BACKSTAGE PASS

Jennifer Siebel — Balancing Act

by Jonathan Moscone

  Actor, producer and Stanford Business School grad, Jennifer Siebel, was born in San Francisco and grew up in Ross, daughter of Judy Siebel, who co-founded the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, and Ken Siebel, a cofounder of Conservation International. Jennifer currently appears onstage in John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation (through November 17) at SF Playhouse, and also manages to find time to date the Mayor of San Francisco.

SNAPSHOT
First theatrical role?
“Rose” in Bye, Bye Birdie.
Actors you most admire?
Meryl Streep, Joan Allen, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts.
Role you’re dying to play?
An Edward Albee or Tennessee Williams leading lady.
The one thing about yourself you’d like to change?
I’m horrible at managing my time.
Your ultimate pet peeve?
Gossip.
One thing in life you can’t live without?
My dogs, Lady and Tika.
Your most sinful indulgence?
I know it’s boring, but chocolate.

PORTRAIT
   Jonathan Moscone: In addition to SF Playhouse, you have a recurring role on a new TV series as well as a role in In the Valley of Elah, the new film by Academy Award-winning writer and director Paul Haggis.
   Jennifer Seibel: The TV show is Life (Wednesday nights, 10 PM, NBC). It’s a great story, I highly recommended it — if it’s still on the air by the time this comes out! I play the ex-wife of a cop (played by lead actor Damian Lewis) who was wrongly accused of murder and, 12 years later, has just been released from jail. In the Valley of Elah is a wonderful movie. I’m encouraging people to see it because it’s incredibly powerful. Don’t go to see me.
   What was it like to work on that film with Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron?
   Paul (Haggis) roped in so many fantastic actors from Josh Brolin to Frances Fisher to Susan Sarandon — it’s an amazing cast. I’m proud to know someone like Paul who’s a bold, brave and courageous writer. He tackles very intense subjects. Working with that caliber of actors was incredibly special. The fact that I’m working in films at all is special, too! I’m an actor. So that’s what I want to do: work.
   So you’re juggling a burgeoning film, TV and a theatrical career along with running your own production company. Not to mention, jetting up and down the coast to visit your boyfriend (Mayor Gavin Newsom). How many of there are you?
   I’m a Gemini, so I have multiple personalities! But it’s pretty hectic. This business is a 24/7 job. Being an artist is a 24/7 job. You’re constantly balancing commercial and artistic endeavors. On top of that, I feel like I have four jobs: acting, producing, my own health and well being, and being with friends and family up here.
   The typical sort of concern, at least for an actor, is yourself. You are the product, you are the instrument. To build that requires a lot of self-concern, so it becomes all about you. Now, you’re trying to build a relationship with someone who bears incredible responsibilities and a killer schedule. 
   Growing up, my mom constantly multitasked as she raised my sisters and me and helped to support our dad. So it’s only natural that I’m juggling now, too. The only way I know how to do that is through communication, realism and patience. Sometimes I think I’d make a better manager than an actor because I feel like I’m better at selling other people. It’s fun to get behind Gavin because I really believe in him. I would be miserable if it were all about me.
   For most actors, it is about them. That’s why we hire them. It has to be that way for them to do their work.
   Which is why I love being in the theater, in film or on TV — you have to shut all the chaotic stuff out and concentrate on yourself. But it’s a balancing act — to delve into yourself when you’re working and to be interested in the world beyond yourself when not.
   Going back to the subject of mayoral boyfriends and mothers, when my mother was first lady of the city, back in the ’70s, she, like so many women of her generation, looked to Jackie Kennedy as a role model — perfect wife, mother, hostess. If you and Mayor Newsom were to marry, I don’t see that happening with you. Do the two of you ever discuss that? What it would be like if…?
   People do mention the ‘first lady’ thing to me and it makes me sort of shy. But yes, we’ve talked about it. And joked about it, too. We both care about creating a normal, balanced life that includes family. I especially push that with him because he works so hard and has to be available seven days a week.
   For a while, I was kind of the black sheep of my family, doing my own thing, working with Conservation International in Africa, Europe and Latin America. However, no matter where I traveled, my family always grounded me and, when I was far away, reminded me of the importance of family. I know that Gavin wants the same thing.
   You have a great vulnerability on stage that I’ve seen…you have genuine access to what hurts you and how to communicate that very truthfully.
   I lost my older sister when I was younger. So I was exposed to loss at an early age. Perhaps it’s survivor’s guilt — that I survived and she didn’t, and that led me to realize life is not all about me, it’s about the bigger picture.
   I was doing the red carpet at the Elah premiere in Los Angeles and the photographers were yelling at me to get my attention. And I’m no one! They just saw an actor and started screaming. And I thought to myself, “This is horrible! Who wants to be a part of this?” It makes me sad that there is this celebrity culture so driven by this need to expose people — to build them up and tear them apart.
   What’s beyond the typical Hollywood scene for you?
   Women’s issues are very important to me. I’m developing a documentary on female empowerment and the creation of mentors for young girls all over the world. Providing a window to role models in all realms and walks of life — whether it’s medicine or politics or health or entertainment. Beyond the tabloid girls. Frankly, sometimes I get scared — how do you raise a child in today’s society?
   Young girls and boys need to have access to ideas or tools that can enrich their lives. The right tools will allow them to do something in this world, beyond being cool, or famous or hot. Beyond taking drugs or wearing the latest designer outfit.
   When I see Gavin’s passion in seeking solutions for the homeless in the city, it reminds me of my time after college when I was thinking about becoming a doctor. I worked in a children’s hospital in Quito, Ecuador. It was heartbreaking. The poverty these children were born into affected their health — from scabies and malnourishment to physical abuse. Whether through volunteering or my work, it’s my hope that I can in some way contribute to global efforts in the reduction of poverty and giving people access to the basics: shelter, nutrition, health and hope in life.
   Where did you get this value of philanthropy, about service beyond your own life?
   My father grew up in Illinois with very few advantages in his early life. He instilled in us the importance of hard work and giving back to the community. At 12, my family traveled to Africa and I saw Kenyan children with no hope, dressed in rags. It hit me how fortunate I was. I felt an impulse — this need to find a way to help people who are less fortunate.
   Obviously, Hollywood is not that. The acting thing started on the side as a hobby and a passion. The producing has become a way to make projects that will hopefully inspire and educate people.
   That’s what is interesting about meeting Gavin — the pieces of my life are coming back together. We both share a commitment to community at large, and giving back, and making a difference. And the desire to create a normal, balanced, life.
   Relatively, speaking?
   (smiles) Relatively.

     Jonathan Moscone is a native San Franciscan as well as Artistic Director of the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda.