A special fundraiser will be held this Saturday evening for the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP), headlined by well-known locals, actors and married couple Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a one-hour catered reception with host Mallory Lewis. Lewis, a local writer and television producer, took on her mother Shari’s ventriloquist and puppeteer act with sock puppet Lamb Chop. She will present Elliott and Ross with an award.
The event will be part of the Malibu Film Society’s ninth season opening weekend, which starts on Friday. Following the Saturday night reception, the movie “Grandma” will be screened starting at 7:30 p.m. The critically acclaimed 2015 movie stars Elliott alongside Lily Tomlin as a grandmother who helps her teenage granddaughter with an unplanned pregnancy.
WRRAP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1991, is headquartered in Los Angeles. Its mission is to help disadvantaged women in need gain access to safe, legal abortion services and emergency contraceptives. WRRAP works with prequalified reproductive health clinics across the U.S.
The organization is endorsed by women’s activist Gloria Steinem, who wrote, “A freedom is no freedom unless it can be exercised. WRRAP is often the one link between women and a choice that would otherwise remain only on paper.”
The Malibu Times caught up with Elliott and Ross to find out more about their involvement with WRRAP.
Ross said she became familiar with WRRAP through Mallory Lewis, and described what she liked about the organization.
“Women who need an abortion can get one in a safe environment, and also get education and counseling,” she said. “It’s not judgmental and it’s important for people who need it. It’s not just handing money to someone to get an abortion—and I don’t base my support on what I would do in that situation.”
When asked if she was influenced by today’s political climate, she said, “I really believe it’s not something that should be political. It’s up to each individual as influenced by their own background, feelings, religion and circumstances.”
Sam Elliott also believes women have a right to choose.
“Women have to have a voice on what they do with their own body,” he said. “The whole abortion question is a contentious debate, but I feel a woman’s body is hers to do with as she sees fit. And I’m not being sexist—whether we’re male or female, we should be able to do what we want with our own bodies.”
The movie “Grandma” deals with the choices a teenager has to make when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, and presents the issue from a variety of angles.
Variety magazine wrote that Elliott’s “10 minutes of screen time with star Lily Tomlin—give or take a few—galvanizes the film and exposes their characters’ history and emotional depth.”
When asked what attracted him to the role of an ex-boyfriend whose girlfriend had an abortion without consulting him, he said, “[With me] it’s always what’s on the page. Paul [Weitz, writer/director] wrote such an incredible screenplay, that I wanted to be part of it. I also wanted to work with Lily.
“The character I played, I understood his position—that he felt he didn’t have any say in the matter,” Elliott said. “I could see both sides of the debate. No one expected that scene to reach that level of emotional scale, but the words just brought it out.”
Ross and Elliott say they’re happy to be hosting the upcoming event in support of WRRAP’s mission.
“I’m looking forward to the evening,” Elliott said.
Ross has lived in Malibu since 1968.
“I’m a country girl at heart,” she said. She and Elliott have been married since 1984.
For more information, visit MalibuFilmSociety.org—the co-sponsors of the event along with the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP).