Jeff Ornstein 0:01

Hi everyone, and welcome to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. I am Jeff, and on this show we celebrate people on the cusp of greatness. Those building on past successes in some of the curious and inventive and sometimes unexpected ways they have achieved those, and stepping into moments that could define their legacy. We'll talk about current projects, lessons learned, and the extraordinary opportunities ahead. So the best is yet to come. Today's guest is Judy Beecher, a multi-award-winning actress, filmmaker, singer, songwriter, and producer whose career spans Hollywood, Paris, and New York. From starring in Takin'three, Tango Shalom, and the acclaimed video game Heavy Rain, to directing documentaries and producing award-winning films, Judy has built a truly international career driven by creativity, curiosity, and purpose. Judy, welcome. Thank you. So I did have a chance to see some parts of your film Tango Shalom. I thought it was beautifully filmed. I wasn't able to watch all of it to see the whole story, but it's definitely got a quite a lot of acclaim. Can you share a little bit about that with us?

Judi Beecher 1:15

Well, the title now was changed from Tango Shalom to Forbidden Tango.

Jeff Ornstein 1:19

Ah, interesting.

Judi Beecher 1:21

Yeah, it's a really beautiful story about a Hasidic rabbi who is having financial issues and he has a big family. I play his wife, his Hasidic wife in the film with five kids. And he doesn't know what to do. So because he's losing his Hebrew school, he doesn't have enough money. So he prays to God for help. And in a dream, God comes and tells him he has to enter a televised dance competition to resolve his financial issues. But the problem is he can't touch a woman who's not his wife in the religion. So he doesn't know what to do. So he goes to all the other religions to ask for help. And they all come together to help him. And it's this such a sweet, feel-good dance, family dance comedy that has a very strong message of interfaith tolerance and friendship among religions and cultures, and which I feel is so important today.

Jeff Ornstein 2:23

Yeah, very relevant to today, what we're facing.

Judi Beecher 2:26

Yeah. And that's why I got in, that's why I got involved with the film because I just loved when I first read it, I loved the message of peace and tolerance and kindness.

Jeff Ornstein 2:38

Where did you find the script? How did that come to you?

Judi Beecher 2:40

So I was cast in the film, and then I became a producer afterwards because I just loved, I loved it so much. I really wanted to do as much as I could to help make it a success. So yeah, I auditioned and was cast in it.

Jeff Ornstein 2:55

Well, congratulations. I definitely saw you. And I know what I'm going to do tonight. I'm going to go back and fill in the pieces of what I hadn't seen. But it was as I suspected. It seemed beautiful and touching. And now that I know there's a comedic element, I love it.

Judi Beecher 3:08

I absolutely as well is that the film was made by two families. It's about a family, and it was made by two families, the Lenyato brothers who co-wrote it. And Renee Taylor, Joe Bologna, and Gabe Bologna was the other family. They all came together, co-wrote it, and Renee and Joe were married, and Gabe, their son, directed it. So it was a really it was all about family.

Jeff Ornstein 3:34

Is the 13th tribe of Israel, the Bolognas?

Judi Beecher 3:38

Exactly.

Jeff Ornstein 3:40

Okay. So, but other really impressive work that you've been involved with is Run Runya, which is tied to your family's personal history. So you've got a family thing going on and the things that's important to you as an artist. What had that project taught you about memory, resilience, and kindness?

Judi Beecher 3:59

Well, first of all, I just want to tell you a little bit what it is. Run Runya is a documentary. It's a documentary with reenactments. And I am I'm in post-production on it. It's not finished yet. I've been working on it for a long time. And we're getting to the end right now, where actually my editor's sitting here next to me as we speak, but you can't see him. And it's about my mother, Runya, who at six and a half years old escaped by herself from Nazi-occupied France to Switzerland across the border, and my grandparents and how they their journey and their escape. Because I recorded my grandfather when I was very young, and I have his story on tape, and he narrates his part of the story, and my mother narrates hers. We go back to all the countries that he speaks about in his tape with my mother. It's a story of three generations and about trauma and what happens when to a child when she's separated from her parents and how she carries that throughout her whole life. The healing from what it takes to heal from that, because it's going on today. Child separations are happening now. And with all the projects, everything that I'm doing, it's really stressing the importance of people being kind to one another and just people having compassion for each other, because one little small act of kindness and compassion from someone to another person could save their life. It could make all the difference in someone, even a smile at someone who's having a bad day who maybe was going to go kill themselves. You never know. That human connection, that human kindness, and seeing someone as a brother rather than as someone who's generalizing because there's too much generalization that's happening right now. Everybody's like this. All of those people are like that. These people are the reason for all these problems. And instead of having this black and white thinking, really just being loving and kind to people and giving people maybe that will heal things, maybe that will heal the planet by being kind.

Jeff Ornstein 6:18

Right. Well, I think certainly I think no one could deny that empathy has not been at the forefront of society for the last 20 or 30 years and seems to be further than ever from people's minds. So maybe like a film like yours can make people stop, think, and redirect. I think that's fantastic. When are you hoping to complete that?

Judi Beecher 6:41

Do you have an idea and where you might, where the listeners might be able to see this or well, it's not complete where we have a rough cut right now. So we still have to do sound and color and scoring and titling and all those lovely things. And then after that, we will have some test screenings and then we will go out to film festivals and then distribution. And I'd like to premiere it, have a theatrical premiere and then go into streaming. So we're a little bit early for that. We're almost there. We're almost there, but we're a little early. I can't tell you yet where it's going to be and where they can see it, but people can follow along and follow me on social media, and they will know right away when we get when that happens.

Jeff Ornstein 7:23

Okay, cool. Well, I definitely think people should make a note of that.

Judi Beecher 7:28

And it's called Run Runya, the kindness of strangers.

Jeff Ornstein 7:32

Run run you, the kindness of strangers. Okay, that certainly drives a message home. So, Judy, in addition to your theatrical endeavors, I understand you're writing a book. Can you share a little bit about that?

Judi Beecher 7:45

It's called right now, the working title is Pray, Meditate, Write, The Teaching of Zolis. And it's a book about it was I was going through a difficult period in my life, and I was instructed to pray, meditate, and write by someone. I was just trying, I was trying to get more work. I was trying to up my career and get to the next level, and I was feeling down about it. And the only advice that people gave me was pray, meditate, write. And I was like really pissed off. I was like, can't you just tell me who to call or a book to read or some action I can take? And I was just mad. And they said I had to give every concept of what I thought about myself and be willing to ask for God's will for me. And they said I had no concept of God either. They told me I was basically lost, you know, and I had to ask God for God's will. And if I wasn't supposed to be an actor, then that's what I I had to listen to whatever I got. And I was really angry. And but I did it. I got on my hands and knees and I did it. And I was hysterically crying. And the next thing you know, I felt this light on me, and it filled the whole room, and I was in a dark room. And I saw my life before me on a screen, like as what as if I was watching a movie, and it was like, you know, what they teach you to do in visualization? It was that. I could smell it, I could taste it, I could touch it, I was there, and I was winning an Academy Award. And I was told that yes, I was supposed to be an actor and many other things, and I was supposed to be an activist, and I was supposed to be doing projects that were going to better the planet. And in my speech, I got up there and I said, you know what? I am up here because I didn't give up, because I persevered, and we need to do something to change the consciousness of this planet. This is a powerful business, and we need to do something. And everyone in the audience was crying, and I was crying, and I got off the stage. And from that moment on, I had just bought a journal and I opened this journal up and I put my pen down and I just like started writing like crazy automatically. I had no idea what I was writing. And I ended up writing five books of channeled information, which basically was advice to the planet. Advice. It was called called Zolus, how to live your life in a spiritual way and have spiritual success. And I for three years I was just writing, I became almost psychic, which I was never. And so this book, Prayer Meditate, Writes, is my journey of what happened to me, how it happened, what was going on in my life during that time, which I had to go back and recreate because I all I was writing was just writing. And during the time I was traveling around the world and navigating two bad relationships and not listening to the advice I was getting. I was just writing it. And now I do. I went back. There was like exercises to do. It was things on how to really like live your life in a free way to just like get rid of all that stuff that doesn't serve you anymore. So that's what the book is. So it's kind of a fun journey, and you're getting this cool information.

Jeff Ornstein 11:21

Yeah. So there's no doubt that the times in which we live have lost a lot of respect for nature, the earth, in respect for one another. Are there people that inspire you in the industry where you think these are folks whose voices and talents and skills are gonna make a difference and you would aspire to be like them?

Judi Beecher 11:47

Meryl Streep always inspires me. And Sharon Stone, too. Actually, I just met her recently in Cannes. I was at the Cannes Film Festival. But Merrill inspires me because she is such a versatile actor, actress. And I consider myself to be because I speak multiple languages and I'm always I'm a care I'm like a leading lady character actor. They get a mil a million different types of roles. And I love watching Merrill and the specificity in her performances in every moment. It's just I'm riveted. And also that she speaks up. She speaks up for what she believes. And like her and Barbara Streisand, I just love that. And Sharon Stone, she spoke at an event that I went to, and I think it was the most powerful speech I have ever heard. It was at the Better World Fund. And she just she's about healing the planet. And she spoke and she did an exercise with the people at the event to heal their. Some people couldn't take it. Some people, it was too much for them. I was sitting next to and around people who just were like, oh my God, this woo-woo stuff. But but I it I think it's really beautiful because not everybody's gonna get everything, and people are on their own journey and they have their own timelines and time periods, and we all have different thoughts and different about many different things. The world's very divisive right now, and we need to come together and understand each other and maybe look at different perspectives. And I think, yeah, that's what she did in her speech. It was beautiful.

Jeff Ornstein 13:28

I know that she is she adopted a child, correct?

Judi Beecher 13:31

Yes, I believe.

Jeff Ornstein 13:32

I think so. I mean, that automatically tells you the kind of heart, a person who opens up their home to the parentless, what greater gift can you give? But when it comes to Meryl Streep and Barbara Streisand, I mean it's sort of hard to argue with these two powerhouse women who have mastered skills that are so impressive. And you know what? They're entitled to speak out. Yeah, they've made it to the top of their heap.

Judi Beecher 13:57

But I think that even if you aren't at the top, I think it's important to speak out. Yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 14:05

Yeah. Yeah.

Judi Beecher 14:06

When you see something that's not right and not be afraid.

Jeff Ornstein 14:10

Sure. No, absolutely. And hopefully, you know what? As many people hear you and listen to you, get it, that you're speaking out for a purpose. Your career has you had you working and busy in New York and in Los Angeles and in Paris. That sounds like a dream career. How did you get the diversity of like heartbeats and locations for you to perform?

Judi Beecher 14:32

Well, I was always obsessed with France when not always, when I was a teenager, became obsessed with brands that I had to live there. So I've at first modeled in France when I after right after school, and I came back as an actress after, and I've lived in all three places. I'm a New Yorker, but I moved to LA and then I couldn't decide where I just I love being in France. I speak fluent French and I speak fluent Italian and I love French films. I'm like the opposite actress. You know, most French actors want to come to the U.S. And I'm like, I want to act in French films. I I love it. I just love it. I love any opportunity to act. It just makes me it makes my heart sing to be able to act.

Jeff Ornstein 15:18

And that's what our guests say. I mean, this is if you have this passion, nothing can dissuade you from doing it when you're gonna meet every challenge head on because it's not easy. It's not for the faint of the heart.

Judi Beecher 15:32

It is not easy at all. And it's funny because I didn't just go there. Oh, I'm gonna just go to LA and act and go to there and act. And it's it was hard. It was a really hard journey. And you just gotta keep persevering until you get something, and it's action and releasing the nose and all that stuff.

Jeff Ornstein 15:52

So you were in, I've seen on your resume that you were in taken three, and I don't know any guy that doesn't think Liam is just the best good, bad guy. So, what was working on that film? Like, and did your character interface with Liam and what how'd that all happen or go down?

Judi Beecher 16:10

Well, I also I was cast in France on that. No, I wasn't, I played the wife, I was in the beginning of the film, but I watched many scenes with Liam, and what I got from him and his was his presence. And even in like little teeny scenes where he was just getting out of the car when walking around the in a garage, his presence was palpable. I just couldn't stop looking and watching him. And I think it's also that really that attention to details because no moment was too small. He knew what his objectives were, he knew what his actions were, he knew exactly every moment what was going on. So that was just I loved watching him, and I got so much, I learned so much as an actor of just working with him and watching him.

Jeff Ornstein 17:06

How fantastic. So we've talked about film, but we haven't talked about your work on heavy rain, which I understand became one of the most celebrated performances in gaming history, and that's a mantle a lot of people would like to own. So, did you know at the time that this project was gonna have such a lasting impact and be so powerful?

Judi Beecher 17:28

I had never worked on a video game before. I was just my my agent called me and do you want to do this audition? And it was actually the hardest job I've ever had. It was 120 pages of memorized dialogue that I had to perform like a theater piece in a room with captors all over my face, acting by myself. And every scene had five endings to it. So I and the director was in a booth to my left. So I was acting with no one. I couldn't look down, so everything had to be memorized, and I had to know every every scene. And I was just like, God, if I can do this, I can do anything. You know, I love a challenge.

Jeff Ornstein 18:14

That's that that sounds really hard.

Judi Beecher 18:16

It was really hard, it was really fun, and yeah, so I like challenges, bring it on. I can see that. So no, I didn't know at the time anything what it was gonna do, what it was be gonna become of it, and yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 18:34

So I can't not address that. My producers also shared that you started singing alongside the gypsy kings.

Judi Beecher 18:43

Well, as I told right after school, I just when I graduated, I went and I actually was busking. I decided I wanted to like travel and I was modeling in Italy, and a group of us, like three of us, decided we're gonna go and travel across south of France into Spain, and we met the Gypsy Kings and we performed alongside of them. So, yeah.

Jeff Ornstein 19:08

So what's very clear, Judy, is that you have an immense capacity for freedom and exploration and courage, and you're not afraid to fall if shit happened, but you're gonna go for it at every turn. From your perspective, what advice might you give to someone who's considering a second act or next act and might say, I have a passion for filmmaking or writing or acting? How do you give someone that spark that seems like so inherent in your personality?

Judi Beecher 19:41

Well, it's funny because originally I was always doing stuff like this in my childhood, but I didn't do it right away. I went into banking for a very short amount of time. I hated it so much. I really hated it. But I did this book called What Color is your parachute? And it was like it made you like look at all the things that you loved. It's still in print now, and everything for me pointed to acting and directing and writing and singing, and so knowing what makes your heart sing and doing what you love and not to be afraid, because people a lot of people are perfectionists and they won't do something until it's absolutely right. But it's just taking the first step to do something different and do something that you love and having the courage. It's having the courage to what is it, feel the fear and do it anyway.

Jeff Ornstein 20:36

Right. Okay, I do want to ask you right now, so you've got your up to your eyeballs in one run and all the post-production elements to it. Your book, which is sounds like a work in progress, that you're not gonna know when it's done until it tells you it's done, I guess. Because every day is a new adventure. Any other projects that you're working on or you're thinking about working on right now that you can share?

Judi Beecher 21:00

Yeah, I'm actually acting in a film right now called In Cannes. We shot about 30% of it during the Cannes Film Festival because it has a backdrop of the Cannes Film Festival. And we're gonna be going to shoot that later on in the fall to finish the film in Cannes. So yes.

Jeff Ornstein 21:21

Am I allowed to ask what your character is like or I'm a producer in the film.

Judi Beecher 21:26

The big stretch. No, yeah, I'm a I'm playing a producer.

Jeff Ornstein 21:30

Okay.

Judi Beecher 21:31

Um I'm one of the four leads in it.

Jeff Ornstein 21:34

Oh wow. Well, um, I hope all listeners have taken notes, although they can replay this, because you've got a lot on your plate and a lot of things that are coming out that I think could have a real big impact on people.

Judi Beecher 21:45

I hope so. That's my goal and that's my hopes that I don't have kids. And I hope that these projects that I'm involved with will be my contribution to making the world a better place.

Jeff Ornstein 21:58

How wonderful. Well, I loved speaking with you and meeting you. I love the tale of wonderlust you have and never say die, and the diversity of the things you attack and obviously do quite well.

Judi Beecher 22:11

So Oh, and one last thing.

Jeff Ornstein 22:13

Absolutely.

Judi Beecher 22:15

Fuck it is my motto. When you ask people about doing what they love, and I just say, and being afraid of the voices and the people and whatever, I just say fuck it and don't listen and just do it. Go for it.

Jeff Ornstein 22:28

Right. To thine own self be true. All right, Judy. You've been a delight, a pleasure, and an inspiration.

Judi Beecher 22:36

Thank you.

Jeff Ornstein 22:37

All right, have a great day. Thanks for coming on.

Judi Beecher 22:39

Thank you.

Jeff Ornstein 22:40

Thanks for tuning in to Next Act with Jeff Orenstein. Follow, subscribe, and stay connected to your favorite socials at www.next actpodcast.com. Keep chasing your next act. The best is yet to come.