Geena Davis
7/20/20262 hr 5 min
Geena Davis (The Boroughs, Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own) is an Academy Award-winning actor and activist. Geena joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up shy and tall in a strict New England household, reinventing herself as an exchange student in Sweden, and going from posing as a department-store mannequin to landing her first role in Tootsie. Geena and Dax talk about winning an Oscar at 32, how Susan Sarandon taught her to stop apologizing for existing on set, and discovering her athleticism while filming A League of Their Own. Geena explains how roles can transform who you are, why the precision of Olympic archery offered relief from the subjectivity of Hollywood, and why lasting cultural change begins with making unconscious bias impossible to ignore.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDax Shepard· Host0:00
Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dax Shepard. I'm joined by Monica Padman.
Monica Padman· Host0:04
Hi.
Dax Shepard· Host0:04
Hello. Uh, today we have an icon, Geena Davis. She is an Academy Award-winning actor, Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own, Beetlejuice, Long Kiss Goodnight, The Fly.
Monica Padman· Host0:18
Legend. Sometimes we get legends in here. It's pretty cool.
Dax Shepard· Host0:20
Oh, I loved her. Please enjoy Geena Davis.
Geena Davis· Guest0:23
He's an armchair expert. He's an armchair expert. He's an armchair expert. He's an armchair expert. Was looking for the seatbelt.
Dax Shepard· Host0:43
Oh, you were? [laughs] Interesting.
Geena Davis· Guest0:46
Yeah.
Dax Shepard· Host0:46
You were, 'cause you think this is gonna be a wild ride?
Geena Davis· Guest0:48
[laughs] [laughs] I- I've been flying a lot lately.
Monica Padman· Host0:52
Oh.
Dax Shepard· Host0:52
Okay.
Geena Davis· Guest0:52
So maybe that was it. I don't know.
Monica Padman· Host0:53
It's just muscle memory.
Dax Shepard· Host0:55
That's really sweet. You really did just go for your seatbelt.
Geena Davis· Guest0:57
[laughs] Yeah, I just was- Yeah ... who knows what's gonna happen?
Dax Shepard· Host1:00
How long have you been in Studio City?
Geena Davis· Guest1:02
Only less than a year. I'm just renting. Just live in the Palisades. Moved before all of that.
Dax Shepard· Host1:08
Oh.
Geena Davis· Guest1:08
Unfortunately, that house went.
Monica Padman· Host1:10
Oh.
Dax Shepard· Host1:10
Ooh, ooh.
Geena Davis· Guest1:11
And then I rented a place in Venice for two years. Then I gave up the lease on that because I had to go to New Mexico.
Dax Shepard· Host1:18
[laughs] New Mexico.
Geena Davis· Guest1:19
To shoot a series. [laughs] [laughs] And then just as I was gonna come back, I thought, "Oh, it'll be so easy to find." The fires happened right when I was coming back.
Monica Padman· Host1:28
Oh, wow.
Dax Shepard· Host1:28
And so everyone was renting up