The statistics are staggering. RAINN (Rape Abuse Incest National Network) reports: Every 2 minutes someone is sexually assaulted in the United States. ‘Private Practice’ creator Shonda Rhimes mapped out a brave and bold journey for actress KaDee Strickland this season as they teamed up with RAINN to tell the traumatic story of Dr. Charlotte King’s workplace rape in a very graphic and intense way. Rhimes, Strickland, and co-star Paul Adelstein (Dr. Cooper Freedman) took great responsibility in painting a very real picture of what happens to a rape survivor and those closest to them, following a brutal attack. A very gracious Strickland took time with me recently to do an in-depth, exclusive 2-part interview to discuss the television industry’s role in delivering positive messages, her preparation for the storyline and its impact on her own life, and her work with RAINN.
TV as a Platform to Effect Change
The television industry has the capacity to reach millions of viewers for any given show. In this sense, TV can be a very powerful educational tool and means of communication. In telling Charlotte's story, potentially millions of viewers would see firsthand the trauma and aftermath associated with a violent sexual assault. Strickland intuitively understood the magnitude of the opportunity that she and the entire cast were given in doing so. She said:
‘You’re not just reaching people. You’re in their home when they’ve just had an argument. You’re in their home when they just got home from a long day at work when they’re sitting down to dinner. You never know the capacity with which people unwind around what you’re putting out there. But when you take that and you utilize the opportunity in the way Shonda Rhimes does so beautifully, it is a powerful thing to be a part of. I wish everybody would take the time to tell stories that are uncomfortable and that actually serve the general public giving them information or sparking part of them that may need help, that’s the highest best use of it.’
Strickland credits Shonda Rhimes and the other writers for having the courage to take on this issue and let it unfold in a very slow and vivid way. She said:
‘The vulnerability it takes to write a script that is as impactful as what Shonda and the writers continue to write, that’s on them too and that’s because they’re saying yes to doing something greater than just getting numbers and getting advertiser interest and getting fans to tune in every week. They’re really effecting change for people. And I know that because I have been the recipient of stories and have been the recipient of a lot of gratitude over just having someone say you know, you don’t have to be ashamed to talk about this or to give it a voice. And that to me in its greatest form, that is what art does. Whether it’s a night time television show or whatever vessel is used in this entertainment industry and I think to be a part of it, that’s for me, why I personally want to be a storyteller.’
Storyline Preparation
RAINN spokesperson Katherine Hull also talked with me and she credits Rhimes with ‘leadership and vision to be so bold as to create this storyline and really the writers and the producers, wanting to really make sure that they are getting it right.’
The combined and focused effort that Rhimes, Strickland and Adelstein took in making Charlotte’s story as authentic as possible is evident not only through the actors’ brilliant performances, but also in the way the story develops and unfolds over a long arc which has dominated the season.
Hull commends ABC for allowing their show creators and writers to take on topics like these and pursue the stories in such an accurate way. Hull dubbed Strickland as 'phenomenal' and RAINN, as the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, is very impressed with Strickland's dedication to telling a very real and honest survivor’s story. Hull said:
‘The first time I talked to her she said, ‘I want to make sure that I am absolutely getting it right in honoring the experience of those who have taken this journey and survived this kind of brutal sexual act. We walked her through the effects of trauma and she really did her research and studied and really got it.’
Once Rhimes told Strickland they were doing the story, she became fully committed to gaining the deepest understanding she could of sexual assault and its aftermath for survivors and their loved ones. She said:
‘When you are telling a true account – because it happens a lot --you have a responsibility to that. Recently I was comparing this to doing a scary movie, where you’re supposed to be scared. It’s a completely different animal because this isn’t about a ghost chasing you down a hallway, this is about someone terrorizing you and altering your life for the rest of your life.’
Strickland worked closely with RAINN Speaker Bureau survivors Marnie Goodfriend and Joanie Stewart during her preparation. She is deeply grateful to them for all they shared with her in the process. She said:
‘This is a brutal attack that leaves someone physically marked in a way that they cannot deny the circumstance. That wound on the inside that is in all survivors of sexual assault is there but she’s also walking around with this outer shell that is just pounded. So I wanted to make sure the brutality of this and the specifics of that was something that I was familiar with. So that all those emotional moments of what happens the first time your boyfriend or husband sees you, what happens when your co-worker sees you where you can’t deny when something’s happened. I got very fortunate in the process of working with RAINN with very specific survivor Speaker Bureau ladies who had been through similar attacks that were such open books with me, completely vulnerable and completely available. Marnie Goodfriend and Joanie Stewart are their names and for both of them, it took over a decade to get their attacker. But because of their DNA evidence, they were able to get them.’
In addition to RAINN, Strickland consulted medical advisors about physical issues like moving certain ways if certain things were broken, etc. She also worked with The Rape Foundation and visited the Rape Treatment Center at UCLA Santa Monica. She walked the halls with a hospital advocate and will never forget some of the people and the images she saw.
‘It was very powerful for me because I really understood this is what so many people go through. On a cellular level, it’s in your bones after you experience it. When you sit there and you wait with a woman and you see a child that just left the room that’s going to go through an experience no one should have to, especially that young, it just, it has a profound impact and I will never be the same, as a person, after having done the storyline. And that’s a gift, that’s not anything but a gift. Because it really opened a part of my heart that I’m very pleased I had the good fortune of being trusted with all of it and these wonderful women that I’ve gotten to work with and just the advocacy now that has come into my life as a result of this is just really phenomenal. But I had so much help, you know, I had so many generous people around me to make sure that I felt I had explored all aspects of this in order to make it as real as possible.’
Getting medical treatment as quickly as possible following sexual assault is vital for a survivor but is not always easy to do. RAINN offers guidance in getting medical attention via the National Sexual Assault Hotline number at 1-800-656-HOPE.
Click here to continue reading Part 2 of this exclusive interview.
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