Deborah Stewart: Hollywood's best actor talks Rockin Barbie, world travels & her new degree, Part 2

In Part Two of my interview with Hollywood powerhouse actor, Deborah Stewart, we discuss her role as Rockin' Barbie, her Master's degree in a surprising field and her world travels to over 20 different countries.

I was thrilled when I found out you were the voice of Rockin’ Barbie. My (5 y/o) daughter went nuts.

(laughing) Yeah, I bet. You know, they always change the Barbies so often. I don’t even know if Rockin’ Barbie is still out there, but when it was out there, yeah, I was the voice of Rockin’ Barbie. It was fun for a while. I’m no longer the voice but that is my legacy.

What was that experience like?

Oh, it was fun, you know…When you do voice-over, they have you watch the commercial, (where) Barbie is moving around on the commercial...so you can actually see the movements and you kind of adjust your voice accordingly.

It’s very technical but…(was) a lot of fun.

I really love that you have your Master’s in Spiritual Psychology. How has that (degree) changed your life, both personally and professionally?

It has changed my life—immensely. Immensely.

The University of Santa Monica has a Master’s program in Spiritual Psychology and it’s a two-year program. I got my Bachelor’s from (U.C.) Davis…

You basically go to either clean yourself out, clear your issues or you’re going there to become a counselor or a psychiatrist or what not. So you have two different types of people there but…the main, underlying message is: we are divine beings having a human experience, instead of the other way around.

So it’s a lot about dropping judgments, self-forgiveness--not just forgiveness, but self-forgiveness—which is crucial. Letting go of limiting beliefs, things that are holding you back. You’re creating your own reality with your thoughts...

What triggers us in someone else is usually what’s going on inside of us. It’s never, ever, ever about the other person. And that is a hard concept to grasp mentally because we all like to blame everybody. But once you go through the program and you really get it in yourself of what they’re talking about and how to go about healing your triggers, your issues, your pain body, whatever you want to call it—then you’re free to let more into your life.

Energetically, it’s a no-brainer because…happier people that don’t have baggage…they do create more opportunities in their life. That’s just statistics. So if you want more from your life, I suggest working on yourself…when you change yourself, you change the world.

I actually was on a (movie) shoot and the AD (Assistant Director), she had such good energy. She was really cool and I said, “What is your deal?” She said, “I just graduated from this Spiritual Psychology school and it was the best thing I could have done with my life.” The next day, I was there signing up.

They don’t just allow anybody in. You have to go through this pretty intense interview process. It was just an amazing experience and it helped my acting because…I feel that any study of human behavior and why we are the way we are, enlightens me and brings that to my business, to what I do.

Spiritual Psychology…we don’t even talk about religion, you know? We talk about the universe. We talk about a higher power. We talk about everyone (having) an idea of what a higher power is. You use what you can to come into congruency with the universe and the energies…

So it’s not too “woo-woo”—it’s pretty practical, in the exercises they do...The next time you’re upset at somebody, it’s just so cool to float out of your body and go, “Wow, what’s going on inside of me that is making me so upset at this person?

What is it representing to me? Is it something in my childhood that is triggering it? Or is it because I have the same quality that I don’t like about myself that is in this other person? There’s a lot of self-love that’s obtained through the two-year program because most people don’t have a lot of self-love and self-acceptance…

I could go on for hours, but I won’t. But it is pretty cool…

You’ve traveled to over 23 countries to study the human condition. How often do you get to travel and what are some of your favorite countries?

I travel a few times a year. I love the Scandinavian countries. My favorite climates are the tropical climates, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Hawaii. Those are really amazing places for me to go and decompress.

As far as energetically, the Scandinavian countries are so friendly. It’s so clean and fresh and (the) people are so nice. You don’t have a lot of pollution…

When you’re not working, what do you do to have fun or just relax?

I like my dog, Jack. He is just the coolest thing. We walk, we run, we hike, we go to the beach.

I love to hang out with friends, but I love being outdoors. Especially in L.A…People sometimes think of L.A. as a concrete jungle, but there (are) some amazing, beautiful hikes in L.A.

You’re in such amazing shape. Have you always been athletic? What are your favorite sports or exercise to stay in shape?

I get asked that a lot. Honestly, I don’t work that hard at it…I’ll run or I’ll hike. Or I’ll go kickboxing. I love to be active…

I do believe the more you’re obsessed with how your body looks, the harder it is to get it to look the way you want it to look. I think that is again what we were talking about earlier—the law of the universe.

I guess honestly I’ve always had good genes. My dad’s always been fit. He’s the same size since he was in high school. I think it’s a combination of genes and I just love the outdoors and I love to be active.

I (also) go to this exercise class. It’s called IntenSati. It’s so cool.

Basically you do affirmations out loud while you exercise…So you’ve got your mental and your physical at the same time...Class goes by so fast because you’re not thinking about anything except what you’re saying.

If you’re saying, “I am powerful. I am abundant,” you do these moves as you say these things and the moves represent abundance or power or self-love or whatever the affirmation is.

What are your future plans or projects? Anything fans can look forward to seeing or hearing?

I booked a role playing the lead as a lesbian vampire who likes to bite. ;) That'll be fun.

I’ll continue my role as Guin Marcus in The Rise Of The Seer, which is currently in development. It’s the feature film based on The Seer (www.watchtheseer.com). The Seer is evolving into a franchise now between the original TV pilot, the webseries, InSight and the upcoming book, InSight Of The Seer (to be published through Bella Books written by Linda Andersson and Sara Marx).

Any other thoughts you'd like to share with your fans?

I just want to thank everyone for their support and please check out www.watchtheseer.com. You can find links there to my Facebook fan page to hear about new projects, as well as links to some of my project trailers on Youtube including The 6 Month Rule where I played opposite Michelle Wolff and When The Time’s Right, which is a fun little sci-fi short. Both have been traveling the festival circuit over the last year and the producers may be releasing the full versions of the shorts online, sometime soon.

For more information: DeborahsFacebook.com, DeborahStewart.com.

To read Part One of Stewart's interview, click here.

***N. E. Francis is an established news journalist, specializing in arts and entertainment features and is a radio correspondent for the weekly LGBTQ radio program, Alternative Perspectives, every Tuesday on www.wrfg.org. She also writes Tales from a California Blonde, a weekly column published every Saturday exclusively at Examiner.com.

Ms. Francis is also a published poet, ghostwriter, film & theater critic and upcoming children’s author. She owns an online art gallery featuring women artists around the world. Contact her at ArtExaminer@comcast.net.***

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