Goldie Hawn used to be a go-go dancer on Laugh In, do you remember that? I wasn’t even born then but I remember seeing her on re-runs, and realizing that it was Goldie before she got famous. One of my favorite movies as a kid was Foul Play, with Goldie, Chevy Chase and Dudley Moore. It probably was wildly inappropriate for me but it used to play on HBO all the time so I watched it frequently. It turns out that Goldie got her start as a dancer, she was trained as a ballerina and then went into go-go dancing in 60s when it was popular. Goldie is promoting her new movie with Amy Schumer, Snatched, which is out May 12. It looks dumb and tone deaf and I feel bad for Goldie that this film is marking her return to film after 15 years, but Trainwreck wasn’t bad so this might be passable. Goldie was interviewed by her daughter, Kate Hudson, for Interview magazine and she told a story about being sexually harassed while dancing at the age of 25. She also spoke a lot about hard work, persistence and being grateful for what you have. I’m not quoting all that but it’s worth reading for inspiration. Goldie really opens up, most likely because she’s talking to Kate.

On experiencing harassment as a go-go dancer
When I started go-go dancing on tables for a living, I didn’t want to tell my mom or my dad. I made 25 dollars a night, and I was able to make my rent, with the four girls I lived with. It was a challenge, but I never once said, “One day I’m going to do this and that …” I never looked at life that way. I just saw where I was and knew that I was going to continue to move on with my career. When I went to go-go dance at the Peppermint Box in New Jersey, I took a Greyhound bus and, believe it or not, I had a go-go agent. I don’t know how I got that. I was slow dancing on a table to “Everybody Loves Somebody” by Dean Martin with my little outfit on. But when some guy in a suit showed me his penis, I said, “I need to get home.” The bartender was like, “You won’t get a Greyhound now. It’s too late.” I went, “Where’s your owner? I want to get paid.” She said, “Oh, he passed out a long time ago.” And then I went to every guy at the bar—it was a truck stop—until finally two guys said, “Okay, we’ll take you home.” And I went home in an 18-wheeler. [both laugh] This was 1965 or something like that.

On dealing with success
And when I was picked out of a chorus line and cast in a TV series, I got anxious, so I took the bull by the horns and went to see a psychologist. And it was the greatest move I ever made. Because, at that early age, in order to reduce your sense of imbalance, you have to learn more about yourself. So after about a year of studying—revealing some of my deepest fears inside that room—I realized that the way people see me, as a star, has nothing to do with me. It’s like a Rorschach test, like I am something they can identify with, learn to love, learn to hate, learn to resent … but I gave it back to them. So if somebody said to me, “Oh, I love you!”—that makes me happy to see them happy, but I wouldn’t take it in as something that builds my ego. And that’s how I stabilized myself. Your ego can get so inflated in this business because suddenly everybody thinks you’re great. But you have to know how great you are. The Academy Award—I was in bed. I forgot it was on television. [Hudson laughs] I just went to bed because I had a job to do. I forgot. And you know what? I’m really happy about that. And then my mom and dad called, and they were crying and happy and so proud of their daughter. And that made me cry.

[From Interview]

Sometimes when men speak down to me or I otherwise experience sexism I think of how much worse it must have been for my mother’s generation. They had less opportunities, harassment was more rampant, and they had to deal with so much. I worry that we’re going back there somewhat in so many ways. Goldie also told Kate about how she lobbied for her opinion to be heard on films sets and how producers took her seriously. That must have taken a lot of nerve back then. She also discussed her MindUp charity, which teaches children mindfulness techniques to reduce anxiety. I love Goldie and this interview was a real treat. I think I learned some lessons from her. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Snatched isn’t a total POS movie, for Goldie’s sake. I’m not going to see it in theaters and Amy does not give me confidence though.

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