Happy Birthday: Helen Shaver

Helen Shaver

Born: February 24, 1951 in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada

[on the death of former husband Steven Reuther] In the course of his last year alive, I was in L.A. a lot and saw him a fair amount. I really got to see how hard it is to die, how much energy it takes to die, how singular an experience it is – that you can only die by yourself, and no one can die with you. You stand on the porch, and the threshold is there, and that final step you do by yourself. And the distraction of others trying to keep you alive, or trying to make them feel okay about your dying, takes the energy away from the one last thing you have to do in your life.

[on her role as the director of Down River (2013)] I invite, I seduce, I cajole. I get my actors to give me everything, and they do – mostly because I’m patient. It was interesting to see if I could still do it.

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