She stays in the background,
but hopefully if we can get more writers interested in Holly you will
see more of her. The show has already been picked up for a full season.
Was acting always your dream?
Stern: Yes, I've never wanted to be anything else. My mother says that
even my birth was dramatic! I'd always find excuses to act growing up,
even if it was to make up a long-winded story about being an orphan to
con some poor man out of buying me a candy bar when I was around 7 years
old. I've never wanted to be a fireman or an astronaut like all the other
kids my age; I always wanted to be an actor.
Do you have any deaf actors or actresses who were you mentors?
Have you met Marlee Matlin?
Stern: Absolutely. I have so much respect and admiration for Marlee Matlin.
She is a consummate professional and I loved working with her on The
Division. I hope I get to work with her again. She has a beautiful
sort of energy about her that is almost magnetic. My mentor will always
be C.J. Jones. He directed me in three plays in high school and he was
the one who always believed in me and told me that I would be where I
am today. We touch base as often as we can.
What was your favorite role of all?
Stern: My favorite role of all was definitely my role as Cheryl Cooke
on The Division when I worked with Marlee Matlin. That was the
role of a lifetime. My character, Cheryl, was raped practically on camera.
That particular episode of The Division was called "Testimonial"
because it had true-life accounts from real-life rape survivors and I
was lucky enough never to have experienced what these brave women had,
but I wanted to be true to them and it was very difficult. It was very
hard work and I'm very proud that I was given the opportunity to do this
so early in my career.
How did you prepare for acting? In school? In internships or
work situations?
Stern: I don't really think you can ever really prepare for acting. Anyone
can go to acting classes and rattle off dates of famous playwrights' deaths.
You'll ace the class, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll land a
role. That being said, I also think that my love for literature and translation
and learning itself helped a lot. To be an actor, you have to know things,
feel things. I think the more you know, the more you learn, the better
of an actor you become. My love of the English language definitely paid
off. Acting's all about interpretation, and if you give an interesting
or different approach to a classic piece of work, that's always a good
thing in my opinion.
Do you feel that deaf actresses must work harder than hearing
actresses? Do you feel that it is harder for deaf individuals to be successful
in the acting field than hearing people?
Stern: Yes, and no. I have many friends out here in the acting world who
are not deaf and it's so hard for them to make it because it's so hard
to find their own "niche." Granted, they have a lot more auditions
to go out on than I do, but I have a higher percentage of actually landing
the role than they do. I went to an audition workshop and the teacher
told me I was the "Jennifer Love Hewitt/Tara Reid type" and
I should stick to it. There are thousands of other girls out here who
fit that type far better than I ever could. My niche is deafness, and
that allows me to take on a great variety of roles, and versatility is
what I truly love about my work and what I strive for. So yes, hearing
actors get sent out a lot more than I do, but I actually work a lot more
than most.
How do you handle communication on the job? Is it a problem?
Stern: No, it's not a problem because I refuse to see it as one. Yes,
I speak a different language and yes, it's not always the easiest thing
in the world to do. When I'm working, I always have an interpreter with
me. It is Screen Actors Guild policy that every deaf actor on set has
their own interpreter. So if there were two deaf actors hired for one
series, there has to be two interpreters there. Marlee taught me that
bit of information. In some situations, interpreters can't be called due
to short notice...situations like wardrobe meetings, read-throughs, and
sometimes some auditions. I try to go out on auditions that are not written
for deaf actors as much as I can, and read them as being deaf. I relish
moments like these because I can become an educator and give people the
experience of interacting with a deaf person.
It seems like I see more deaf women actors in the mainstream
than deaf men actors...is this a misperception? If not, why would that
be?
Stern: No, this is definitely true. That's something I've always noticed
and other people have as well. Another interesting thing, think about
all the movies or television shows you've seen with people in wheelchairs.
Think about the gender of the person. Male, right? This is definitely
true. I think it has to do with gender issues in society, to be honest.
For women to have an "obvious handicap" such as being in a wheelchair
takes away from the stereotypical vision of women as being a symbol of
beauty. Men are stereotypically seen as being symbols of strength, so
they're forgiven for not being as aesthetically pretty as women. For them
to have an "obvious handicap" such as being in a wheelchair
is more acceptable than for them to look okay but have to rely on others
for communication. This makes them seem helpless and takes away from their
masculinity. For a woman to outwardly look perfect but have a hidden handicap
only adds to their appeal. This is only my personal theory, but one I
believe is true.
What do you see for your future? More acting roles? Different
acting roles?
Stern: For any actor, the future is always unclear. You're always
looking for your next job even when you just started working. So if you're
asking me if I can see my future, I can't. If you're asking me what I
would like to see, I would definitely love to delve deeper with my character
of Holly on Threat Matrix. It's a blessing to be a working actor,
really. I thank my lucky stars every day for that experience. Yet, I'm
only human and I'll always want for more. I hope to be able to do different
things in the future. I'd love to play Sarah in Children of a Lesser
God on Broadway in New York City or in London's West End. I miss
the stage. I'd love to get another television show where my character's
deafness is more integral to her life, sort of a My So-Called Life
thing. I'd love to be able to get into movies as well and be in a Farrelly
film- I love how they portray untraditional types. Who knows? The world
is my oyster!
Can you tell me a little about your school days?
Stern: I was mainstreamed in elementary school, went to Kendall for a
little less than a year, then enrolled in the California School for the
Deaf, Fremont, from sixth grade up until graduation. When I graduated,
I went straight to Gallaudet. I loved being in a deaf school. It allowed
me to learn without having my special status of deafness always being
thrown into my face. I was able to try out so many different things because
there were so many more opportunities for me. I got to play volleyball
in middle school until I decided I liked cheerleading better, and got
to serve on the Student Body Government until I decided I liked theater
better. It gave me confidence and gave me a chance to truly know myself
in a way I don't think I could have if I was mainstreamed.
Could you talk a little bit about how being from a deaf family
might have affected your life...your perception of being deaf?
Stern: Yes, my mother's parents were deaf. My father's father's
mother was deaf. So that makes me fourth generation deaf on my paternal
side. I think being from a deaf family really asserted my perception of
myself as a person and not just as a deaf person. I didn't really have
to have a perception about being deaf because everyone in my life was
deaf. I remember when I was growing up, up until I was mainstreamed in
kindergarten, I thought there was something wrong with everyone who spoke
because everyone in my world signed. I had full access to communication
at all times and that really allowed me to develop my own opinions about
things. I remember my parents always asked me questions at the dinner
table about what me and my siblings thought about things. They always
encouraged us to think critically and we were able to do that because
communication was so free-flowing.
Do you have any advice for deaf students? Is acting a career
that they should pursue? And how would they pursue it?
Stern: I completely, absolutely think that acting is something that anybody
and everybody should pursue if they want to do it with every fiber of
their being. Acting is a really tough business--no stability, lots of
competition, and you sometimes feel like you're being judged for your
looks when you want to be judged for your talent and vice versa. But if
you feel like you absolutely can't do anything else, then do it! And put
100 percent in it and never stop believing in yourself. Keep working on
whatever you can get your hands on. Go to class, study the classics, and
act in some summer workshops. If you believe it, it will come!
Copyright
© 2004 Gallaudet University
Laurent Clerc National Deaf
Education Center
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Washington, DC 20002
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