I absolutely cannot deny it. Sometimes I go on little social media excursions, and it leads to people I may never have found without that little impromptu “rabbit chase.” And in this case, I was quite fortunate to happen upon Jennifer Sorenson. While she is a very busy actress, producer, and writer, she took some time recently to chat with me about her most recent work, how she became an actress, and her strong feelings concerning women in the industry.
RH: What was it that got you interested in becoming an actress?
JS: When I was in the third or fourth grade–well, it was before that. I kind of always thought I wanted to be an actor, but I didn’t know what that really meant. I just liked watching movies and TV, and I wanted to do that. But I lived in Northern California, and nobody I knew was an actual actor. In third or fourth grade, the local high school needed a little girl to play a part in a Christmas show. I played Virginia, you know that little girl who sent the letter asking if there was a Santa Claus. So they wanted a little girl to play Virginia and read the letter in this play. And so they came to my classroom, and my teacher–I guess I was going through a hard time at that time, and she made me sit next to her in class. My desk was next to hers. Not really as a punishment, but so she could keep an eye on me. And so when they came in and they needed a little girl, she really encouraged them to talk to me. I guess she had known I was interested in it. I don’t remember auditioning or anything, but I remember doing the show, and I remember thinking this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I don’t remember exactly what I did, but I think I went up and did a monologue, and then I was done. And I think I only did it one night. But that was it. And that was when I decided I was going to live this wonderful life I’m living right now.
Well, that’s a good way to begin. I’m always fascinated with the stories people tell about becoming actors. Your story sounds more like what I would expect since you showed an interest as a child, but some people don’t start till much later.
Yeah, some people don’t know till they’re like fifty and somebody asks them to do something and they’re like, “Wow, this is something. Why haven’t I been doing this my whole life?” And with my story, that happened when I was like ten. And then I went on to high school and just lived out here ever since. I think that choosing to do something like this is not really a choice. I’ve said many times in my life, “I wish I wanted to do something else because my life, in some ways, would be a lot easier.” I’ve had side jobs–I’ve worked in restaurants and other places. But I literally couldn’t do anything else. It’s great to know what you want to do, but it’s a blessing and a curse ’cause then you can’t do anything else. You don’t want to do anything else. So yes, I’ve known since I was little that this was what I wanted to do–which is great. Doing anything else that would make my life easier–probably like being an accountant–is not a possibility in my mind. It might be nice to have a more stable income, but you know, I just can’t.
I understand what you mean about doing something else that would make your life easier. That’s how it’s been with writing and me. I always wanted to be a writer, but I put it on the shelf, and now that I’m doing it, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
Yeah, and that’s how I am with writing as well. I actually came to writing later in life. But fortunately or unfortunately, it’s in the same realm of acting. It’s not a normal life either. Lots of times, you don’t get paid. You don’t really go to an office. Well, I guess I’m used to that kind of life though. Acting was a good preparation for that.
As I was looking up your most current works, I found Orphan is the New Orange. And with that, you wrote it, starred in it, and produced it.
Yes, that’s right. It’s an indie short film parody.
I really got into independent films when I went to the Artemis Film Festival in April in LA.
Yes, that’s the stunt one.
Yes, so glad you know about it! I am a huge proponent of indie films, and I fully support them. Even though I know it’s a lot of work.
Yes, it is a lot of work. But for me, it was worth it. It’s changed my life.
So where did the idea for Orphan is the New Orange come from?
It is a parody of Orphan Black and Orange is the New Black. About a year and a half ago, I was with a friend who kept calling one of the shows “Orphan is the New Black.” I wasn’t sure which show she was talking about, but I kept telling her it was either Orphan Black or Orange is the New Black. And she said, “No, no, it’s ‘Orphan is the New Black.'” And I said, “That’s not a show, but that would be hilarious if all the clones were in prison together.” Because you know how writers are, it took me about another six months to get it down on paper. I kept talking about it for awhile. Then it took about another four months for me to find my director. And I wanted to play all the clones in the film because I thought it would be good for my career. And I thought I could pull it off. And some people think I have. We filmed it about a year ago. We filmed it last August, and then it came out in September.
So it came out last year, and you’ve been on the film festival circuit, which I know takes some time.
Yes, it’s fun doing that. It’s a lot of work. It’s definitely not for introverts, which I tend to be sometimes.
Are there plans for this film to be available for everyone to see?
We initially released it online. We released it the week of the Emmy’s. It was the first year that Tatiana Maslany, who played the original people that I played, was nominated for an Emmy. And everyone was saying it was about time and how could she not have been nominated before? She plays all these characters that I played. So we released it the week of the Emmy’s hoping to get Emmy buzz–which we got a little bit of it. And then once that period was over, we started going to film festivals. So we took it offline. And now we’re kind of winding down. We have a couple more, but it’s not required for us to keep it off the internet. And with going to Comic-Con, they don’t require to keep it off the internet. So we’re back online. So it’s on YouTube, and it’s on Vimeo. We have been offered to sell it to a TV station that wants to buy it. But the only problem with that is that they don’t pay you that much, and it prevents everybody from having access to it. And ours is really more of an internet film, even though it’s really long for an internet film. Ours is really for people who are fans of those two shows. So if you were to see it out of context on a random television channel, a lot of people wouldn’t even know what the heck’s going on. So we decided for now to keep it online for everybody to see. It’s really for the director to show what she did, which is amazing. It’s for me to show off my writing and that I could play those people. It’s for the director of photography to show that she could pull that off. So it’s really for as many people to see as possible. If you sell it to a TV station, you get those people who are watching at that moment, but it’s not like it’s going to be on NBC and get six million views. For now, we’ve decided to keep it online so it’s available for anyone to stumble upon it who’s searching for those specific shows.
See, I learned something. I really appreciate you explaining about selling it to a TV station. Somebody like me who hasn’t done the research would be thinking, “Yeah! Sell it to a TV station!” I really enjoy learning things during my interviews, so thank you.
That makes a good interviewer when you’re actually learning something.
I’m sure as an actress and a writer and all those hats you wear, I’m sure you have other things in the works right now.
I do. I’m in a play right now in LA. And I have lots of writing things that are in the works right now. And then every day, you go out on auditions. Your job really is auditioning when you’re an actor. When we actually get the job, that’s great. But your day-to-day job is auditioning. Like right now, I have pages and pages of lines to memorize. That’s my job is to prepare for auditions and do auditions. If you actually get to work on a show, that’s the cherry on top.
I salute actors like you who go out day after day auditioning like you do. And the worst thing is that most of the time, you don’t even hear back unless you get the job.
Yeah, you don’t unless your representation calls and asks. The other day, I had what I would consider a big audition where the person was schizophrenic or bipolar. So she was literally crazy. So the dialogue was never logical. And I had to play two people because this one actress plays two people, which I’ve obviously done. The second one was she was a dead girl who was an apparition of her father’s memories. And I worked a week on these. I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard on an audition. And you go on it, you do it, and then you leave. And then that’s it. You hope you hear something, but you have to be satisfied with that. And I was. I got to do that for that moment. And if I get to do it again, that’s great. But I’ve learned that that’s my job, and I did my job. And now I have to go and do another job. But I think for some people, especially who are younger and newer to it, it can be really hard not to get attached to putting so much of yourself into something and not getting back what you want. You have to learn to get back what you want in the room and then leave it.
You definitely have the right attitude so that’s good.
I think I’ve just surrendered.
Well, for whatever reason, I have learned that the most successful actors are the ones who have an attitude like you. Once they learn to let it go, things work better for them. And it sounds like you’ve learned that.
Yeah, it’s taken me twenty years. You have to or you’re gonna go crazy. ‘Cause then what are you doing? What are you doing with your life if you’re going to be upset every day when you leave the room and never hear anything? Why do it?
What do you see as the benefits of indie films?
Interesting–I made a documentary about Sundance that talked a lot about this, but I’ve never really answered it myself. What I love about indie film is that if it’s good–studio films and indie films can all be good and they can all be bad–so it’s not to say that all indie film are good and all studio films are bad or vice versa. But when you get a good indie film, you get to do stuff–especially with someone who is not recognized like I am–I get to do stuff that I would never get to do in a studio film. And that’s exciting. There can be stranger characters–I just got to play ten different characters. I personally don’t believe–and maybe this is bad–if I had not written this film and executive produced it, and if it was on a bigger budget or whatever–I don’t know if I ever would have got cast in that. But because I wrote it, I had a say. And I got the money, so I got to do it. And I think that’s what the spirit of independent film is. It’s people doing it because they love it, and they’re doing it because no one else will “let” them do it. If you want to do it, you’re gonna do it. That’s why I appreciate that you look for the good in things when you write a review because if someone puts out content, they did something. And not everybody gets up and does something. And that’s what the independent film spirit is. I’ve been to a lot of film festivals this year, and I’ve seen a lot of independent films, and some of it’s bad. But at the same time, those people did something. They had a story they wanted to tell, and yes, they may not have told it in the way you would have. They didn’t make the choices you would have made or that you like, but they did something. And that’s what’s great about independent films. People who really want to do something are doing something.
I think you make a valid point. It’s easy to be the person sitting in a chair watching what’s been placed in front of them, and they say, “Oh, I didn’t like this, this, this or this.” But then if that same person were to take the time and try to do something even halfway similar, to create their own product, they might realize it’s not as easy as they might think.
That’s an art form in itself–being a critic. It’s an interesting job. It’s like all art. You can’t really judge art because it’s subjective. Being a critic is taking how you view it and saying how you view it, and a lot of people listen to that, so you hope that the people who are listening have the same views as the person you’re viewing. I just think if you make something, hopefully people like it. It’s the same thing we were talking about with auditioning. You have to do it because you really want to do it and not really care what other people think about it. I mean really truly. If you want to make it because you want to get good reviews, then most likely, unfortunately, you’re probably not going to get good reviews ’cause your impetus of making it is for ego. And that’s only going to get you so far.
You are honestly quite a pleasure to listen to. You are able to express yourself and your ideas well.
You’re a pleasure to talk to, too. I’ve had those interviews where I wonder what the heck just came out of my mouth? But over the last year, I think I’ve had lots of practice with interviews. I’m glad to hear that maybe my practice is paying off a little bit.
As a woman in this industry, what are your views on gender equality within the industry?
I belong to Women in Film, which is a great group of women in the industry. As far as gender equality, the job that I do–as far as a writer–I write more for myself, so I haven’t been in writer’s rooms necessarily. And everything I’ve written, I’ve just done myself. I haven’t run into that since it’s all been done for myself. I know that is an issue in writer’s rooms. Or at least I’ve heard that it is.
As far as being an actor, this has been since I was in high school, of course, there has always been more male roles than roles for women. And thankfully, that’s getting addressed now, but it’s still the case. It was from theater in high school to theater now.
What I think is interesting is having been at these film festivals, I’m usually one of the only women as a filmmaker. You generally meet a bunch of guys, and I don’t know why that is, I’ll be honest. It seems to me, especially being with Women in Film, that there are a lot of women filmmakers. Clearly, there are not as many as I thought. I went to one a couple months ago, and I went in search for the other women filmmakers. I think I found, out of a huge festival, I think there were four of us. It’s an interesting thing to be the only woman in the filmmakers lounge because networking is very different for a woman in those lounges than they are for men. When men network at those functions, they are collaborators, right? Anybody who goes there–you’re at the filmmaker’s lounge to collaborate with others. And when you’re the only woman–it’s like throwing a woman into a room full of men that aren’t around women a lot. It’s a different thing for a woman. There would be times when I would be thinking I would be making friends as a collaboration, and then when they figured out I didn’t want to sleep with them, they went to go talk to somebody else. And it was very frustrating because that’s not happening to the men that are in there just having conversation. But because I’m a woman, if I’m talking to you, if I’m talking to a man, some of them get excited because I’m talking to them because they think it’s for something else. So it’s this really interesting thing that you have to navigate, this thing you have to think about while you’re in this room with all these men. And you want to try to fit in and be one of the “boys.”
I had something said to me by a very kind person who didn’t mean it this way but he said it, and he was joking but he wasn’t. He said, “Maybe you shouldn’t be so pretty going into these things.” Which is hard–so I’m supposed to dress in a garbage bag ’cause I’m attractive and I’m in a room full of men, and I want to make the same connections that they’re making. It’s a really interesting environment. And I haven’t figured out how to do it. I don’t know how to do it. I don’t want to go in there wearing a garbage bag. I have to go on red carpets, and I have to look nice doing that. So I’m not gonna change afterwards because for my actor/writer persona, I’m on the red carpet and I look beautiful. Then I go into a filmmaker’s lounge and wear a garbage bag so that people will take me seriously? That feels false to me. I feel like I should be able to wear whatever I want and be who I am. I think it’s not new. Obviously, it’s not new. It’s happened in every profession.
To be honest, it happened today. There was a publicist that I was hanging out with, and I was at a function. And she was proud of me that I was actually talking to these writers for a magazine or something like that. She said, “So many actors don’t go up to people and just start talking and promote themselves.” And I said, “Oh, I’ve been at film festivals so much that I’m used to it. I don’t even think about it. I didn’t even realize I was really doing it.” Then this person who had wanted to make contact with me then asked me out. And I thought, “Did you ask any of the other actors out?” So even this connection where the publicist was proud of me for doing that turned into that. So now I’m in this awkward position of–you asked me out, but I didn’t talk to you because I was attracted to you. I talked to you because we were at a function, and that’s what you do. I don’t know how to change it because you can’t really change one woman being in a crowd of men and what that’s going to do. But we just need to have more women in there. That’s why Women in Film is so great because you go to functions, and we’re all working together. The reality is there’s not a Women in Film booth at every film festival. There’s actually none. They’re at the LA Film Fest or at Sundance they have some. But there just needs to be more, and I don’t know why there isn’t more. I saw a documentary about coding–girls who code. And they’re trying to get a lot more girls interested in coding. But there’s not very many examples of girls coding. And I think that’s the same with film. I think there’s starting to be. They do have a filmmaker Barbie.
I went to film school for two years at Marymount. I went because I was an actor and I thought, “Well, if I can’t act, then I’ll learn how to do film.” That’s my back-up, right? To be a film director, which sounds so silly now. I thought I’ll learn all about that so I have it in my back pocket if this acting thing doesn’t work out. And I was in it for two years, and I was the only woman. It was all men in black trenchcoats-it was that time. I went and said my favorite films, and I got laughed at. But my films were the ones–I won the competition. Like, they were the ones that were screened at the end of the year. And they were all very angry with me. They didn’t like me. And I was like, “Why is nobody supporting me here?” It costs so much money in addition to tuition to go to film school because at the time, you had to buy actual film on top of your tuition. And so I was like, “I’m an actor,” and I dropped out. Then I went to the theater department where it was just my tuition I had to pay. And I think about that now. If there was more of a representation of females in that situation and more camaraderie between females, I think women who have an inkling to do that–I think women who make it like Kathryn Bigelow, who make it have such a fire in their belly that they’re going to do it no matter what. And in order to get more women in the business, you need people with just a kindling of fire to get in there and be supported so that that fire can grow and then they can become Kathryn Bigelow. Because if you’re just dabbling in it, it’s not a women’s world. They’re like, “Well, I don’t want to go through all this. I’ll go do this.” But if a lot of women do it, then we feel more comfortable. But girls just don’t feel comfortable in that environment because there’s not a lot of us. And there’s not a lot of support, and there’s not a lot of examples of women who have made it. We can count on our fingers maybe how many women directors we know.
From Church & State (more info at the end of the article)
Right, I actually don’t know that many.
Right, but you could name twenty male directors right now. Like every director you think of is male. So I probably just rambled, but it’s something I have lots of ideas about. Before when I was “just an actor,” I dealt with that stuff–yeah, there wasn’t enough roles, but at least there were roles and there were other women. But in this new environment, it’s a strange place. And I don’t know yet how to deal with it. I don’t know how to make it different. I only know about supporting other women who do it which is why I’m in Women in Film. That’s why I’m in Women in Motion Pictures. Our film–ninety percent of our on set crew were women. There were only two men on set. Two to four men at all times. And that wasn’t to say we didn’t want men. We just hired as many women as possible through these programs that we could because, why not?
I think the only way you can change it is in your part of the world doing what you can. I think if every woman involved in film were committed to seeking out women, change would come about. Unfortunately, we can’t change the whole world right here right now.
Yeah, you have to do what you can when you can. And look, my short’s not that big of a deal, but it feels good to write people and say, “Ninety percent of our on set crew was women.” And it was great. And the men who worked on that crew were awesome because they were man enough for that to be normal. And it was never a problem. Because it shouldn’t be a problem. And they were happy. Not that they were being overrun by a bunch of women, but they were like, “This is great.” We all supported each other. We all loved each other. One of the crew members had just had a baby, and she was pumping. We filmed in a prison, and she was pumping in one of the cells. You gotta do what you gotta do. And we were like, “Yeah, you go ahead and pump while we’re on break.”
Honestly, I love that you shared all you did. It was eye-opening for me to hear what you had to say because I’ve heard some of this, but your story gave me a different perspective on things.
I’m glad that everybody is talking about women in films, and what happens is that when you keep talking about it, people start doing something about it. So we need to keep talking about because if we keep talking about it, one day it will be abnormal to not talk about it. Please don’t get me wrong. I love men, and I love working with them. It’s just a strange thing to be in a room full of men, have conversations, and you think you’re having a conversation about working on their pilot, and then suddenly, you know, you’re put in a situation. And then suddenly, you hear nothing about that pilot again when they realize you don’t want to sleep with them. And you’re like, “That happened in the ’30’s, but that doesn’t happen now, does it?”
And in a lot of those cases, the men have not been taught how to work with women and treat them with respect.
Yeah, and some of it is biological. Again, you put one woman in a room full of men, and what do you think’s gonna happen? But hopefully we’ve evolved past the biological where you know I’m here to do a job as well just like you’re doing. And again, I don’t know the solution except to keep talking about it. I don’t think men even realize what’s happening in those rooms. I’ve talked to men about this, and they go, “What? Are you sure that’s the experience you’re having?” Things will happen right in front of them, and I’ll have to say, “So did you see that? Did you see when they did x, y, and z?” And then the guys will go, “Oh, I didn’t even notice that.”
Whereas if you have another woman in the room, that woman will be able to see what is happening.
Oh yeah. Definitely. Oh, and by the way, I have been in two Hallmark films–just as a note to your Hallmark readers. I used to be on the Jane Doe series.
Oh, I’m so glad you told me! I didn’t realize!
There is no doubt that Jennifer is a woman who is strong, independent, and intrinsically motivated to bring her unique talents to this diverse industry. She has just the right kind of spunk obligatory to make necessary waves, and there is no doubt she will succeed in creating more than just a ripple in the industry. For me, her pragmatic approach to gender equality and stereotypes within this industry caused me to ponder things I had never heretofore considered. She has experienced a variety of situations that just baffle my mind, but in the end, she refuses to yield. She will always “dance to the beat of her own drummer,” but there is nothing I appreciate more in anyone in any industry than that pioneer drive. Jennifer won’t mince words, but she will also back up those words with solid action. While she doesn’t set out to create controversy, sometimes it is those unintentional embroilments that bring about decisive change in this tumultuous world of ours. I do hope that if you are so inclined that you will look up her indie film Orphan is the New Orange, as it is now available for viewing online. However, even if that film is not your “cup of tea,” do consider checking her out at the links below because with a resourceful, stalwart woman like her in this profession, she may be the very one who is instrumental in bringing about perennial change in this industry. She will not withdraw, and I fully support her in whatever challenges she tackles next. And there is no doubt in my mind that she is a woman who will ultimately triumph in whatever she does!
FOLLOW JENNIFER
Follow Orphan is the New Orange
Website
If you are in LA in the month of August, please consider attending the play in which she will be featured.
Church & State
August 6 at 8:30 P.M.
August 14, August 21 at 3 P.M.
More information can be obtained here.
