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First order of the night was congratulating
Kate on becoming honorary Mayor of Brentwood, California (where she lives).
Reflecting on this honor with the appropriate light hearted air Kate declared
two dictums she has for Brentwood: all youth under the age of 14 must pull
up their pants (referring to the kids that wear the hip-hop pants) and
all leaf blowers will be banned. Then a discussion ensued about leaf blowers
already being banned in L.A. County. The topic concluded with Kate
describing her exhaustive duties as mayor: going to the President’s Ball
and being the Grand Marshall of the parade.
Next topic: Kate quit smoking. It’s
been nine months and she went to a hypnotist. At first she was skeptical.
She figured she’d go just to get everyone off her back about smoking but
she didn’t think it would do any good. But she found it to be a wonderful
experience and it seems to have worked for her. This lead into a discussion
on banning smoking in all public places while still protecting the rights
of the tobacco farmers.
This segued into: when one stops smoking,
one usually gains weight - something that Tom commented certainly hasn’t
happened to Kate. Yes, Kate says, she’s gained some weight. So she’s
done the next thing she’d thought she’d never do: hire a personal trainer.
The guy comes to her house. They do stretching, run for 30 minutes,
sit-ups and weights, all in her garage. Why her garage? Because she’s said
in print she’d never go to a gym. She went once and found it to be a lonely
and ghastly experience. Not that she’s knocking gyms she’s just a conversationalist
and no one talks to you at the gym.
This segment ended with comments concerning
the previous night’s show. Tom’s guest that night had been Penelope Ann
Miller who Kate knew was in a new series “The Closer” with Tom Selleck
which had just premiered. Kate remarked that Penelope was a lovely actress.
Next segment started with calls from the audience.
First question - How did it feel to be the first female Captain? As I’m
sure Kate has answered many times before - she was “shot out of a cannon”,
there was great scrutiny, but she received great support. Tom then remarked
on the great confidence he sees in her work and asks where that comes from.
After questioning how much is confidence and how much is acting Kate concluded
that of course there’s a confidence and it must come from being the oldest
girl in a very large family. Her mother gave her a lot of responsibility
but at the same time empowered her with the belief that she could do anything
she wanted. She also has a passion for the craft so you can’t
be insecure if you love something as much as she does acting.
Next subject: Mom & Dad and childhood.
Tom loves to dig into childhood. <G> Kate grew up on 50 acres outside
of Dubuque, Iowa which they called Derby Grange. Her father was a
successful contractor who built roads. Childhood contained a lot of happiness,
drama and tragedy. Kate commented that any family with a lot of girls,
a lot of boys, a lot of best friends and two passionate parents (mother
a painter, father a great thinker and poet, who both used language cleverly
and loved music and great banter) contains drama. Tragedy-two sisters died;
one very young and one at 14. This fractured the family but also taught
them about allegiance and also despair.
How did she feel about her parents launching
their kids by 18? Terrific, she wanted to go before. She went to London
at 16, 17 to New York and entered New York University at 18 and left in
her junior year to become professional. She had a smart father who
taught his kids the value of work and the fact that they had to help themselves.
They weren’t spoiled and she had jobs from the time she was 13.
Next caller question: Did you have lean years
as an actor and what got you through it? Of course she had lean years but
she’s always made her livelihood as an actress. What got her through- kids,
friends, the richness of life. But it’s hard when you’re not “sought after”.
That’s the ego of an actor. She had some rather lean years before “Voyager”.
But it’s important to struggle. It teaches you about success and privilege.
About the celebrity and fame part of acting- Kate
commented that part is rather taxing. But she isn’t stopped much in public,
never has been. She attributes this to the fact that her persona on TV
much be so entirely different from hers.
Next we’re back to the topic of the home where
she grew up-very large, very old summer house that some incredibly rich
guy built and then abandoned. Her parents, living in the city with
4 kids by then, were out for a Sunday drive and drove way out in the country,
down this long, tree-lined gravel path, through these stone gates and there
was this house. Her father went over to the people sitting in the front
yard having a drink. Introduced himself and during the conversation found
out the house was for sale. So he said he’d buy the house and he did.
After some reflections by Tom on where he
grew up the topic turned to Chicago. Kate related her first trip to Chicago
when she was 13. She went in on the train with her brother who was 14 and
was just awed by it and had a wonderful time.
Next caller rambled a bit but eventually she
mentioned she admired Kate’s strength and that she was a single parent
as is Kate. Tom at this point mentioned Kate’s two teenage sons, Ian and
Alexander. Kate commented that being a single parent is hard but she has
the support of her ex-husband, which she thinks is key. She still rather
likes him since why else would she have married this guy to begin with.
Tom was back to the subject of her sons who
are 13 and 14. Asked if they had computers in their rooms, Kate answered
that they did along with who knows what else is in those rooms. She was
very funny in describing their rooms; great things of food, empty cartoons,
socks, etc. Sometimes she wonders what’s going on in those rooms but that’s
when you’ve got to have strength.
Tom ended by saying how much he loves talking
to Kate and that she’s welcome anytime. Maybe sometime he’ll come to her
house for one of her great dinners and she said she’d love that.
