Rena Owen: Creating with Genuine Influence

Our interview of Rena Owen for “The Creative Influencer” podcast is available today for download on iTunes, Spotify, and premier platforms everywhere. Rena is a published author and an actor, currently playing a role on the hit television series, Siren. She is also one of only six actors in the world who have worked with both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg—and the only female on that short list.

Rena shares her use of social media as a creative, both how she uses it to connect with her audience now, and how that’s changed over the years. She also discusses the unique path that brought her to acting and what keeps her motivated as a 35-year veteran of the industry.

Rena shared the following takeaways:

On engaging with fans on Social Media:

Rena Owen:  And I'm always just so touched by what I feel and sense is a sincere and genuine love of our show and an appreciation of who we are and what a privilege. And it is a privileged position to be in that position where people look up to you or they look at you and they want to follow your work and you can be an influencer.
And I'm pleased that I embrace social media because someone in my age group, we won't get cast based on how big our social media following is because we're old. Let's face it, that's what we're called and that's what we are. We're old. We are the older generation. But for a lot of youth out there, that's a real casting consideration is, "Are they present on social media?. Do they have a following?". It's a tool for your job. But first and foremost, go back to what Michael Caine said, "Set out to be a good actor".

On advice to her younger self:

Jon Pfeiffer:  Another reflection question, knowing what you know now, if you could go back and talk to your younger self, what would you tell you?

Rena Owen:  Oh, gosh. That question always sounds easy, but it's not.

Jon Pfeiffer:  No. It's a hard question.

Rena Owen:  It's a really hard one because there's a lot of life lessons I've learned and I've learnt those by making a whole lot of mistakes. If I had that opportunity, I would just say, just be you. Just be yourself. That your success lies in being yourself.

On perseverance and honing your craft:

Rena Owen:  …We are co-creators in this life and in our careers. And I've positioned myself for these opportunities. You can't take them for guarantee, you can't count on it or anything as an actor. But when you position yourself, when you know you've refined your craft and you've worked on it, you've done what you can do, you're doing your social media, you're getting into the audition role, then something comes back to you. It does come back.

Rena Owen:  And there were many times I wanted to give up over the course of three decades. And I remember my 40s was a very lean time for acting work because you are too old to be that "hot babe on the block," so to speak. But you're also too young to be the wise old sage. And my mother would just always say to me, "Just remember, Judy Dench and Helen Mirren didn't get their great Hollywood breaks until they were in their fifties."

Rena Owen:  Fifties is a great time. It's a very empowering decade being in your fifties because you're finally comfortable in your own skin. You get the fact that it's all about just being you and being your best self and it's a process of relaxation. And you get what you have to give and it's a great time.

Rena Owen:  And I think I've been told the sixties are even better. Not that I'm in a rush. But hang in there. Whatever industry you're in, hang in there—perseverance and tenacity. None of this would have happened if I'd given up. None of it would have happened if I'd given up those multiple times I got frustrated or impatient. It's as Russel Crowe said to me the first time I met him when I came to Hollywood at the end of the 90s, he was very pedantic and he just looked at me and he said, "Listen, mate." He said, "It's a marathon, it's not a sprint."

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A transcript of the episode follows:

Jon Pfeiffer:  I am joined today by Rena Owen. Welcome to the podcast.

Rena Owen:  Thank you. Happy to be here.

Jon Pfeiffer:  You are an actor.

Rena Owen:  Yeah. I call myself a creative because I'm a writer as well, published writer. And I've been writing and acting for pretty much 35 years. It's that question we get asked, "What do we do?". And I just put "creative."

Jon Pfeiffer:  Right.

Rena Owen:  Because I like to be creative.

Jon Pfeiffer:  I want to ask you about your use of social media as an actor. How you connect with your audience and how that's changed over the years. But I want to lead with, you're currently on a series called Siren.

Rena Owen:  Correct. Correct.

Jon Pfeiffer:  What's the general premise of Siren?

Rena Owen:  Siren literally is based on the premise. It's set in a small coastal community called Bristol Cove, which is famous for its myths and legends about mermaids. And so the whole premise of the show is set on what happens when a real life mermaid comes to town. And we've been really blessed. We completed our third season in mid-December and we've got two episodes left screening, tomorrow night is episode nine and 10 is next week, which is our season finale. And we've got a really faithful, fervent fan base. It's been a wonderful experience for me and one of the biggest advantages of being shutdown, lockdown with Covid-19 is that now I've got the luxury of staying at home and watching the series and doing social media. I've had the luxury of time to do it and participate fully in it and like all technology and all experiences with fans, I learn stuff from my fan base.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Well, when I went on your Instagram account and I saw that you have clips from the show posted.

Rena Owen:  Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:  There's also a behind the scenes where it looks like you're asleep on the floor.

Rena Owen:  Yes. Yes.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Which is kind of fun. You play Helen, Helen Hawkins.

Rena Owen:  That's right.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Tell us about Helen.

Rena Owen:  Helen is a town eccentric. She's a bit of a strange mysterious woman is how Helen was described. And she runs a tourist shop that is full of mermaid and merman memorabilia and historical books and novels. And she has a passion for the mer-culture. And we learned throughout the course of season one, that this stems out of the fact that she is a hybrid. She is one-eighth mermaid to be exact, as she says it. And the whole town's heritage is based on Charles Pownall. And Charles Pownall was the fore bearer, so to speak. The forefather of Bristol Cove and a fisherman who apparently the story went, he had a family, but he fell in love with a mermaid that he captured.

Rena Owen:  And they had this child, this hybrid child that was taken to the Haida, which is the native American culture, to raise this child because in Western culture the child would have been deemed as an abomination. And Charles Pownall's family where Ted Pownall is the father of Ben Pownall who's our lead, they grew up learning that yes, their great, great grandfather had an affair, but this affair was with a prostitute, not a mermaid.

Jon Pfeiffer:  It's funny you would say that, that's worse than a mermaid.

Rena Owen:  Yeah. Exactly. And so Ted has come to learn this season that these mermaids are real and they do exist. And there's always been this ongoing theme of, is Ben repeating his ancestor's history here by falling in love with our main mermaid who's called Ryn, an extraordinary and beautifully played by Eline Powell. And from day one when we did the pilot, I just knew. I thought if this young actress doesn't work, if people do not buy into or believe that she is a mermaid, our show just wouldn't work. And she's done an extraordinary job and her underwater skills are just off the charts.

Rena Owen:  Because she had to train and she did all this deep diving and learnt to do breath hold and built up her underwater skills. And she can hold her breath four to five minutes now and so can Alex, who plays Ben. And the thing that's given our show an edge because unlike the mermaids that we may have grown up on, our mermaids are beautiful and enticing and exotic, but they're top level predators and they will bite the head off a shark. With them came this danger and this edge that, God, we've never seen mermaids being portrayed like this.

Rena Owen:  And it's quite extraordinary. Our writers have often been very ahead of the times in terms of their story lines, whether that's environmental issues or species and the animal or ocean kingdoms that are becoming extinct like merpeople are, like mermaids are. But even with these current episodes, there's been already established and revealed in the trailer and a prior episode is that their Siren song has been weaponized. And we saw in the trailer that this is going to be used for mass destruction and it will take people out. And you see that in the trailer. And even the season finale of season 2, episode 16, we were in a lockdown in a police state. It's kind of extraordinary how life always does, or art always does end up imitating life. Art's life, life's art. It's an all in one thing, really.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Which, kind of transitioning, how has the lockdown been for you?

Rena Owen:  Well, for me nothing's changed and I think maybe a lot of people don't realize that about actors or actresses or creatives is, the bulk of our work is done at home. And I think even when you're possibly a teacher, even at university, your homework, you read scripts, you learn your lines, you work on your dialogue, your accents, whatever. You do all of that at home. Home is your office, then you go to set, or you go to school and you execute what you've prepared. So nothing has changed for me in that regard.

Rena Owen:  The other thing that hasn't changed is, we never know where our next gig is going to be. Never, unless you're on a show like Siren and we've been renewed and we start in July and then I can say, well, at least I know I'm going to be in Vancouver from mid-July to mid-December. After that, nobody has a clue. I'm real good at living day by day and it's a skill you have to learn in our game because you can't control the future. I've been attached to movies and I learnt this lesson the hard way after I got launched with Once Were Warriors in the mid 90s, I attached myself to a film that I loved. It was a fantastic script. In the meantime, I was turning down paid quality work and I learnt then because the film fell over. It lost it's financing, or it didn't get it's financing.

Rena Owen:  And I learnt then you take the job that's green lit, that's in front of you because our industry is fickle in that way. Some pilots do not get picked up and go to series one, let alone series two or season three. This is nothing new for me, living like this. I have four jobs, but I have no idea how that's all going to fall into place now that the whole schedule got blown out of the water. I have no idea. But I live by the serenity prayer which is, "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference". And you've got to learn to live like that as a creative because we never know what the day may bring or what's around the corner.

Rena Owen:  I think we get pretty good at living in the moment, which is really all we have. I mean, things happen. We could have an earthquake in LA tonight or tomorrow. You just have to relish the moment. And I've also learnt that as being an actor and I remember Dan Fosse, he ran the Actors Institute in London in the 80s. And he said, "All you have is the present moment. Is this moment, you and me right now. This present moment is all we have". And he said, "When you realize that the present moment is the point of power, that's how you act." Even when I'm acting, it's moment by moment, breath by breath. Because my mind can't be elsewhere, my body can't be elsewhere. I have to 110 per cent be present in that moment, in front of the camera or on stage. And it's a skill, you apply it to life.

Jon Pfeiffer:  You talked about breathing and being present in the moment.

Rena Owen:  Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:  It occurred to me, do you meditate?

Rena Owen:  I need to get better at it. [Laughter].

Jon Pfeiffer:  I think everybody needs to get better at it.

Rena Owen:  Yeah. And I did study it over the years and my forms of meditation really evolved into, I've practiced Yoga for 25 years.

Jon Pfeiffer:  That was going to be my follow up question, if you do Yoga.

Rena Owen:  Oh, yeah. Love Yoga. Love Yoga. Nature walks has been a big meditation for me and that's something I'm not doing right now is nature walks or walking on the beach. But I can do that now, beaches have opened up. But yeah, there's a reason there's so many philosophies and disciplines that area all about the breath because in simple terms the first thing we do is we breathe. And the last thing we do is we exhale. And there's a great saying and it's true and I think it came up in Gladiator. "We are but a breath". And that's all you and I are, is a breath.

Rena Owen:  And often people can get caught up into thinking we're our bodies, but we can take away our body and still be alive. Look at a paraplegic, you can take away a mind, a brain and still be alive. But the thing, if you took away the breath, we no longer exist. That's how fundamental and important the breath is and we call it the multi-culture, the breath of life. Because if we didn't breath and it's interesting how this Covid-19 is attacking us at the essence of what it is to be alive. If you can't breathe, you no longer exist. I think it's also the thing that connects us all as living human beings around the world and species. Animal kingdoms, plants, and all their existence depends upon the ability to breath. Incredibly important.

Jon Pfeiffer:  I am going to shift gears because you talked about nature walks and I'm going to take you back to the beginning.

Rena Owen:  Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Where are you from originally?

Rena Owen:  I grew up in rural New Zealand. I grew up in a region called the Bay of Islands, which was a history I could apply to Bristol Coves' small coastal communities. We grew up inland of the Bay of Islands. And that particular town where we—first and foremost was my grandmother's farm—is where my family started. My grandmother had a very successful dairy farm. And then as the meat works became more and more successful and expanded, we moved into the township that grew up around the meat works. And in my school holidays I would work at the tourist resorts, at the fish and chips shop, at the take-away bar or waitressed at a restaurant. And that's where I'd earn my pocket money.

Rena Owen:  I was very lucky that I grew up in nature for the first 18 years because there's one thing you learn when you're farming. You're totally dependent upon nature, upon your 101s. And I learnt at a young age that, that was really the fundamental basics of life is, the sun comes up, you plant, you harvest, you feed the family. And that those things are permanent in our lifetime. And then I moved to the city when I was 18 and things in the city life can change and does change. But I'm very grateful for my rural background because it just served me well. I always had a very clear sense of who I am and where I come from.

Rena Owen:  I grew up in a time, my dad was native New Zealand, Maori and Welsh. That's where the name Owen comes from. Our great, great grandfather was Arthur Owen, who came down with the whalers. Whaling was very popular around the South Pacific in that generation. And he met an indigenous New Zealand woman, they had children and that's where my grandfather and then my father came from. And my mother is a mixture of English, Scandinavian, a bit of French and a little bit of Welsh.

Rena Owen:  I'm a real mix. I'm a real true blue kiwi, so to speak. And there's something about growing up in New Zealand. It's pretty much an island, small population. There's a lot to like about that background and there's a lot to like about the country now and many people move to New Zealand for the lifestyle. It's very clean down there. You've got a small population. They've handled—our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has crushed the Covid virus, which you would expect of a small country that can contain its borders. And also, you've only got a population of four and a half million.

Rena Owen:  America's got a population of 300, nearly 350 million people. It's not so easy to do on a bigger scale, but that background set me for life. And it's obviously where I'll eventually go to retire. All my brothers and sisters still live there. My parents have both passed away now. I've got a lot of nieces and nephews. I mean, I was one of nine. Very big family.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Well, we do share, I grew up on a farm in Nebraska. I can echo everything you've said about growing up in a small place and the roots it gives you.

Rena Owen:  I know, it's a tricky one to articulate it. But you just know. You know what it's given you and it serves you for life.

Jon Pfeiffer:  When you were talking about how permanent it is. I remember, whenever it would rain, people would be in a good mood because we could turn off the irrigation wells. [Laughter]

Rena Owen:  Yeah. Totally dependent upon nature.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Right. Then you became a nurse.

Rena Owen:  Yeah. Listen-

Jon Pfeiffer:  How did you end up in nursing?

Rena Owen:  I know. I know. It's one of those things. Three things came into play. I was born creative. I was hypersensitive, I had a vivid imagination. I was overly emotional, I was a little drama queen when I was a kid. And I joined the local Maori club, which was traditional Maori singing and dancing and we'd entertain the tourists and school dignitaries. And I stayed in the Maori club in high school and I was first published when I was eight. I entered a poetry contest for children and I won. And I won a whole five bucks, which was a lot in the 60s. And as a result of-

Jon Pfeiffer:  Especially for an eight year old!

Rena Owen:  Yeah. As a result of being in the Maori culture group in high school, it was our principal who said to the head of English department. He said, "I think you should audition that young Owen girl. I think she's got something". So my principal—it's really important the difference a principal or school teacher can make in a young person's life. He's responsible for my first stage role as Bloody Mary in South Pacific. And then I did such a good job, I got promoted to the lead of Calamity Jane in Calamity Jane. I knew as a teenager that I found my place in the world. I knew that I had found the thing that I loved to do and it gave me so much joy.

Rena Owen:  Alas at the end of the 70s, being an actor, or a writer was not considered a serious career. As a woman I could be a secretary, a teacher or a nurse. And thirdly, as a little brown girl, I didn't really have role models on our T.V. screen, so it just wasn't an option to me. And I got accepted for teaching and nursing and ended up going nursing. And the great thing about that career is, I was hospital trained. That was one of the last classes to be hospital trained before it shifted to university. And learning all about nursing was learning all about the human condition, which is what the arts are about, the human condition.

Rena Owen:  Three, three and a half years later I was a qualified obstetric and general nurse and then I went to London, 21 going onto 22. I wanted to do what every kiwi does, OE your first overseas experience. And I had aspirations of going to med school to become a doctor, but I got to London and I had my first taste of youth and I did what young people did and I got up to all sorts of mischief. Traveled Europe and I played with fire. I played with drugs, I was being young at music festivals and concerts. It's the one thing I tell young people is, "Nobody can play with them". You play with fire, I got burned. I thought I was educated, I was a qualified nurse, I had all my college qualifications and I thought I could play with drugs.

Rena Owen:  No. Nobody can play because it's nothing to do with intelligence. But the good thing of going through that AWOL season is when you look back on that, it was my first taste of freedom. I was away from family, I was away from the constraints and the constructs of what was expected of me and my career and studying and exams. And the good thing about that was, it led me back to what I really wanted to do. And I still really wanted to tell stories. I still wanted to act and I still wanted to write. And I remember, so in Melbourne Drama School, in late 1985 and I remember my dad saying, 'Oh, it's a shame about your medical career".

Rena Owen:  But it's interesting, once I sent him newspaper clips because it was still newspapers in those days and snail mail and I posted home some reviews from my first stage play and I had really good reviews because it was also a play I wrote. And then when he saw these newspaper clippings and he goes, "Oh, my daughter is in the newspapers. Well, this acting thing wasn't so bad anymore". And so I've been doing that ever since. I've been doing it now for 35 years. Theater, television and film.

Jon Pfeiffer:  And I did not say it at the top and I was going to say it in the introduction before the actual interview plays. Is that you have won many awards, it's two pages on IMDb.

Rena Owen:  Thank you.

Jon Pfeiffer:  And there are only six actors in the world who have worked with both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Rena Owen:  I know. Not bad for a little girl who grew up milking cows, hey.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Not bad at all.

Rena Owen:  Not bad at all. And actually, I had no idea of that statistic until I was actually at a Comic Book Convention. I think it was Comic-Con in San Diego. And a Star Wars fan who wanted my autograph told me that. He said, "You know you're the only blah, blah...". And at that time it was only five of us. I said, "No. I had no idea". But now there's six of us, but I'm still the only female.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Oh really?

Rena Owen:  Yeah. I'm the only female. But, yeah. That list recently went from five to six and I should know them all.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Who was the most recent addition?

Rena Owen:  Gosh, good question.

Jon Pfeiffer:  It's okay. I mean, I don't remember stuff like that.

Rena Owen:  Yeah. Yeah. I know there's Liam Neeson, Samuel L. Jackson. Oh, gosh, yeah. I'm going to have to look it up. I should memorize that.

Jon Pfeiffer:  That's not bad company! You said that you were acting in a play you wrote.

Rena Owen:  Yes.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Let's talk about your creative process. What inspires you?

Rena Owen:  I think what inspires me is humanity. I'm always looking for that which helps us to be a better species, helps us to be better human beings. I'm always blown away by people who've managed to tap into and invest and make a difference in humanity and in mankind. Because I think it's a work in progress for us to still learn how to be human, how to have healthy relationships. If I look at my career, I know I have a lot of friends from my generation and older generations who did jobs that society expected of them, that their parents expected them to do. But they still had that song in their heart that they never had the courage to sing.

Rena Owen:  I think we're now living in a world where it's geared more to, "Hey, let your children be what they're born to be". We have evolved a lot. Technology has been a big player in communication and as you know, social media. I mean, I'm doing social media. And it took me a long time to come around to social media and I think coming out of that era where we didn't have social media, it scared me. I was afraid of being attacked or something. Because I saw that happening to people who put themselves out there and they'd get attacked and judged and then it frightened me.

Rena Owen:  And then what helped to sway me was the fact that I thought, "You know what, this is the world we now live in. This is the way of our youth. Social media is a technology the world has embraced". And I thought back to the 60s. When I remember, I never forgot. My dad brought my grandmother her first television. And he set it up and it was beautiful—It had wood panels, you know those old black and white T.V.s.

Rena Owen:  And he set it up for her and he turned it on and she jumped. And she was just in awe. She's, "My God". And I thought if my grandmother could embrace the technology at the time, which was her first television, then who am I to turn my nose up at our current technology. And once I got past that fear, really everyone has been so kind and I think I only got one or two people who were negative. But if you ignore them and you still like their comment and you don't engage with them, they don't come back. They don't come back and you just... yeah. I don't look for that aspect in social media and it gives me much joy that I see these fans and as I said earlier, we have a faithful fervent fan base for Siren, and you like their comments or their posts and they're posting about the fact that you like their comment. And it's genuine and it makes their day.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Right.

Rena Owen:  And it reminds me of the power that the arts has and that I do try to pass this on to younger actors because it's too easy now in this day and age on social media, is that young want to be actors can look at this industry and see the magazine covers or the social media aspects. And I always say to them, I say, "Look, you've got to come into it". As Michael Caine said. He said, "Set out to be a good actor". He said that, "If you're coming into this industry for fortune and fame...", he said, "Forget it". He said, "Set out to be a good actor and if being a good actor brings you fortune and fame, you've been doubly blessed".

Rena Owen:  I say to young people, you have to start from the premise that this is a serve and tell job. We're servants. And I learnt that very early in theater is we're there to serve our audience. We're there to tell a story, to hopefully touch or expand people's minds. But when you think of our job as it's a serve and tell job, we're servants, when you look at the analogy of what's happened in lockdown, Covid. Because I tell this to young people who consider maybe thinking about the arts. And I go, "You know what, you can only survive this creative industry if it's what you need to do, if it's a need". Because if it's just a desire, you won't last. You just won't last, it's too tough. It's too unpredictable.

Rena Owen:  And I say to them, "Food, people have to eat. Medicine, people get sick. And if you look at Covid, the people that became our essential workers and our superheros were people in the medical industries and people in the food industries. But what did people do, what did they turn to in lockdown? They turned to the arts. They listened to their music. They watched films, they watched T.V. series. They pulled out those books they've wanted to read for years and never had time. I've always deemed the arts an essential part of our society that enriches our society. I always considered writers to be recorders of history. And I've always been happy to support the battle when often governments do not deem the arts as essential. What would we have done in this season of lockdown if we did not have the arts or the internet, which came out of a creative thought, a creative vision. God, I'd hate to even think about that.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Oh, no.

Rena Owen:  Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Is it-

Rena Owen:  It's a serve and tell job. When you approach it, knowing that you're being of service and I see that in social media too. If I can make their day, it doesn't take... I delegate, sometimes I'm on it too long, then I'm better again, "Okay, you've got an hour. Go and like these comments, read their comments". And I'm always just so touched by what I feel and sense is a sincere and genuine love of our show and an appreciation of who we are and what a privilege. And it is a privileged position to be in that position where people look up to you or they look at you and they want to follow your work and you can be an influencer.

Rena Owen:  And I'm pleased that I embrace social media because someone in my age group, we won't get cast based on how big our social media following is because we're old. Let's face it, that's what we're called and that's what we are. We're old. We are the older generation. But for a lot of youth out there, that's a real casting consideration is, "Are they present on social media?. Do they have a following?". It's a tool for your job. But first and foremost, go back to what Michael Caine said, "Set out to be a good actor".

Jon Pfeiffer:  Right, before you promote yourself.

Rena Owen:  Exactly. But then embrace the tools. And it's what Hollywood's done so well. Because I struggled, it was a genuine struggle because I'm a shy, introvert. And like a lot of writers, I'm not a 24 hour actor. And when the spotlight got cast on me and my fellow actors in Once Were Warriors, I was overwhelmed. There was nothing in my history on a dairy farm or in my career in the theater that prepared me for such scrutiny and for such an intensity of attention. I kind of self-destructed in a way and at the end of that year I said to my mum, "If I can't find a way of being and living in the public eye, then I've got to get out of this industry".

Rena Owen:  And I saw here in Hollywood how a lot of our young youth were trained and had all of those skills to hit their mark once that light was on them. But some of them didn't take the same time and passion to hone their craft. If you get someone who's hone their craft and actually has acting skills and can do red carpet, then you become a very viable and employable actor.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Right. I want to again shift gears.

Rena Owen:  Yeah.

Jon Pfeiffer:  It's time for reflection.

Rena Owen:  Yes.

Jon Pfeiffer:  What's a question you wish people would stop asking you?

Rena Owen:  Oh, gosh. It came from a line out of Once Were Warriors. It's a very famous film in that New Zealand independent film that launched myself and Temuera Morrison and plays Jake Heke and Cliff Curtis who also went on to have a huge Hollywood career. There's a very famous line that says, "Cook me some eggs". And I often when I'm back in New Zealand, I often get that yelled at me, "Hey, Beth. Cook me some eggs". It's a compliment, really. There's not really a question that I don't like being asked. Well, it's not coming to mind straight away. But, yeah. I got that a lot. It was kind of good when I finally did another character back in New Zealand. I did a two month stint on Shortland Street and finally I'd walked down the street and they weren't yelling out, "Cook me some eggs", or "Hey, aunty Beth". They were yelling out the name of my character so that was a nice change. It's part of the privilege. Look at John Travolta, he will always in my eyes be Saturday Night Fever.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Several years ago I was at the Superbowl and everybody had been out in the parking lot, drinking, before the game. And every celebrity that walked by, they would yell their famous tag line at them.

Rena Owen:  Yeah. Yeah. It's part of the blessing and the curse. It's, yeah. You'll always be remembered for the film or the T.V. show that launched you. That's what got you into the minds of people, the minds and hearts of your audience. You can't really bitch about it.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Another reflection question, knowing what you know now, if you could go back and talk to your younger self, what would you tell you?

Rena Owen:  Oh, gosh. That question always sounds easy, but it's not.

Jon Pfeiffer:  No. It's a hard question.

Rena Owen:  It's a really hard one because there's a lot of life lessons I've learned and I've learnt those by making a whole lot of mistakes. If I had that opportunity, I would just say, just be you. Just be yourself. That your success lies in being yourself.

Jon Pfeiffer:  What's ahead for you?

Rena Owen:  Can I just quickly say though, you can't live that though because it's life, the journey of life. Like my aunties would say to me, "If I only knew now what I knew at your age". But life doesn't work that way.

Jon Pfeiffer:  No. No. Not at all.

Rena Owen:  But it's really important for people to... just that great saying, "To thine own self be true". There's only one of you. There'll never be another one like you. You're totally unique and original. Once you know that, appreciate and celebrate who you are and who you're born to be. Don't try and be something you're not. What's ahead for me is, I had two jobs still. I'm glad I got my ADR done and completed for Siren when I first got back to town. I can't speak on these two jobs unfortunately because the exciting part was they were NDA jobs, non-disclosure agreement jobs, which mean that's something kind of juicy. Will those jobs still happen, I don't know. Will Siren be renewed, I don't know. We'll hopefully find out next week before the end of May if it's going to be renewed for a season four.

Rena Owen:  If it is renewed then that means I go back to Vancouver to shoot season four. We're contracted for six seasons. I can talk about a New Zealand film I'm attached to called Whina, which is W-H-I-N-A and her surname is Cooper. And Whina Cooper is a real legendary trailblazer in New Zealand. She passed away in the 80s and it's absolutely a role of a lifetime and a privilege to, well, providing it happens and I get to do it. It will be a privilege to portray this iconic legend in our country's history.

Rena Owen:  Are the other jobs that I signed on for, are they going to happen? It's now all with the schedule going askew, I have no idea of how it's all going to pan out. A lot of it depends on, can we go back to production here in Los Angeles. I know that New Zealand, productions are picking up again in New Zealand and a lot of Hollywood productions are moving to New Zealand because you can shoot down there. And I did hear last week that BC, British Columbia in Canada is going back to work in six weeks and that's where we shoot Siren. At this point my dear, your guess is as good as mine. And what's new in my game, hey. What's new.

Jon Pfeiffer:  We're recording this for Memorial Day and Governor Newsom announced that on Memorial Day he would release conditions for the entertainment industry to go back to work.

Rena Owen:  Isn't that fantastic.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Yeah.

Rena Owen:  I mean, I know it's going to come with a lot of restrictions and new protocol. And that's not a bad thing. But I'd be really happy to fulfill and do the jobs that I was contracted to do. They're great jobs, they're great work. I'm very blessed. Also too though, I'd also like to say, we are co-creators in this life and in our careers. And I've positioned myself for these opportunities. You can't take them for guarantee, you can't count on it or anything as an actor. But when you position yourself, when you know you've refined your craft and you've worked on it, you've done what you can do, you're doing your social media, you're getting into the audition role, then something comes back to you. It does come back.

Rena Owen:  And there were many times I wanted to give up over the course of three decades. And I remember my 40s was a very lean time for acting work because you are too old to be that "hot babe on the block," so to speak. But you're also too young to be the wise old sage. And my mother would just always say to me, "Just remember, Judy Dench and Helen Mirren didn't get their great Hollywood breaks until they were in their fifties."

Rena Owen:  Fifties is a great time. It's a very empowering decade being in your fifties because you're finally comfortable in your own skin. You get the fact that it's all about just being you and being your best self and it's a process of relaxation. And you get what you have to give and it's a great time.

Rena Owen:  And I think I've been told the sixties are even better. Not that I'm in a rush. But hang in there. Whatever industry you're in, hang in there—perseverance and tenacity. None of this would have happened if I'd given up. None of it would have happened if I'd given up those multiple times I got frustrated or impatient. It's as Russel Crowe said to me the first time I met him when I came to Hollywood at the end of the 90s, he was very pedantic and he just looked at me and he said, "Listen, mate." He said, "It's a marathon, it's not a sprint."

Jon Pfeiffer:  Right.

Rena Owen:  And that's true for life.

Jon Pfeiffer:  I have one last question for you.

Rena Owen:  Yes, sir.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Where can people find you on the internet?

Rena Owen:  @RenaOwen, R-E-N-A O-W-E-N on Instagram and look for the blue verified tick and also at Rena Owen on Twitter. I am on Facebook as The Rena Owen or "Tha" Rena Owen. But I tend to hangout on Instagram because I post there and I can share from that platform to Facebook and Twitter. And I started out first doing Facebook, but I found I got very distracted and would spend hours on Facebook because there's so much interesting stuff to read and watch. So Instagram is my main platform, Rena Owen.

Jon Pfeiffer:  Well, thank you. This has been an absolute pleasure.

Rena Owen:  Oh, God bless.

Jon Pfeiffer:  I'm going to stop the recording just a second.