G2W Editor: Yesterday we printed Part One of our exclusive interview with Marty Gilmore, father of Lauren. Today we proudly present Part Two of that conversation. Fathers of aspiring actresses everywhere should read this carefully!

G2W: Tell me when about Lauren first told you she was going to go into the entertainment business, what was your reaction?

MARTY: I’m the practical person. I first told her the story of the fifteen minutes of fame and don’t think it’ll be more than that even if you do well. I really tried to set her expectations. If you can do this hosting or any of these various things and it teaches you to have a voice and you get into public policy, maybe that’s a good thing. We really looked at it as a means to an end, not to say I’m going there to be in Hollywood and be popular and call all my high school friends and say I’m more popular than you are now, because frankly that’s why 99.9% people go to Hollywood.

G2W: How often do you talk to her?

MARTY: Oh, goodness, every day; almost every other day. We’re pretty close. A lot of people ask me what’s the secret of Lauren’s success? Lauren listens. It’s unusual for people to listen to advice and Lauren really does do that. She’ll listen to experience and then take that advice.

G2W: Are you afraid of all the guys hitting on her?

MARTY: I took her to her first bar when she was 14 and got her a martini. She was in Chicago by herself at 17 or 18 and going to college and doing her own thing. I don’t fear that. Here’s what I do fear: I call it “pushing the envelope.” If you grow and you get this sort of fame , how do you come down from that high? You know you’ve pushed the envelope, how do you come back and have a normal life in Podunk, USA?  That’s my biggest fear, how’s she going to handle that?

G2W: Any advice to fathers with daughters out here?

MARTY: Talk to them all the time. Support them and the idea of setting their expectations. So that when they go to that audition, let them know that it’s a hundred auditions and they’re going to be told they’re all the things you know their going to be told. The negatives. That doesn’t define them. They define themselves. That would be the best advice for anybody who tries this.

Related Posts