Where this was said
Winning an Oscar and Working With William Hurt
At 44:42 · chapter starts 42:15
Winning an Oscar at 32 is remarkable enough, but Geena's preparation for The Accidental Tourist was perhaps more important than the award itself. Knowing William Hurt's reputation, she hired an acting coach specifically to 'proof' her against being drawn into his emotional vortex. Her natural tendency — rooted in childhood — was to people-please, interpret someone else's unhappiness as her own failure, and try to fix it. The coach trained her to respond to Hurt's darkness with a simple, kind, disengaged phrase ('I'm sorry to hear that. Okay.') and move on. It was completely unnatural. She practiced until it worked. Dax, who is currently learning the same skill living with three women, finds the parallel almost painfully relatable.
Geena Davis won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Accidental Tourist at just 32 years old, considered remarkably young even by today's standards.
Before filming The Accidental Tourist with William Hurt, Geena Davis hired an acting coach specifically to survive working with him. Hurt lived in a dark place, and Geena's default was to caretake everyone around her. The coach drilled her to respond to his unhappiness with 'I'm sorry to hear that. Okay.' — and not get sucked in. She practiced. It was completely unnatural. It worked.
