JoBeth Williams: Keeping the ‘Pressures of Showbiz’ in Perspective

Mind Your Body with Stephanie Stephens features celebrities age 45+ who share their healthy living secrets. 

JoBeth Williams leads one of those balanced lives that so many women aspire to. She’s a successful actress in film, television, and on stage. She has a wonderful family, and she gives back to the career that’s given her so much. She looks wonderful and her positive energy about life and work are easy to detect.

She originally planned to be a child psychologist, but when theater called, she answered.

Her fans and admirers have followed her career progression in so many films including Kramer vs. Kramer, Poltergeist, The Big Chill and Teachers. Nominated for an Academy Award for directing, JoBeth also has three Emmy nominations. We saw her in Frasier, The Client, Dexter and Private Practice, Marry Me, and a long list of TV movies.  

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Now she’s Rebecca “Ricky” Weston on Your Family or Mine on TBS. She joins pal Richard Dreyfuss as an in-law on the sitcom that BuddyTV described like this: “The show’s zany family comedy harkens back to more classic days of sitcoms while still seeming current.”

Now 66, JoBeth appreciates what her career has done for her life, and she pulls from that gratitude in her role as President of the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Foundation. In its own words, the foundation is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive, educational and state-of-the-art resources to the performance community. Check out the foundation’s good works—you’ll recognize some other famous faces.

You’ll agree here that JoBeth is one wise woman who stays grounded when it would be easy to otherwise flutter.

Hi, JoBeth! Let’s get into questions, and I always start with “How do you Mind Your Body” with what you eat?  Your mom was a dietitian so I imagine you had some excellent guidance at home, yes?

Yes, my mom was a dietician, and she especially urged me to eat salads. So I have grown up loving them, and when I need to drop some pounds, which happens more as I get older, I find new ways to make salads interesting, so I don’t feel too deprived. I really try to avoid white foods as much as possible—i.e. bread, pasta, crackers, potatoes. I find that when I stop eating starchy foods, I feel better and don’t put on weight. We have a very handy kitchen gadget that makes veggies like zucchini into spirals, so we cook those and put pasta sauce on top.  It makes a great pasta substitute.

What’s your workout routine? Any parts of it you’d really rather not do (but you do)?

I have never loved exercising, but I have to say that my iPad has made a big difference in how often I get on the treadmill. I can read a book (which is one of my favorite things to do) while I’m on the treadmill, and I’ll look up and 45 minutes will have gone by without my realizing it!  Magic! And I do Pilates every week when I am not shooting, which is a great way to gain strength and flexibility.

You have two children. What’s the most important health lesson you try to reinforce with them?

Sunscreen, because they are both fair. As boys, they complained about it, but now that they are in their twenties, they realize why I nagged. And eating vegetables and fruits, of course, which both have finally grown to like. I am happy that they are now into exercise and better eating habits.

Life in Hollywood can be just a bit stressful. How do you look after your emotional health and balance?

My husband (a director) and I long ago realized that we could succumb to the constant pressure of our industry, or try to carve out a life not dependent on being always “on top.” Because the truth is that you can’t always be on top—and what does that even mean? So we have done our best to keep our family in the forefront of how we live our lives, which sometimes required us to turn down work so that at least one of us was always home with our sons as they were growing up. As much as we both love our work, our priority has always been our family, and I think that has helped keep the “pressure of showbiz” in perspective.

Would you share your thoughts on being a woman in Hollywood who isn’t in her 20s? How do you feel about the obsession with perfection from a physical standpoint?

Well, it is frustrating to be a woman in our business, period, because so many more roles are written for men than for women. Add to that the ageism in Hollywood, and the frustration level goes up, of course. I came of age when feminism was going strong, and I was sure that our business would be heavily influenced by it. But the statistics for female actors, directors, producers, cinematographers, and all aspects of our industry are pretty sad.

We need more women in positions of power to stand up and say, “Hire more women and pay them as well as men.” I was so proud of Patricia Arquette for her Oscar speech and bringing this into the public eye. That said, I feel I have been lucky to continue to work and find interesting projects. I wish there were better roles and more of them for women my age.

And about those standards of beauty?

As to our obsession with physical perfection, sadly, our industry has been one of the main purveyors of the idea that we should all meet impossible standards of youth and beauty. I will never judge anyone for doing things to make themselves look or feel better, but many go to extremes. And certainly our business more than most expects physical beauty at any age and has contributed to creating unrealistic expectations of what is beautiful.

What’s your opinion about the scarcity of roles for women in our age group? (Please fix that!)

My only ideas about fixing this problem are to have more women writers, producers, directors, studio heads, etc. And to have more of us, myself included, support projects by and about women.

When you just have to take a break from the nearly 24/7 nature of our existence in today’s world, what do you do? Do you ever find you just “need a day off”?

More and more, I realize that in this hectic, too plugged-in and too easily accessible world, we become deaf to our inner lives. This inner self is being drowned out by media and overcrowding, and traffic. This is creative death, not just for artists, but for every human being who wants to live a fulfilled life. I find myself cutting back my schedule, staying home more than going out, listening to music I love, reading, meditating, and trying to be awake to nature. I have a lovely yard, and it gives me great peace just to sit in it.

Tell us about your role as Ricky on Your Family or Mine. You’ve said she’s tough and a bit more. What do you find in common with her?

Well, Ricky is very sure she knows what’s best for everyone and is not shy about telling them. I can relate, in the sense that I feel I should try to help my sons in every way I can. But I try to bite my tongue so I don’t tell them what to do. Ricky has no problem being bossy. I have to admire her self-certainty, but in real life I try not to inflict my opinions on my family in the way that she does. I relate to the fact that she wants what is best for her family. I just can’t always agree with her methods.

You are President of the charity called The SAG (Screen Actors Guild) Foundation. That has to be a full-time job on its own. Why were you “called” to do this and what’s the best part of the experience?

We help members of the union SAG-AFTRA by offering free programming about the business of being an actor, emergency help for those in need, and in addition, we have national children’s literacy programs. I became involved about eight years ago because I felt I wanted to give back to my fellow actors. I have been fortunate in my career, have worked with so many incredibly talented actors, and know that the actor’s life is a rollercoaster of good times and bad. When I heard about what the SAG Foundation does for actors and for children’s literacy, I knew I wanted to become involved. I am pleased to say that this is the SAG Foundation’s 30^th anniversary, and urge everyone to go to our website. Watch Kevin Costner read a children’s book in our storyline online series!

Stephanie Stephens is certain that at age 45+, the best time of our lives is now! So what are we waiting for? She writes, produces, and hosts her multimedia channel, Mind Your Body TV,  featuring timely health and lifestyle blogs, podcasts, and videos—also seen on YouTube and syndicated by AOL/On.