E-mail a friendGeena Davis
airdate August 11, 2006
Geena Davis is a modern Renaissance woman. She's the U.S. president - in ABC's drama, Commander in Chief - a competitive archer, accomplished musician and a member of Mensa. The Massachusetts native and former model has crafted a diverse list of credits, including the cult classic Thelma & Louise and her Oscar-winning turn in The Accidental Tourist. Davis is also the founder of See Jane, a program to reduce gender stereotyping in media for children, and a trustee of the Women's Sports Foundation.
Geena Davis
Tavis: Madam President, nice to have you here (laughter).
Geena Davis: Thank you so much, Tavis (laughter).
Tavis: So how cool is it to play the president? You dig this?
Davis: I really do (laughter). I love to be the president. I mean, when I just even first heard about it, I was like, "Oh, my God, why didn't I think of this?" It's such an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding role, but it's also really fun, you know, to be going around the White House and all the Secret Service guys following me everywhere I go. Totally, my life is ruined, basically. I'll never be able to go back (laughter).
Tavis: And you play it so well. I got to tell you, I had this really silly thought. I should probably not confess on national television, but I had this really silly thought watching that clip and watching you when you walked on the stage here. I mean, I had heard, of course, you're really tall. You're what, six feet? So I'd heard you were really tall. My first time meeting you, you sit down and I see these long legs you got wrapped up here, and I'm thinking Hillary is too short to be president.
Davis: Oh, God (laughter).
Tavis: Maybe that's the problem here. It's not her politics. She's just not tall enough to be a commander-in-chief.
Davis: Well, there's that whole thing. But haven't they figured out that the taller candidate usually wins like ninety percent of the time or something?
Tavis: See, I knew you would know that because, when you're in Mensa, you know stuff like this. I knew you'd pick up on the point I was trying to make there about that correlation.
Davis: Where did I hear - I would be the seventh tallest president if I was the real president or something like that.
Tavis: You'd be the seventh tallest.
Davis: Seventh or seventeenth. Yeah, right, that I would -
Tavis: - of course, the flip side of that argument - and here's this crazy Mensa conversation - the flip side of that argument is that we are typically taught or told at least that it's that Napoleon complex that pushes a lot of guys to be aggressive and to seek power, so maybe the theory is all wrong. I don't know.
Davis: I don't know. Perhaps those types seek power, but I don't know that we are attracted to people that are obviously and clearly power-mad (laughter). I think we'd like people to be more subtle about it.
Tavis: What have you - this is a strange question to ask - have you learned anything, looked at presidential politics differently, adjusted your viewpoint or prism because of the opportunity to play this role?
Davis: Well, one of the things I find most fascinating is that, when I'm doing interviews, almost invariably people will say, "Do you intend to run for president in real life?" I'm really struck by that. Like when I played an assassin (laughter), everybody didn't say, "You're really good at this. Are you planning to become an assassin in real life?"
I usually say, you know, I am learning no valuable experience for the real job on the show. But that's not entirely true. I mean, I do have to look at politics more and think about it more. I'm playing an Independent which is, you know, different. I'm a Democrat. It really is fascinating to look at that and think about all that.
Tavis: Have you thought, to your point, and I promised not to ask you that question (laughter).
Davis: No, I didn't trust you (laughter).
Tavis: I had that next on my list, as a matter of fact.
Davis: Oh, good thing I didn't ask (laughter).
Tavis: No, no. Glad I didn't ask that silly question for the eighteenth-thousandth time. That said, have you thought about what chance a woman would have - I know you've been asked the question could a woman really win - but could a woman win as an Independent candidate or would you have to be aligned with a party to even have a real chance at it?
Davis: I don't know that a man could win as an Independent. I think that's more unlikely. It will take longer for an Independent to win because there's no party structure, you know, no machine behind it. But hopefully a woman will win soon.
The point I like to make is, we're not just going to have one. We're not going to have one and get that out of the way. You know, we have to get to the point where it's just as likely for a woman or a person of color to be the president and just get used to that, get past it.
Tavis: That's why I love "Commander in Chief.' Got a sister, got a woman as president and a brother as a Chief of Staff.
Davis: That's right.
Tavis: It's television. You know it's television, but we can dream, can't we?
Davis: We can, yeah (laughter).
Tavis: We can dream, can't we? Harry Lennix was on this program not long ago. I love Harry Lennix.
Davis: I love him, I love him.
Tavis: And you guys are like two of the brightest people I know, you and Harry Lennix, so it must be like really cool in between takes to be a fly on the wall listening to the conversations between you and Harry.
Davis: Yeah, yeah (laughter). You know, I'm amazed by him and he claims to be amazed by me. But he could do anything. He's so brilliant and wonderful on piano and he's got it all. He's so great.
Tavis: How many times a day - speaking of questions that you get tired of being asked - do you get asked that Hillary question? Do you get asked about the Hillary factor all the time? Particularly, you're playing president, you are a Democrat. You get asked that question all the time, I take it. I won't ask it, but -
Davis: - (laughter) No, I did in the beginning. It sort of has faded away, but it was more before the show came on the air. There was some talk about, you know, is this show a plot to get Hillary elected? And I said, well, I don't think ABC has plots. I think they want to have ratings.
I think people see that the character really is her own person and that really the point of the show is less about that it's a woman that's the president as somebody that has an incredibly strong moral compass and figures, you know, I somehow landed in this place and I'm going to do the right thing because I'm not going to get re-elected probably. I'm not going to assume that. I'm just going to do what I think is right for the country.
I think that's what our fantasy always is, you know, that we want to think that our leaders are going to be people that make decisions for us and for the right reasons and not because of the party platform or what's convenient for them.
Tavis: That's our show for tonight. You can catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. I'll see you back here next time, though, on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching and, as always, keep the faith.
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