Ex-'Bionic Woman' Wagner leaps from acting to activism

By Angie Fenton

The Courier-Journal, Louisville
Sept 2007

Lindsay Wagner rose to fame in the mid-'70s when she guest-starred on Kentucky native Lee Majors' TV hit, "The Six Million Dollar Man."

Public response to Wagner was so positive that the actress was given her own series. As "The Bionic Woman," Wagner won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

She went on to star in more than 30 TV movies and miniseries, opting for roles that illustrated the complexities of modern life, including "Shattered Dreams" (a drama about domestic violence), and "The Taking of Flight 847: The The Uli Derickson Story" (about a heroine's cool in the face of airline hijackers).

Now, Wagner, 58, spends much of her time conducting experiential workshops titled "Quiet the Mind & Open the Heart" through her non-profit organization, PeaceMakers Community. She'll hold the two-day workshop this weekend at Dogwood Hill Inn in Prospect, Ky.

"I never envisioned myself here, but I've always wanted to live my life in service," Wagner said. "That was true before I was in the movie business, while I was in the movie business … and now."

Wagner took time out from her preparations to talk about how she went from actress to activist.

Q: When did you begin conducting workshops?

A: It's been an evolution. The workshops, as they exist right now, it's been a couple of years. Prior to that I was doing work in the Los Angeles County jails (with facilitator James Beard and Sheriff Lee Baca) … in some of the particular programs they have for incarcerated domestic-violence (perpetrators).

Q: How did you begin working with men who have committed domestic violence -- and why?

A: I grew up in the midst of domestic violence. I understand it deeply from being in the midst of it as a child. That's why I can honestly say that as much wonderful work that has been done to shelter women … until everyone in the syndrome has the opportunity to be helped in a positive way, we won't bring about healing. Of course protect, continue to protect (those who've been abused). To me, the women are only one-half of the syndrome and the syndrome is never going to end in our species, in my opinion, if we don't look at both sides of it. We can shelter victims all we want, but (we need to) embrace and offer the kind of help to perpetrators as we do victims. Not everybody wants help, but a lot of people do.

Q: How did your work in the jail system evolve into you holding workshops around the country?

A: I started a support group for the gentlemen who'd get out of jail and keep working the process. That's been the evolution of it. I've done private word-of-mouth work for years through my own personal healing and evolution of the journey. I passed that on. We have such negative, angry, judgmental ways of approaching people who do things that cause pain to others, it makes it very hard for people to look at that themselves.

Q: How do you try to make it easier?

A: It's kind of like stepping through the looking glass. We're going to respect you as a child of God here. It's spiritual but not religious. You can be of any religion or no religion. But we're going to help you be a higher you. It's very holistic. It encompasses education, if you need more education. It encompasses cutting-edge psychology. It encompasses scientific brain research: How a man's brain works; how a woman's brain works. It's so rare that people set up that kind of healing environment for domestic-violence offenders. To me, that's been a part of what's held back the domestic-violence movement from being more successful than it has been in the past few decades.

Q: So, conducting workshops for people from all walks of life was just a natural extension of what you were doing.

A: I believe that God kind of inspires you: "Go over here for a while. Over here." I was guided, inspired to make a left turn down this road for a while. I have always felt that this was my desire all these years. Most of my movies were all true stories about people, about human potential because I have such faith in that. I believe at the core of our human potential is the connection to the divine. We tend to think of it as something separate from us, but to me that's where it comes from, that part of us that's connected to something much greater than ourselves.

Q: What do you mean by "quiet the mind and open your heart"?

A: Our mind -- all that stuff that won't stop that we can't stop thinking and worrying about -- has nothing to do with our present situation. But our mind doesn't compute that and it gets in our way of us really being present and in the moment. Understanding and looking at how our personal perception -- what's already in our minds -- of any circumstance in life … is, in fact, what creates our experience of that event, of how we feel when we look in the mirror.

Q: Do you have any plans to return to acting?

A: No, I'm really not (acting) anymore. I'm really enjoying this work. It's kind of a natural extension for me because that's what my film career has been about. I'm not saying I'll never do another film. But I'm just more focused on this.

Q: Have you seen any episodes of NBC's remake of "Bionic Woman"?

A: I haven't seen anything except for the snippets. It's going to be very different. It'll be interesting to see what the old-timers think of it.

Q: What are you most looking forward to about your trip to Louisville?

A: Aside from just seeing Louisville? Getting together (earlier in the week) to do a reception benefiting The Center for Women and Families. It's just what I've learned so far about what they're doing is so great.