As part of a recent lecture tour, Hollywood actress (Sliders, Eight Legged Freaks, MTV's Remote Control) and General Hospital star Kari Wuhrer visited a college near DVD Snapshot headquarters to talk about her breast reduction surgery and the impact of appearance and the illusion of beauty on her life and career. Wuhrer spoke for about an hour to a crowded college ballroom about the ups and downs of her career and the issues she went through to find her true self. She was passionate, funny, heartfelt, and forthrightly honest, and the crowd was clearly moved by what she had to say. After her lecture and a question-and-answer session, I had a chance to sit down and talk with the eight-month pregnant Ms. Wuhrer about her message and her career.
Mike Spring: This was a very personal and emotional thing for you to do. How did you come to the decision to share your personal journey with audiences?
Kari Wuhrer: I was going through the whole un-boob job, and I knew that when I had committed to doing an article for Glamour Magazine that I couldn’t back out of, and I had to stay true to my path and work hard. It was really scary writing that article, but it turned out to be really cathartic. Then Oprah called, and I did that, and I just got a lot of feedback that it was helping people. You know, I didn’t want to be known as the actress who got her boobs removed, but I weighed that against the help and the good it was doing some people, and the help it was giving me to heal. I love being able to discuss these issues with women.
MS: You seem to be targeting college audiences specifically.
KW: Really, it’s about me going out there and telling my story a little bit. These college girls, it’s amazing how unbelievably together many of them are, but it was such an impressionable age for me, and it’s only gotten worse out there with the media, and I’m hoping that maybe I can bring my experience to them.
MS: If you had to boil it down, what would you say the most important part of your message is? Since I can’t fit that whole talk into a one-page article.
KW: I think the most important part of my message is to challenge yourself daily, to find ways to feel good about yourself and build self-esteem, and to listen to the choices that you make and see if they feel good, and follow what your soul is telling you to do. Because, ultimately, every single day is a new day, and every day you have the opportunity to make choices that make you feel good about who you are that build your own character, because you are solely responsible for that, nobody else.
MS: Switching gears a little bit, let’s talk Hollywood. Would you agree that Eight Legged Freaks is one of the greatest giant spider movies ever made?
KW: Eight Legged Freaks is THE greatest giant spider movie ever!
MS: Hell, yes! Any fun stories from the set of that movie?
KW: It was so much fun making that movie. Of course, you’re only reacting to a piece of green tape on a metal pole, there’s no real spiders. The spiders can only work a six-hour day. [laughs] It’s amazing how the Humane Society or animal rights people are always on set when you have animals on set. No spiders were harmed in the making of this movie. We couldn’t even feed the spiders because the animal rights people were concerned about the crickets we were going to feed to the spiders. [laughs]
MS: What would you say is your most memorable role to date?
KW: I’ve gotten a lot out of every single movie and I’ve learned from every single experience. But I really have to say that General Hospital has taught me the most. It was a consistent gig, and it really taught me how to connect to a character. I really learned a lot about acting during that time.
MS: So with the changes you’ve gone through, what are you looking for in your future roles?
KW: I really, really hope that my next job is not so far down the road that I’ve forgotten what I learned on this last General Hospital gig. I want to be challenged by a type of role that’s different from that whole sexual thing that I fell back on before. I’d like maybe a primetime audience and writers who respect women.
MS: Do you have anything currently lined up?
KW: My manager and agent are waiting for my OK, but I really want to have my baby and give her some time. When my son was one and I was on General Hospital, it was really hard for me to leave him and go to work sometimes.
MS: Well, Kari, thanks for taking the time to talk to me.
KW: My pleasure. Thank you.
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