Lt. Stephanie Holden is much more conservative than I am, and more practical. Although in all the dinner scenes on Baywatch I made sure I had no meat or fish on my plate, I do believe that Stephanie was a meat eater. I just dont like to put out pro-meat messages (I think that on TV even subtle things on the screen influence viewers greatly) so I justified it by figuring Stephanie already ate the meat/fish on the plate! I think that she would be unequivocally against animal testing on cosmetics and household products (she is not a frivolous person, by any means), but that on medical testing she would believe that it was a necessary evil. Stephanie thinks more with her head than her heart , and that is one of her drawbacks. Actually, she wouldnt be educated on the issue of animal testing anyway (unfortunately) so she didnt really think through it. If she did, hopefully she would have agreed with me and be against animal testing and all the cruelty and waste of money it causes.

As for the character I most resemble, on Baywatch it would probably be Cody, David Chokachi’s character. Cody was an athlete, friendly, not as ambitious as Stephanie (he cared more about quality of life than a job title) and was driven more by emotions. The character I most resemble in my other projects might be in Redemption of the Ghost, a film that hasnt been released yet. Although I play a widowed mom in it (and I am not mom, nor am I widowed , thank goodness!), I see alot of Alexandra onscreen. I dont know if that is good or bad! I think a big part of me was in Becky of American Flyers and a guest spot I did on the short-lived TV show Johnny Bago, where I played a free-spirited environmentalist.

The characters I am least like have been in 12 Bucks ( I am cocaine-using, foul mouthed, bad-taste-in-husband, child-neglecting trailer trash) and a woman in an Italian movie I did called Millions with Billy Zane and Lauren Hutton. (It actually can be found in the video store, but – I warn you! – it is not very good and I am terrible in it!).

Thank you for writing! Best wishes,

Alexandra

Dear John,

Unfortunately, I wont be at Los Alamos this year on the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. I have never been there – only to the Nevada Test Site on that date. It is a very powerful time to be at a nuclear weapons lab and I encourage everyone who is concerned about this issue to show up for the Action there. Rent the movie Testament (starring Jane Alexander) before you go, to get an idea of what kind of pointless horror these weapons can wreak. The next time I am planning to go commit civil disobedience is next February 28th at the Nevada Test Site (just one hour north of Las Vegas on Highway 95, I think). There is an Action there for Ash Wednesday.

The person from history I would most like meet is Benjamin Franklin. I think he started libraries and post offices here in the US, two places I really like going ot because they are so democratic. He was an amazing inventor and incredibly smart (I should read a biography on him to learn more). I would discuss with him ways to have peace and love in the world and how to protect Nature!

I loved Meg Ryan in Promised Land. She was incredible and her character was so free-spirited, spontaneous and unburdened by what other people think. It would have been such an adventure to play her. I really want to play someone who is kooky and freeeeeeee!

Thank you for your letter. I enjoyed thinking about my responses to your questions.

Alexandra

Thank you for all your support. Yes, I have been involved in many civil disobedience actions. Civil disobedience is breaking the law to bring attention to an issue, but doing it in an upfront, civil way. For example, at the Nevada Test Site, where the US tests nuclear weapons (thereby not only perpetuating the arms race and pouring billions of dollars into the dead-end of weapons of massive destruction, but also creating tons of lethal nuclear waste and plutonium that no one has figured out how to store safely. We cant just “throw it away”), I have kneeled in front of a bus bringing workers into the test site; climbed a fence onto test site property; walked often onto test site property holding hands with fellow peace activists and saying a prayer.

In Los Angeles, I was at a demonstration asking the government to provide more drugs to people with AIDS. I was arrested for sitting down and not moving when the cops asked me to ( a “sit-in”). During civil disobedience I believe it is important to be respectful of the police who arrest you and to act with dignity and grace, even if they dont act that way (at the AIDS protest the cops put on rubber gloves before they touched us).

Perhaps the most radical issue I have been involved in is with my brother Jonathan’s organization Hunt Saboteurs. When there is a hunt, the saboteurs attempt to sabotage the hunt by getting between the hunters guns and their prey, so the hunter wont shoot. Or the saboteurs warn the animals by making noise, so they will run away. I went with my brother to the Mojave Desert, where there is a hunting season for Bighorn Sheep, and followed hunters there (very hard as they are in trucks and I am just in camouflage). Jonathan does alot of this: he is currently on the ocean off Seattle, Washington trying to stop the hunting of whales by the Makah Indians. He is very brave and he is my hero. (see link to his website)

Thank you for writing. And for those of you who are activists, keep up the good fight!
Alexandra