Veteran actress Jean Smart was a guest on Reba McEntire’s Spotify podcast, “Living & Learning.” It was an open conversation about womanhood, their careers, life, and loss, among other topics. Digital Journal has the recap.
A few key moments from this informed conversation were the following:
Jean Smart revealed the similarities between her and her most famous roles.
Reba: “Do you think there’s a similarity in all the women you’ve played? Are some of them you? Are you actually playing a role?”
Jean: “I think there are some similarities in some of the higher-profile things I’ve done. I think I find myself attracted to roles where the character keeps their emotions very, very close. You know, play the cards close to the vest and not reveal them easily. I mean partly I think those are interesting characters to play but there’s something about that attracts me.”
Jean gets emotional while taking Reba through how she did her Emmys acceptance speech while grieving the death of her late husband:
Reba: “Hey, I wanted to say you did a wonderful job on your acceptance speech at the Emmys. I sat there so full of emotion, my heart goes out to you… How do you get through rough times like that?”
Jean: “I’ve never had one like this so you just hang on. You know people say ‘oh you’re so strong’ I go ‘based on what, why are you saying that?’ I don’t feel strong at all about that. I have a 13-year-old and you know I want everything to be pretty much stable for him to stay the same and so I still get up in the morning, pack his lunch and make him breakfast and get him to school and try to think of the good times.”
Reba: “My heart really went out to you. Having to be in front of all the people to say what you did, it was strong, no matter what you think it is or not. But to say that, I was really proud of you and my heart went out to you.”
Jean shares her thoughts on how the entertainment industry has evolved for women.
Jean: “I think that for a long time women didn’t necessarily help other women in their industry as much as I think they do now because I think there was always this feeling of you know ‘there’s only so much room at the top and I’m up here and I’m gonna stay up here’ and unfortunately I think that a lot of women kind of were made to feel that way and it’s really not the case anymore. I think it’s a much better atmosphere now for women in the industry.”
Reba: “Well don’t you think because there are so many more women in the industry we’re kind of like ‘let’s all pull together’ whereas before there weren’t and so if you didn’t get that job that other person would so it was kind of a more cut-throat type situation.. ”
Jean: “I would imagine especially women who were executives in this business who were trying to beat out three or four guys to the position. I’m sure they felt like they had to be tough as nails .’
Jean reveals if she ever thinks about retiring:
Reba: “I asked Dolly Parton this question when we were together. Do you ever think you’re going to retire? Do you look forward to retiring? Do you have a set age”
Jean: “No. Betty White’s my hero so I want to be Betty. I figure they’re always going to need little old ladies in movies and TV shows.”
Reba winds down the conversation by having Jean Smart play a game called, “Are You Smarter Than Smart?” Reba asks Smart fun questions where she is testing her knowledge of her iconic career and characters including her character Reba on Hey Arnold! After winning the game, Smart receives an enticing reward.. a meal made by Reba’s boyfriend Rex Linn the next time he and Reba are in LA.
To check out this entire episode on Spotify, click here.
