Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway shares her breast cancer survivor journey
theGRIO REPORT - Following in Jolie's footsteps by telling her survivor story, Calloway is broadening her public presence to include breast cancer awareness advocacy. Calloway spoke to the Grio about her decision to share her experiences with the disease...
Becoming a breast cancer awareness advocate
At first, Calloway did not want to discuss what she had been through.
“In the beginning, I thought it was too personal. I needed time to digest it myself. I wasn’t ready for other people’s stories; I also didn’t want everyone bringing me soup and stuff!” she joked.
Eventually she wound up talking about it in through outlets targeting the black community. Calloway also spoke at conferences, and did some work with the Susan G. Komen organization to raise breast cancer awareness.
Calloway thought that what Jolie did was very brave. It moved her to share her story with a wider audience.
Despite genetic testing, mammograms are essential
“We get breast cancer earlier than our white counterparts, and we normally get more aggressive forms. That’s why I share,” she explained to theGrio. “Angelina is blessed in life, but most people don’t know that there is a trait that they should find out if they have.”
Calloway encourages all women to get tested for the BRCA1 gene that can predict breast and ovarian cancer. Yet, not even a genetic test can rule out the possibility of being struck by either malady completely.
“Eighty percent of women get it just because,” Calloway said. “I was one of the just because. Be vigilant in your checkups, even if you don’t have insurance. There are so many free clinics and mobile checkup vans. You can find a way, once a year, for free,” Calloway urges black women regarding mammograms.
Calloway to black women: Get regular breast cancer screenings!
What irks Calloway most is what she hears from some women in our community in response to her advice.
“They’ll say, ‘I’m not going to the doctor, I don’t want any bad news,’ and I say, ‘So you just want to die, or what?’”
Calloway is compelled to get the word out through her story, counter all women’s resistance to getting checked for breast cancer — particularly black women — and help remove this fear.
On the 20th anniversary of What’s Love Got to Do with It
As I remind Calloway that the 20th anniversary of the film What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993) is here, she laughs. “I must have lost track, you are telling me news. Thank you!”
What was it like to work on that seminal film?
“When you do a project, you never know what the outcome will be. I heard that my friend Angela Bassett was up for it, but I had actually turned down the audition for Tina, because it didn’t connect with me,” Calloway remembered. “Then I got a call to play the best friend. It was a small part, but they wound up expanding it. It was a fun movie to do.
“I had no idea that to this day that people would come up to me and say, ‘You ain’t gotta hit me but once!’ and more of their favorite lines or favorite scenes,” Calloway continued, “like the one where we imitated Ike Turner. They love those scenes. That was one of my favorite jobs, working with Angela, Laurence Fishburne, and Jennifer Lewis — they are all so talented, so it was great to be a part of it. I have wonderful memories.”
Today, Calloway loves being a little Shameless
Naturally, I had to ask her about her current spicy role in Showtime’s Shameless, a show lauded for taking an honest, yet humorous look at poverty. Her character Carol attempts to conceive and carry a child for her daughter in a highly unconventional way. I laughed when I brought up a particularly scandalous scene.
“Was I getting in with my daughter’s husband?” Calloway chuckled. “It’s shameful, and I love every wicked moment! It’s one of those parts we all want, where we get to do something out of the box, something that you don’t have to apologize for, because it’s your character, not you, but you still get to delve into it and go full throttle. It’s so wickedly delicious — a complex, sensitive role that pushes the envelope. I enjoy it thoroughly. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I do hope I get to give birth on camera!”
Her publicist has launched a campaign to get her an Emmy nomination for her role.
Currently taking control of her career
While Calloway is a working actress, she has also found ways not to rely on the powers that be in order to express herself creatively.
“What we are learning now is that we don’t have to wait around for these Hollywood studios to make us feel valued,” Calloway affirmed. “I have my own Blog Talk Radio show called That’s So Very Vanessa on Sundays, and it’s really fun. I am also launching a web series at the end of the summer, ‘The Company of Friends,’ which I created and executive produce. Initially, the show was on TV One several years ago, but I redid it for the web. I’m very excited because I’m doing me and taking things into my own hands.”
Soon, Calloway intends to have her own web channel to be in full control of what she produces.
“I can’t sit around and wait for people to elect what I should and shouldn’t do. I get sick of hearing no. For every one thing you see me in, there are twenty that I didn’t get, trust me.”
Staying busy, and looking to the future
Calloway is also maintaining her ties to live theater, forged during her days as part of the inaugural Dreamgirls cast.
She is thrilled about her upcoming stage project, Letters from Zora: In Her Own Words, a one-woman show that will play a limited engagement at the Pasadena Playhouse from August 15-18.
“I like keeping myself busy!” Calloway mused about her various projects. But it’s her self-care regarding being vigilant about her health that allows her to continue to contribute so much to society. Through getting regular breast cancer screenings, Calloway was able to survive and thrive despite the disease. She wants all black women — really all women everywhere — to follow her lead.
According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer kills 458,000 people each year. Calloway hopes to encourage women to share their survivor stories, perform monthly breast exams, and move heaven and earth to get screened annually.
Then like Calloway, you, too, can continue to stay busy.
Suzanne Rust is a writer, lifestyle expert, on-air talent, and a native New Yorker. Follow her on Twitter at @SuzanneRust.
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