Acting, Dreamwork, and the Study of Religion – A Talk with Amy Brenneman

For Pop Apocalypse Episode 20, Host Matthew Dillon welcomes actress, writer, producer, and activist Amy Brenneman. After earning her BA in the Comparative Study of Religion at Harvard, Amy went on to a successful acting career, with star turns in the film Heat and in television shows including The Leftovers, The Old Man, and Judging Amy (which she also wrote and produced). In this wide-ranging conversation, Amy and Matthew explore how the craft of acting, the study of religion, the practice of Jungian dreamwork, and decades of practicing active imagination have enriched one another throughout her career. They discuss the similarities between ritual and acting and how a background in comparative religion helped Amy write, build, and inhabit characters. Amy also shares what helped bring a mythic and numinous dimension to roles like Laurie Garvey in The Leftovers. They conclude by discussing Amy’s current experience as a master’s student at Harvard Divinity School and her research into the politics and possibilities of the Trickster. BIO: Amy Brenneman is an American actress, producer, writer, and political activist. She is known for multiple award-winning television roles, including Judging Amy (which she wrote and produced), NYPD Blue, Frasier, Heartbeat (executive producer), VEEP, and The Leftovers, as well as movie roles in Heat, Casper, Friends and Neighbors, and The Jane Austen Book Club. She was a founding member of the social justice-focused Cornerstone Theater Company and has performed in many notable theaters around the country. She starred in the world premieres of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Rapture Blister Burn and Fake It Until You Make It, and starred in The Sound Inside, which the Los Angeles Times named one of the year’s best performances. Amy has been honored by multiple activist organizations and currently serves on the Creative Council for the Center for Reproductive Rights. Amy earned a BA in the Comparative Study of Religion at Harvard University and is currently pursuing an MDiv at Harvard, researching the role of the Trickster archetype in ritual and activism.