everyone
wants a piece of, and not without reason. Rock Star
/ Actor / Screenwriter / Radio Host / Clairvoyant
Danielle Egnew is a creative prodigy. Add that she’s
drop-dead sexy, highly intelligent, and genuinely
friendly, and you’ll quickly find out why Danielle
Egnew is the real deal.
AfterEllen.com: Curve magazine called you "The
Most Likely to Turn You Into An Obsessed Fan."
That’s so true. Internet message boards explode
with women loving you, then hating you, then loving
you again! What do you do to these women to make them
so crazy?
Danielle Egnew: (laughs) I have no
idea! I was sort of stupid a few years back, and answered
some questions that were hypothetically posed to me
on [an internet] gossip forum. I answered as myself,
and that was a really bad idea. I was green with this
whole PR thing, and didn’t realize how mean
people were, or that no one really wants to hear from
you. As a celebrity, you’re supposed to stay
hidden, I guess, which still makes no sense to me.
I mean, after all, you’re a public personality.
If someone’s talking to you, shouldn’t
you answer? So there I was, chatting it up, and it
was like covering your arm in honey and sticking it
in a hornet’s nest!
AE:
Well, internet gossip forums are known for being vicious
because of the anonymity. What possessed you to answer
questions about yourself on a public gossip forum?
DE: Like I said, I was really naïve,
there was a bunch of information going around the
web about me that wasn’t true, so I was trying
to set the record straight—which is a very bad
idea. No one wants to hear the truth about anything.
It just makes them think that the thing you were trying
to clarify is something you are trying to cover up--the
whole thing was completely blown out of proportion,
and these women just freaked out!
AE:
So I ask you again, what do you do to these women
to make them so crazy?
DE: (laughs) I honest to God don’t
know! I still don’t! Talk to them, maybe? I
guess you’re not supposed to talk to people
like they’re your equal. They think that’s
weird, somehow. People expect something different
from public figures, like a bogus aloof attitude,
or something that makes them feel untouchable. I tend
to be accessible, and I think that just freaks people
right out, for whatever reason.
AE:
After all the craziness, and how obsessed we’ve
all seen these women become over you, are you less
accessible now?
DE: Well, unfortunately, yeah. I mean, I’ve
had to be, a little. It really bums me out. I’m
from Montana, and that’s a very social culture.
I love people, meeting new people. I’m a huge
dork, and I like to hang out with folks! (laughs)
But you’d be amazed at how many people get uncomfortable
if you just walk up and say “Hi!” People
look at you all shocked, like you have a big, oozing
sore right on your forehead, and they back away, or
freeze up. It’s bizarre. I thought it was just
me for awhile, but I have some other friends who are
also in the public eye, and they said the same thing.
Most people just can’t handle you saying hello,
if they recognize you. I honestly don’t get
it.
AE:
Being an out lesbian entertainer, do you think your
lesbian fans act differently toward you than say,
straight male fans that might find you attractive?
DE: (laughs) Oh, well…(laughs) yeah.
I mean, women tend to be more intense anyway when
it comes to something we’re attached to. I’m
not saying men aren’t intense, but in the scope
of fans, men are a lot more laid back. The women,
regardless of whether they’re gay or straight,
tend to be a lot more in-your-face. I think that’s
just a general difference in the sexes, though. I
don’t mind either way. I just like to talk to
people. I’m happy they want to talk to me!
AE:
Since your sexuality isn’t a secret, do you
find that it limits the offers you get in terms of
working film roles?
DE: No, I haven’t found that, but most
of the roles I’ve been being offered are playing
lesbians, or musicians! (big laugh) Apparently, lesbians
are the hot character to play right now, thanks to
The L Word. We’re very “in,” you
know! (laughs).
AE:
So you’re saying that the dreaded Hollywood
Closet isn’t real?
DE: The Hollywood Closet is a ridiculous
idea, because technically, almost everyone is in it!
It would have to be enormous! (laughs) There are so
many bisexual and gay media personalities, and it’s
just the norm in the industry, but there’s still
this old school fear that if anyone finds out you’re
gay, you’ll lose work. That’s such a myth.
This isn’t 1965. I really don’t think
it [sexuality] is as big a deal as people want to
make it out to be. I think we, as a society, have
much bigger fish to fry in the 21st century. The more
we stop splitting hairs on personal sexuality, the
more we can bring some actual human issues up to the
forefront of entertainment and make a difference.
How about world hunger? How about world peace? You
know, anything other than “Who is so-and so-sleeping
with?”
AE:
What about Gay Rights? Do you think that’s a
real issue?
DE: Well of course I do, but I’m not
sure how gay entertainers can push that along any
faster than Will and Grace, or The L Word. We can
certainly be visible, but the battle isn’t in
the public perception of gays and lesbians, it’s
in the public perception of those who might vote in
favor of gay rights! (laughs) Look, I feel that people’s
personal sexual preferences really should be a non-issue.
We’re all human beings. And for the most part,
sexuality really is a non-issue in entertainment,
unless you’re one of a handful of A-listers
who really think they’re pulling the wool over
America’s eyes, and God bless ‘em, because
obviously they are very afraid of being outed. And
that must be terrifying for those people, to live
in fear like that all the time. I couldn’t do
it. In terms of gay rights, that to me falls in the
category of human rights. And of course I think those
are paramount. I would love to be legally married
in my own country. It’s embarrassing that we
have to leave our own borders to achieve such a basic
civil liberty.
AE:
You’re known for being a prolific creative genius.
How were you able to achieve so much in the competitive
world of entertainment?
DE: I think it boiled down to being the last
one standing at the end of the day! (laughs) Being
successful in entertainment is a numbers game. You
have to create something, then throw it out there
and hope it flies. If it doesn’t, then you’d
better scrap it, and try again, and you can’t
get hung up on what didn’t work, and you can’t
quit. I mean, you can, but then entertainment probably
isn’t the business for you! (laughs) I’m
really blessed in that I have a lot of areas that
I can creatively turn to--music, acting, writing screenplays,
underscoring films. When one area would hitch up and
slow down, I’d go to the next one. Pretty soon,
they were all hitting, I had more work than I knew
what to do with, and everybody was calling me a creative
genius! (laughs) I really am honored that people like
my work so much. It really, really means a great deal
to me.
AE:
You do understand that your creative record is off
the scale, don’t you? Two optioned screenplays
this year, recording two albums this year, filming
two movies this year, getting your talk radio show
syndicated this year – most people would die
from exhaustion. You don’t even look tired.
DE: I don’t? Right on! (laughs) Seriously,
being creative is what I love. It doesn’t make
me tired.
AE:
Do you ever sleep?
DE: Once every 200 years, when the crow flies
at midnight. (laughs)
AE:
What is the secret to focusing your prolific creative
juices?
DE: (laughs) That sounds really naughty,
and sort of makes me crave rare steak at the same
time. Is that weird?
AE:
Let me re-phrase that. What is the secret to your
overwhelming success in music, film, and screenwriting?
DE: Ah! How linear of you! There really is
no secret. I just refuse to give up, and keep doing
what I like to do, and the success has always followed.
I’ve always been good at multi-tasking creatively.
Other areas, I suck. Don’t make me balance my
checkbook! (laughs) I find that if I don’t have
a good balance of outputting separate [creative] mediums,
I sort of break down, like a car that should be driven
fast, but eventually falls apart because it only goes
around the block once or twice. As long as I am constantly
working on two or three things, I get them all done
efficiently. My dad calls it “my disease.”
(laughs)
AE:
You’ve got some feature films coming up that
you are starring in, and one of them is a screenplay
that you originally authored. What’s it called?
DE: It’s called Imogene’s Waltz,
and it’s a drama set in a small town in Montana.
It’s an amazing character piece that’s
a story about who we are, versus who we create ourselves
to be. It’s great! Clear Pictures is doing that
film in 2006. I play Jane, the only gay person in
a tiny town of 650 people. It’s being directed
by Susan Turley, who directed and produced the gay
thriller The M.O. of M.I. as well as a bunch of other
films. Susan also cast me in a film she wrote and
is directing, called Changing Spots, and that’s
supposed to begin filming this fall, but I think they’re
changing the name of the film if I’m not mistaken.
But before that, I’m playing Dexy in Melody
and Harmony, written and directed by Teresa Crespo-Hartendorp
with LyonHart Films, filming this summer.
AE:
Which film are you the most excited about starring
in?
DE: Honestly, they’re all terrific,
and very different, and I feel incredibly blessed
to be cast in all of them! Of course, I’m pretty
thrilled that Imogene’s Waltz is getting made,
and I’m even more thrilled to be doing the score
for the film!
AE:
Your career started out in music, with the all-girl
band Pope Jane. Are your band days over?
DE: Oh, hell no! (laughs) Music will always
be part of my life. I couldn’t stop singing
and playing if I tried. I do all kinds of music, from
ambient meditation stuff to my solo album, which is
coming out sort of Alt Country, weirdly enough. I’m
still working on it [solo album] but it will be done
pretty soon--in theory. The filming has cut in a bit
to the recording schedule. Pope Jane is still technically
together--we’re just on hiatus right now while
I do all my other stuff.
AE:
Speaking of other stuff, tell me about your syndicated
talk radio show, The High Road. How did you find yourself
in talk radio with everything else you have going
on?
DE: Well, I had something to say! (laughs)
I was really disgusted with…geez, how do I put
this? (pause) I was disgusted with the lack of education
in this country regarding issues of a spiritual nature.
I don’t mean “church” spiritual,
I mean...“Spirit” spiritual. We are all
such spiritual creatures, capable of infinite miracles
and amazing, endless manifestations that could make
our lives so much richer. But no one wants to broach
the subject of what it means to create your own miracles.
We live in such a victim consciousness right now,
such a fear consciousness running the country that
the idea of a powerful individual who can dramatically
affect change is really frowned upon. The High Road
focuses on the spiritual, paranormal, sociological
and political, but mostly spiritual physics, or how
to make your life exactly what you want it to be with
out some downer person convincing you that you’re
powerless!
AE:
Whoa. That’s a mouthful. I’ll have to
go back and re-read what you said.
DE: That’s talk radio!
AE:
You’re clearly very passionate about issues
around spirituality. Could that be because you’re
an ordained minister?
DE: That’s one reason. I find that
we’ve misused spirituality in this country to
a great extent, to further an agenda of separatism.
The Jesus that I am familiar with isn’t a Separatist,
doesn’t hate anyone, and talked about everyone
getting along. It bothers me that some of the worst
terrorists, in my opinion, are religious organizations
on our own US soil who have hijacked the identity
of Jesus to further their own hate-filled agenda,
which is hardly a Christ-like thing to do.
AE:
Did you really Pastor a Christian church as a lesbian?
DE: Well, yeah, I didn’t exactly show
up to church, hang my gayness at the door, and throw
on my vestments instead! (laughs) It’s really
disgusting to me that the word “Christian”
has become almost synonymous with “Judgment”
or “Exclusion”. It’s supposed to
mean “Christ-like”, which doesn’t
involve being judgmental, or exclusive. I Pastored
in two very inclusive denominations--one being a Metropolitan
Community Church, which is open to all people and
is traditionally very gay friendly, and the other
being a non-denominational inclusive gay-friendly
ministry called The Winds of Grace, that the staff
of the MCC church and I started after the MCC church
pulled out of my hometown. It was really fun. There’s
a big need for gay and lesbian people to be able to
connect in a spiritual community, Christian, Jewish,
Hindu, Muslim or whatever their background is. I think
times are changing with the acceptance of gays in
the clergy, but they’re changing slowly. I was
always outside the box as a Pastor, though, no matter
what the denomination.
AE:
I’m sure you were. You’re also a Clairvoyant
who has been featured on the radio in Los Angeles
and helped solve police cases with your incredible
abilities. Is that the other reason you’re passionate
about spirituality?
DE: (laughs) Oh my, you played the Clairvoyant
card. (laughs. Pause) I would suppose that’s
the other reason. There is an ignorance in viewing
spiritual gifts and abilities such as Clairvoyance
and Clairaudience. We’re taught they’re
demonic, which is complete BS. The bible is full of
spiritually gifted people. Jonh the Baptist was a
wicked Clairvoyant! (laughs) Look at Buddha, he was
a prolific Medium. I just think it’s time we
took God, or Universal Intelligence, or Bob, or whatever
you call your Higher Power, out of the ignorance box
and into the 21st century.
AE:
So you’re authoring a book series on Spiritual
Physics. What exactly is that?
DE: It’s a term I’ve given to
the actual working process of manifesting miracles.
There is a lot of science, a lot of physics to manifestation
that’s really interesting. You can, literally,
make something out of nothing. When you break down
the “how-to”, it works out to Quantum
Physics, or the functioning of the infinitesimal.
I’ve always been a Quantum Physics junkie, an
arm-chair physicist! (laughs) So my books are about
the manifestation of miracles, and the physics behind
it, so people can easily put their brain around the
concept and make it theirs in everyday application,
rather than miracles being some untouchable thing
that died with a guy who walked in the desert 2000
ago. Like that movie What The Bleep Do We Know? It
covers a similar set of topics. I loved that movie.
AE:
And you think Quantum Physics is going to make it
easier for people to understand how to make miracles
happen? Isn’t that like saying using College
Trigonometry would make it easier to do your taxes?
DE: Not exactly. With trig, you have to sling
numbers. With Quantum Physics, you sling energy. It’s
a lot easier.
AE:
Easy for who? You’re writing a “how to
make miracles happen” handbook for the masses,
like Miracles for Dummies?
DE: (laughs) Hey, that’s a catchy title!
Better than the one I thought up! (laughs) It’s
a lot easier than it sounds, I promise. I just want
to share with people that miracles, and manifestation,
aren’t a trick, or aren’t only granted
to those who live perfect lives. They’re part
of our spiritual operating system. They’re actually
supposed to be part of our survival mechanisms down
here, to be able to manifest just what we need, but
somewhere along the line, some church and some state
decided that it would give too much power to the masses
to enable people with their own greatest gifts. Which
is sad, because holy people like Buddha and Jesus
and Mohammed and Paramahansa Yogananda all tried so
hard to hook people up with their own highest potential,
and the spiritual organizations of the day were running
around behind them screaming “Blasphomy!”
AE:
I’ve heard rumors about your enormous mind.
Now I’ve seen that brain in action. What a thing
of beauty.
DE: Well, thank you, but don’t tell
anybody. They’ll expect me to do something with
it!
Danielle
Egnew is accessible online at danielleegnew.com |
