Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Elisa Donovan

Elisa Donovan isn’t your typical Hollywood actress. Although she’s made a lasting mark in pop culture with iconic characters like Amber in Clueless and Ginger LaMonica on Beverly Hills, 90210, she’s also an accomplished producer, speaker, audiobook narrator, and writer.

As a writer, she recently penned Wake Me When You Leave. The memoir is a meditation on her relationship with her father, an exploration of grief, and how she was able to connect with him after his unfortunate passing.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Elisa about her illustrious career, Wake Me When You Leave, and her plans to adapt the book into a feature film.

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Elisa: Oh, wow. I would say I discovered it in the first grade when I did a play called Westward, Ho, Ho, Ho! and I played the bad guy. It was a character named Ralph Rotten. I was completely enthralled with the whole thing, from the wardrobe to perfecting his voice. Everyone, as well as my mom, describes it as everyone was bumping into each other and I was completely living this person’s life.

But I didn’t understand at that point that you could make a career out of it. No one in my family is in the entertainment industry. Around the age of eleven or twelve, I asked to take classes outside of school. I started studying. Then, probably by the time I was fifteen, I realized that this was what I wanted to do with my life. All along, I’ve been writing stories—from the time I was seven. Writing isn’t a new thing to me either; it’s just that acting took precedence when I was a teenager.

PC: You’ve had tons of success throughout your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Elisa: Certainly, the beginning. Obviously, Clueless was a big deal. Personally, I wrote a one-woman show that I performed at the Geffen as a benefit for charity. That experience to me is one of the things I’m the proudest of.

It was just me on the stage. The way that it affected the audience is exactly what I want my art to do for people. They were moved. They were laughing. They were crying. Everyone came out of it wanting to talk about not only the piece, but also their own life experiences. I felt like, “This is where it’s at. This is what I want to do.”

PC: Tell us about Wake Me When You Leave and the inspiration behind it. How did that come to fruition?
Elisa: Essentially, it’s based on a year in which my father died of cancer, my relationship with the person I thought I was going to marry ended, and the series I was on was canceled. All of those things happened over the course of a very short period of time. I was essentially stripped of everything that made my life make sense to me.

Everything that was my identity, my structure, my family…the book is really about the whole demise—my dad getting sick and passing away and how I had to remedy my life. It changed my values. I reevaluated whether I wanted to live in LA, whether I wanted to be an actress, whether I wanted to ever be married—all of those things shifted.

My dad started to come to me in my dreams, and there were all of these otherworldly experiences that really helped me to not only remedy my relationship with him, but also helped tie up loose ends. I certainly had the intention to try to fix everything with him, to cover all the bases, say everything I ever wanted to say, have these wonderful long talks, but none of that happened.

It was very discombobulating. It was disorienting. It was really sad. These dreams and other experiences helped me to heal and to realize that even when someone passes away, when they leave us, they never really leave us. We can continue that relationship and make it deeper in many ways.

PC: You share some really personal stories in your memoir. Was that ever a scary prospect to be so vulnerable?
Elisa: Yes, but it’s always been how I am as a person. Anyone who knows me, any of my close friends, will never have to wonder what I’m feeling. I’m not the one where they’re like, “Do you think that she would like this? Do you think she’s mad?” No. They know. [laughs] It’s just the way that I am as a person. It’s also the way I am as an artist, the way I aspire to be. To me, I would rather have an authentic experience with someone than a nice one. I would rather have something, because I think that the challenges and difficulties in life are things that enhance life, make it more beautiful and meaningful.

PC: What do you hope readers take away after they read it?
Elisa: I hope they feel very optimistic about life and that they trust our loved ones are there guiding us. When someone dies, they don’t really leave us; they’re sending us messages and support all the time. I hope that it gives people a sense of peace and hope.

PC: You’re also adapting this memoir into a feature film, which will mark your debut as a screenwriter and director. How have your experiences in this industry prepared you for this moment?
Elisa: Oh, wow. I’m incredibly excited about the film. As an actress, I’ve always been a technical actress where I’m interested in the whole process—in particular, working on TV series for so many years, you’re there sixteen hours a day, usually every day.

When you’re playing a character that you’re familiar with, the workload is less. You know who the person is, so I started to really spend my free time paying attention to the DP, paying attention to the camera guy, how they lit things, why they’re shooting it in this way. I was always curious. You shoot something, and you have your own idea of what it looks like. Sometimes when you see it, it doesn’t match the way you imagined it yourself.

I’m really looking forward to being able to shape the story, but I’m also really interested in all the good, great directors that I’ve work. They’ve always had a strong vision, but they’ve also let the project have its own life.

You have to have this big picture in your mind, you have to keep the train on the tracks, but you also have to allow every person to imbue it with its own life. That can change and shift the way it ultimately comes out. I’m really looking forward to the collaborative experience in that. Being able to work all day in sweatpants and no make-up…that’s also going to be a highlight. [laughs]

To keep up with Elisa, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Pick up Wake Me When You Leave today.

Photo Credit: Storm Santos