In Pop Apocalypse, Ep. 20, we welcome actress, writer, producer, and activist, Amy Brenneman. After earning her B.A. in Comparative Religions at Harvard, Amy went on to a successful acting career, with star turns in the film Heat, as well as the shows like "The Leftovers," "The Old Man," and "Judging Amy" (which she also wrote and produced). In this wide-ranging conversation (2:12), Amy and I explore how the craft of acting, study of religion, and practice of Jungian dreamwork have enriched one another throughout her career. We discuss the similarities between ritual and acting, and how a background in comparative religion helped Amy write, build, and inhabit characters. She also describes (20:00) how decades of practicing active imagination and Jungian dreamwork helped her bring a mythic and numinous dimension to roles like Laurie Garvey in The Leftovers. To close (1:03:09), we discuss Amy’s current experience as a Master’s student at Harvard Divinity School and her research into the politics and possibilities of the Trickster archtype.
BIO
Amy Brenneman earned a degree in Comparative Religion at Harvard, specializing in Indo-Tibetan Religion. She was a founding member of the Cornerstone Theater Company, which specializes in site-specific community-based theater on themes of social justice; her roles included Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Natasha in Three Sisters and Clytemnestra in The Oresteia.
Other theater: CSC Rep, Lincoln Center Theater, Williamstown Theater Festival, Yale Rep and The American Repertory Theater. She starred in the world premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Rapture Blister Burn (Playwrights Horizons, Geffen Theater) and Power of Sail opposite Bryan Cranston (Geffen Theater.) She played Miriam of Nazareth in the world premiere of Galilee 34 (South Coast Rep) and starred in The Sound Inside (Pasadena Playhouse), which was named one of the years’ best performances by the Los Angeles Times.She recently starred in the world premiere of Fake It Until You Make It by Larissa Fasthorse at Arena Stage.
Amy co-created, wrote, and starred in Mouth Wide Open (The Yard, American Repertory Theater) and Overcome (The Yard, En Garde Arts, Cotuit Center for The Arts.) She has performed original spoken word pieces at Spark, Tasty Words and Tangletuit.
Amy created, executive produced and starred in “Judging Amy” (multiple Golden Globe Emmy and SAG nominations) based on the work of her mother, the Honorable Judge Frederica Brenneman. Other television: “NYPD Blue” (SAG award, Emmy nomination) “Frasier,” (Emmy nomination), “Heartbeat” (exec producer), “Goliath,” “VEEP,” “Private Practice,” “The Leftovers,” “Tell Me Your Secrets,” “Shining Girls” and “The Old Man.”
Film credits include CASPER, FEAR, DAYLIGHT, HEAT, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, WORDS AND PICTURES, NINE LIVES, THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER and MOTHER AND CHILD.
For her activist work, Amy has been honored by Women in Film, The Brady Center, the League of Women Voters, the California State Assembly, the National Children’s Alliance, the Chime Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Help Group, the Producer’s Guild of America, among others. Amy currently serves on the Creative Council for the Center for Reproductive Rights and received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from The Feminist Majority for her ongoing commitment to reproductive rights.
Amy is married to writer/director Brad Silberling and has two children, Charlotte and Bodhi. Currently she attends Harvard Divinity School in the Master of Religion and Public Life program, researching the role of the Trickster archetype in ritual and activism.
1 h et 25 min