Rose McGowan: “Hollywood Was A Cult”

Known for her activism and remarkable involvement in women’s rights, actress Rose McGowan speaks out on growing up in a cult, finding her voice and ruminates on what’s next for her career

- Jessica Summers

Rose McGowan is more softly spoken than one may presume. And given her tremendous impact on the #MeToo movement (the infamous socialmedia-led movement against sexual harassment and assault), people do presume she’ll be loud. But, like many other activists before her, she’s calm and unruffled—perhaps even cautious—when talking about herself.

“I like knitting” she offers when asked what she enjoys doing. “That might surprise people, and no, I’m not stabbing anyone with the needle I’m just knitting.”

We’re discussing the release of her New York Times best-selling memoir, Brave, a rollercoaster account of her much-lived life. “The book is not about sexual harassment” she adamantly explains. “It’s about a journey. I didn’t want to write a straight autobiography and I didn’t want to write a straight polemic, so I interwove the two; I broke the fourth wall and spoke directly to the reader, going back and forth through my stories and my thoughts.”

This weaving of two worlds isn’t a new concept to Rose, whose life has long since been split between the porcelain farce of a glittering Hollywood veneer and a woman who is, “a lot more like other people than not.”