The Dandelion Chandelier Luminary Café is the place to find a series of personal interviews with fascinating people who are stellar achievers in their chosen field of endeavor. Our Luminaries are sharing their origin stories, life philosophies, secret songs, guilty pleasures and hidden talents. It’s guaranteed to be illuminating.
Anna Deavere Smith is a playwright, actress, professor and journalist. She has delivered riveting theatrical performances in her one-woman plays, including Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; and Notes from the Field. All were shaped from stories she elicited through recorded interviews, which she then personally portrayed on stage. Anna has portrayed Presidential advisers on television and in film in The West Wing, The American President, and Dave. She has played roles on the hit shows Nurse Jackie and Black-ish. She has served as a professor at Stanford and New York University. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “genius” grant; a National Humanities Medal, which she received from President Barack Obama; and a George Polk Career Award, one of the top awards in journalism.
Recently, we sat down with Anna at Blvd Restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Los Angeles; over iced espresso and iced tea, we had an illuminating conversation.
Tell us your life philosophy.
Seek to be a good host, seek to be a good guest. It comes from the Rule of Saint Benedict. It means to treat everyone as if they might be Christ, to freely extend hospitality. I have a friend who is a monk, and he exemplifies this spirit with simple gestures like his readiness with a hug.
How did you decide to do the work you’re doing now?
My grandfather used to say that if you say a word often enough, it becomes you. I want to become America word for word. I have been on a journey, looking for what is not me. At the core of all acting is becoming what is not you. That journey feeds my curiosity, it helps me to come close to strangers. I want to hear their stories. A story changing hands is a gift.
Who lights you up?
Lots of people. I am working on a new Shonda Rhimes television show right now, and the cast of the show and all of the residents of Shondaland are wonderful people. My 15-year old mutt Memphis lights me up. I also love hanging with musicians, people like Lisa Fischer, who was a backup singer for many years for Sting, Luther Vandross, Tina Turner and The Rolling Stones – she’s now out on her own – and Riley Mulherkar, a fantastic young trumpet player.
How do you like to celebrate?
It depends on what I’m celebrating! What comes to mind is champagne, a vacation in a beautiful place, and laughter. The key to celebration is that you have to be with someone who’s fun. Even more than someone you love, for a good celebration, you need someone who’s fun. Not everybody knows how to be kind. Not everybody knows how to have fun. Having a really great personality is a gift. And no matter where you go – even in a prison – someone will have one. But not everyone. We make fun of the idea of naming someone “Miss Personality,” the way they used to in beauty pageants in the ‘50s. But that quality is really important. And rare.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Where would you stay?
I have never been to Japan, and I would really like to go. Since I haven’t been there, I wouldn’t know where to stay. So I would definitely ask other people for suggestions. In the absence of that, I would find an Aman or a One & Only.
What’s the last new food item that you tried for the first time? Did you like it?
White soy sauce. It’s called white tamari. Compared to traditional soy sauce, it’s a bit like the difference between white wine and red wine. When you cook with it, it doesn’t change the food’s original color. Also, fried smelts. They’re a lot like anchovies, and I tried them in either Italy or Greece. I really liked them.
What song is on your playlist that people would be surprised by?
A song by a young woman rapper whose stage name is Young M. A. I saw her picture in a magazine and it spoke to me, so I spent some time over Labor Day weekend listening to her work. She’s from Brooklyn. The song I like the best is called “Ooouuu.”
What’s your favorite form of exercise?
Swimming. I do it as often as 4 times a week if I’m in a city with a good pool. It’s surprisingly hard to find a good pool in LA! By “good,” I mean one that has 19 lanes. There’s one I love in San Francisco. I need to find one here.
Who is your favorite artist?
Wow, that’s a tough one. It changes all the time. I have long been an admirer of Mary Ellen Mark – she was a photographer who focused on both the known and the unknown. She shot portraits of Mother Theresa and fashion models, and also prostitutes and anti-war protesters. I also love Lyle Ashton Harris, Carrie Mae Weems, and Roni Horn. I loved seeing Kerry James Marshall’s Mastry. I was at a lecture that he and his wife gave on the subject of mastery, and their marriage is so moving – they have been working together for most of their lives, and the range of the work is incredible. In terms of musical artistry, I really respect the body of work that Quincy Jones has created. I was listening to “PYT” by Michael Jackson the other day, and I thought about how many brilliant songs Quincy Jones is responsible for producing.
Tell us about your style.
I don’t know if I have style! In my 30s, I dated an older guy and he said “you have style, not fashion.” He didn’t mean that as a compliment – he said it would cost him a fortune to get me to “have fashion.” (Eye roll.) I like simple things, because I travel a lot – I need things that don’t wrinkle.
What is your favorite item of clothing? Who’s your go-to designer?
The sweats that I wear over my swimsuit on my way to the pool and my flip-flops are my favorites. The designers I rely on include Armani, Issey Miyake, and Liliana Casabal, the designer for morgane le fay.
What are you reading right now?
(Anna reaches into her handbag and pulls out some sheets of paper). What I am reading literally right now is this: it’s the graduate school thesis of Michelle Jones. There was an article about her in the New York Times very recently: she was incarcerated for more than 20 years for the murder of her son, and while in prison she became a scholar of American history. She also composed dances and wrote a historical play. As her release approached, she applied to several graduate schools, and Harvard turned her down because she had been incarcerated. So now she is at NYU in the American Studies department. I have been thinking about the people who walked alongside her when it was really tough: the people at the prison who reached out a hand to help her get on this path.
What’s your dream car?
I really want to try out a Maserati. Some time ago, I wrote a poem about Sophia Loren and a Maserati. I was young and I was trying to imagine what it must be like to be her. Here in LA, cars that were serious luxuries when I was growing up – like Mercedes and BMW – are commonplace. The hot cars here seem to be Tesla, Maserati and various models of Range Rover. Someday, a Maserati will probably be considered commonplace.
What are you looking forward to?
I look forward to something every day. I am homesick for New York right now, and I am looking forward to getting back home to New York City. To see my friends, to see an exhibit at the MoMA. I’m looking forward to that.
What skill do you wish you had that you don’t currently possess?
Many! I am infatuated with surfing – it is so beautiful. I want to learn Italian and Portuguese. I’d like to be a better swimmer. Swimming is mostly about technique. I’d like to be better at the work I do: I’d like to be a better writer. I’d like to refine my abilities in listening, writing, and acting. It’s really important to have a sense of what you’re reaching for.
What’s your hidden talent?
Cooking. I’m an OK cook. I love cooking for other people and hosting people. I think I’m very good at procuring ingredients. There’s a great store called Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco –actually, there are two of them, one on Mission and one in the Fillmore neighborhood. It’s where the chefs shop, and the people who work there are so good. You go in and they ask you “what are you thinking of making today? Have you thought about wine? We have this really great gin.” And they’ll show you all these things you hadn’t thought of using to make a great meal.
What’s the most extravagant thing you’ve ever bought?
Wow, that’s relative to what your resources are, isn’t it? If I think about something I bought when I really had to stretch for it, I would say a typewriter. In 1977 or ’78, I didn’t have much money at all, and I bought an Olivetti electric typewriter. Given where I was in my life, that was an extravagance. Before that, I used the typewriter of the “Friends” of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where I was studying for my MFA. The “Friends” were these lovely ladies from Pacific Heights, and they would host fundraisers for the theater. They had a typewriter in their office, and they said I could use it until 9:00A when they started work. So I would go there at 5:00A and write. Until I was able to get my own typewriter.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
That’s relative, too, isn’t it? It’s so much about who gave it to you and why. I remember when I turned 8 or 9, one of my aunts on my father’s side gave me a ring for my birthday. We didn’t see as much of the relatives on my father’s side, so I remember it was a big deal. The ring was a sapphire, which is my birthstone, and I thought it was so stunning. The best gift I ever received, though, was when I was working on “Notes from the Field,” and I visited the Yurok Tribe on the north coast of California. The Honorable Abby Abinanti is their Chief Judge – she is also the first Native American woman to pass the California Bar Exam. She opened doors for me, took me to the tribal dances – that was a gift. They are a river tribe – a fishing tribe – and she told me “you belong by the river.” It meant that I was welcome there. That was the best gift.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Sleeping late if I’m really tired. It is such a luxury knowing that I don’t really have to get up. Knowing that I don’t really need to go out.
What does luxury mean to you?
Having a career in the arts is a luxury. I sprung into the arts in my 20’s and I found a place. I teach at “fancy” schools – NYU, Stanford, and Carnegie – and art school is so expensive now. There are a lot of very gifted people who we may never know about – there’s somebody out there who could stun you, and we may never see them. I did a speech at Hunter College in New York and I remember one young woman talking about how her dream was to find her place as a Puerto Rican artist. Those are the kinds of people I worry that we will not see because working in the arts is an occupation with no economy. It’s really tough. It’s a luxury that you cannot buy – being able to work and become better as an artist. In the words of Gloria Steinem, though, I’m a “hope-a-holic.” To be continuously hopeful and to be a person of faith is a luxury.
Photo Credit: Diana Walker
