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You may recognize her as ‘Jeanie Boulet’ from the popular TV medical drama ER, or most recently in the legal drama Raising the Bar as a public defender, which coincidentally equates to the passions of her life. Today, Toronto-born Gloria Reuben is a spokesperson, ambassador and advocate to a variety of humanitarian causes – women’s and children’s rights; as well as climate change and environmental issues that affect our planet. Known around the world this successful TV, film, stage actor and singer eloquently and passionately raises awareness. |
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BARBARA A large part of your life is devoted to a number of social causes, including pediatric AIDS and the environment. What has motivated you to stand up for these global issues?
GLORIA About five or six years ago, I became aware of the HIV/AIDS pandemic statistics, which continues to rage here in the US. (Gloria has lived in the US for over 20 years. In 2009 she became a US citizen and proclaims, “Now I’m very proudly both Canadian and American.”) When I learned that AIDS is the number one killer of African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34 in the US, I was shocked. How was this not front page news in every single US newspaper? I had strong feelings about this issue especially since I played the role of a healthcare worker living with HIV on ER. I had acquired a lot of knowledge and not only needed but felt obligated to help increase public awareness of this. The more information scientists share on daily climate change – the floods, droughts, and frequency of severe storms – the more compelled I am in my work with the Alliance for Climate Protection. (Gloria is a special advisor on climate change to the Alliance, which is former Vice President Al Gore's NGO.) Years ago I didn’t decide, “Okay I’m going to be an activist.” It’s part of how my nature has grown. The more I know, the more I feel I have to use my platform as an actor to raise awareness on these issues.
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B This certainly comes across in all you do, the passion of going full throttle with a cause. You went to South Africa recently with an AIDS foundation.
G It was an eye-opening experience. As an ambassador for the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation, I went to South Africa to witness the work being done in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. We visited HIV/AIDS clinics in a number of communities and witnessed the bare-bones supplies available to the high volume of people with only a handful of nurses and doctors to attend to them daily. It was disheartening. I observed first-hand the cultural challenges around HIV in that part of the world; the stigma is still massive. Gender equality and women’s rights are major issues. Reproductive health rights are central, particularly how they play into the pandemic. There is progress but there’s a lot of work still to be done. A large number of countries still don’t acknowledge the rights of women. We’re lucky to live where we have the opportunity to speak freely.
And while I was there, I had the opportunity to perform at the launch of Kerry Kennedy’s Speak
Truth to Power in Cape Town and Johannesburg. This human rights play and photo exhibit is an educational program brought to countries throughout the world by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.
B It’s great to have a woman like you who speaks up so we can all be heard.
G Thank you for saying that. It’s helpful to travel to different cultures; it highlights and reminds me of
the incredible gifts and rights available to us because we live in Canada or the United States. I’m blessed to live in a country with these rights, and at the same time I can go to another country to support a specific cause there. This helps me be more diligent on issues. I believe it’s my duty as a person in the public eye to raise awareness and not let things be swept away.
B Your autobiography, is it to share what you’ve learned so others can learn from your experiences?
G It’s not so much about people learning from my
life as it is about unravelling it. People have certain perceptions about individuals in the public eye, about what their life is like – that everything is glamorous
all the time. This book is about peeling away the
layers of the onion, revealing not just who I am as an actor, but more importantly, who I am as a human being; how my life journey has lead me to this place of being extremely fortunate to do what I love as a career – I know that’s a rare thing. Because of my career I feel I’m on the precipice of being able to, God willing, make a large impact in the world on the issues I’m passionate about.
B Quite a task as you continue your successful, busy acting and singing careers. Gloria, your songs are beautiful; your heart really shows not only through the passionate words you’ve written, but how you sing them. We often travel on one track and then make a switch. How did that happen for you?
G I actually didn’t switch from one to the other. I’ve added on. I’ve never stopped acting or my music, I just keep adding on. Hence the peeling away of the onion metaphor for my book.
B Your mother was a gospel singer. Did this influence your ‘inner singer’ to fulfill the dream of being one of Tina Turner’s backup singers in her ‘2000’ tour?
G That was a pretty extraordinary experience! It’s gruelling doing a road trip. Frankly, I don’t know how Tina did it; she was 60 years old at the time. Singing full out for two hours a night, then getting on the bus and hitting the next city. Tina tapped into a whole other energy source. She has a completely pure, raw energy that didn’t seem to dissipate. It was great fun! An absolutely fantastic time that I’m so happy I did!
B Pivotal moments in your life that added to the next layer?
G Certainly the first for me was when I was 12, my father died, that was big. And I also lost a brother. We were a family of six siblings. Things that have pulled me in new directions have been a combination of major losses, personal losses – losing someone I love. And there have been extraordinarily, surprisingly, magnificent positive outcomes in my career that have pulled me in new directions as well. It has been a combination of both. The gains in the creative world with the losses in the personal world have made a mark, and shaped me a great deal.
B Do you think the personal losses have assisted your gains in the career world, providing a foundation?
G I haven’t deciphered it that way. Acting and music have always been a necessity for me because if I didn’t have those outlets I’d probably explode. I feel a lot, and deeply. It’s a gift from God that I am able to do these things as a career. I need an outlet for all I experience.
B Other than your career what brings you pleasure?
G I love food, wine, movies, music, reading and great conversation. One of my favourite things is stimulating conversations. And I love water – being on the water and living by the water. It’s perfect that I live two blocks from the river.
B You’ve mentioned that water is important to our beings. Are you talking from a soul sense?
G From every sense, but the soul primarily. Humans are mostly water, so it’s very primal! Water evokes a primal feeling; that’s why people are drawn to water, either to be by, or live by the water. Look at population distribution, masses of people live by water, whether a lake, river, stream or an ocean. And on a hot summer’s day there’s nothing like drinking a cool glass of clean water.
By serving on the Board of Waterkeeper Alliance, I
assisted in taking the basic necessity for clean water further. Waterkeepers understand what many of us unknowingly ignore: “Without water, there can be no life. Without clean water, there can be no healthy life”. I’ve had the privilege to participate in a number of events on behalf of the alliance to present information on the devastating effects on waterways due to coal usage; including as host of the Waterkeeper Alliance event at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. (Gloria is a former board member for Waterkeeper Alliance.)
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Gloria speaking on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation at a Tar Sands Rally July 8, 2010.
As a member of the Waterkeeper’s board, I was
in West Virginia last year to witness mountaintop removal coal mining: the tops of mountains are literally blasted off to access the coal below. The debris is then dumped into surrounding valleys and waterways. To date, 500 mountaintops in the Appalachians have been decimated while approximately 2,000 miles of waterways have been completely buried or deadened by this archaic process.
Canada is affected too. Alberta's Boreal forest is second only to the rainforest in terms of capturing CO2, and it’s being levelled. Water heated by gas is blasted into the sand to force the oil to rise to the surface. For every barrel of oil recovered from this process, three barrels of water are used. The polluted water is dumped into tailings ponds, not a pond you can swim in due to possible carcinogens. The Alberta Tar Sands sites are so massive they can be seen from outer space. The next forest site designated for demolition to extract oil is the size of Florida. I believe that enough is enough and we must stop the devastation of our natural resources.
B How was your visit to the Gulf of Mexico after the oil
spill?
G I felt heartbroken and furious at the same time that we allowed this to happen. We floated out to the Gulf into a thick sea of oil. No booms around or anybody able to do anything about it. It was horrifying.
B Your life can be very intense Gloria, what daily ‘must do’s’ help bring balance to your life?
G My three ‘must do’s’ are yoga, writing and music.
Writing helps clear my head. When I write what’s weighing on my mind or my heart, it’s released for a while. It creates more space for other things to enter, especially creative things. And it’s revealing. Often I’ll write something I didn’t know was on my mind; or something comes out and I’m surprised about how intensely I felt about it; or how something I thought was heavy duty actually wasn’t after I wrote about it. Writing helps balance my perspective.
B Your biggest strength?
G My biggest strength is perhaps also my biggest fault – my diligence. Sometimes I go after something and I won’t give up. There are times when it’s best to let it go; this has been one of my biggest lessons: knowing the balance between making things happen and letting things happen. It seems a lot of women suffer from this ‘strength’. (We laugh together knowingly).
B Advice on following your dreams?
G Just that. It sounds simplistic, but what else is there? Follow your dream whatever it may be. We all know someone: possibly still running marathons in their 70s, just slower; or, a woman in her late 50s who picks up
a paint brush, a desire she’s always had and her true creative, artistic spirit pours onto the canvas. Learn a new language; become a big brother or big sister or run for public office. What is that one thing? There are a couple of things I think, “Well maybe one day.” Yeah, well, why not today? (She says with conviction.)
B Speaking of politics, have you considered this?
G I can’t be a part of the political dysfunction in Wash- ington at this time. I wouldn’t do well in the system.
I say too much of what’s on my mind, and that’s not going to fly. I’m most effective by continuing what I am doing. But, who knows what the future will hold.
B What advice can you offer people who want to make a difference?
G The voice of the people can make a difference. When we unite, mobilize and utilize our voices we can make necessary changes in the legislation for clean water, air and saving natural resources.
Sometimes people feel they can’t make a difference, that their voices won’t be heard. I totally get the frustration, the overwhelming belief, ‘oh well, it doesn’t matter what I’m going to do; it’s not going to make a difference’. But the opposite is true. The fact is, the more people talk about an issue that’s their passion, the more will be done. I’ve learned this first-hand. Whether it’s calling your representative or writing a letter, everybody can do something. A voice cannot be heard if it isn’t raised.
B What would your bumper sticker read, your pearl of wisdom?
G I’m going to completely plagiarize a bumper sticker
I saw on a truck in NYC. It’s perfect! Below a beautiful blue and white peace sign was this quote: “Change how you see, not how you look.” YEAH! That’s it exactly! That was worthy of a picture.
“Change how you see, not how you look.” Whoever wrote that, I thank you!
B And I thank you Gloria, for sharing your vast layers
of passion and being an example of raising one’s
voice with eloquence and dignity. You are making a
difference for the planet and its people. H&L |
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