#ME2A
Hollywood has undoubtedly shaped our values in some ways and even influenced our career paths. Once actors portray an individual we worship or create a movie we’re enamored with, they’re given near God-like status in our culture and often use that power to leverage causes they feel are justified — sometimes at the expense of our rights. Those in the industry who don’t march in that parade have quickly found themselves blacklisted.
Nowadays it seems celebrities are lining up around the equator to take a swipe at the Second Amendment. According to a documentary on the making of Aliens, Sigourney Weaver said, “It’s actually hard for me morally to justify being in a film with so many guns. I just find it very upsetting … I give money to anti-gun legislation.” Apparently droves of Hollywood’s elite think it’s OK to portray gun-wielding heroes on the screen and collect a paycheck pretending to be what they all seem to hate, yet they vilify the firearms industry, as part of the clique that keeps them employed.
Carly Schroeder has practically grown up in Tinseltown. After 25 years of both starring and supporting roles on television and the silver screen, she decided to pursue something else. Not for more money, not for publicity, and not because she had no other options. She did it solely because she wanted to do something that mattered and was an extension of her values. What does Hollywood have to say about this? Who cares?
When we sat down to interview Carly in February of this year at a diner in Hollywood, we thought she’d show up late wearing dark glasses, pretend to be interested in our questions while she was thumbing through her cell phone, and act like talking to a lowly gun publication was beneath her — that wasn’t the case. She left us wondering how we could bottle and sell her integrity. She’s a practical, hard-working Midwestern girl who’s not about sell her soul to make a few bucks the way many of her Hollywood contemporaries have. Carly felt that joining the U.S. Army was a far more glamorous career path, and after hearing what influenced her decision, we couldn’t agree more.
RECOIL: How did you first get into acting?
I first got into acting when I was 2 or 3. My mom had me start doing commercials and print work. We lived in Indiana, so I would go to Chicago and do that. Basically, my mom wanted me to do it because it’d help pay for college. Then I did a Shake ’n Bake commercial when I
