28
TheSuccessionstar had her own secret existence among the free toiletries.
As the shrewdly strategic Gerri Kellman, the general counsel and interim CEO of Waystar Royco onHBOsSuccession,J.
Smith-Cameronis always planning at least three steps ahead of the competition.
But she was still living paycheck to paycheck.
As a young actress, ingenues are a dime a dozen, Smith-Cameron, now 65, tells Bustle.
I had to just take jobs I couldn’t really design what I wanted to do.
But life at 28 was more than a mad dash from one audition to the next.
She was becoming a seasoned New Yorker, and landed one of the parts shed always wanted.
I had good times and definitely bad times, Smith-Cameron says.
Your body’s young and healthy, but you’re beginning to get battle-scarred.
The scars werent all bad, either: It gives you a little smoky flavor of experience about you.
It makes you actually a really attractive, interesting person.
Take me back to 1985, when you turned 28.
How were you feeling about your life and career?
One big milestone was that I got cast as Juliet inRomeo and Juliet.
It was at Syracuse Stage, but that was a part I’d always wanted to play.
You didn’t prepare like you thought you could get it."
And I got right back out of bed and started rehearsing the monologues again in my nightgown.
I went in the next day very tired, but I got the part.
What was your lifestyle like, living in New York?
There was a real sense of figuring out how to live in New York.
Where are you going to live?
How are you going to find a doctor?
By the time I was 28, I was hitting that.
I had a sort of spacious apartment in Sunnyside, Queens this big pre-war elevator building with a dishwasher.
Did you thrive in that environment, or was it a difficult adjustment?
But I think it is also sort of this vulnerable, lonely, scary time.
I remember I got burgled when I lived in Washington Heights.
Being in your 20s is this really exciting time, but also a war zone.
I was no different.
What did you splurge on at 28?
Wed go out after the theater a lot, like toJoe Allen.
That was maybe a spurge.
Then I had a routine: I would go to the Plaza Hotel.
It was one of those bathrooms that had toiletries.
So I would carry my toothbrush with me.
That was my little secret existence.
Playing Gerri onSuccessionhas been a breakthrough TV role thats garnered youa lotofattention.
Do you think you would’ve been equipped for that attention at 28?
Ill never get equipped for it.
It’s a weird feeling.
I mean, it’s really nice to be in a hit show for a million reasons.
She’s wily and she’s crafty.
What advice would you give your 28-year-old self?
I would tell my 28-year-old self to be a little less judgmental of herself.
There’s just such pressure in our industry to be Barbie doll perfect figures, with even-featured cookie-cutter looks.
Less so nowadays, but certainly I felt that when I was that age.
I look up pictures now and Im like, “I was nice-looking.”
I was so hard on myself and not ambitious enough.
I’d be like, Be a little bolder and don’t be so hard on yourself.
You’re stacking up pretty good for what you’re trying to do.
You’re coming along.
It’s always bumpy.
What would your 28-year-old self think of you now?
When I turned 40, I was worried about that, and I got some great parts then.
And the same when I turned 50 and when I turned 60.
Nowadays, things are a little different people are more open-minded.
you’ve got the option to have peoplethirsting after youon Twitter at 65.
I mean, never cut yourself short and don’t be afraid of the future!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
This article was originally published onApril 10, 2023
