Catharsis

4D with Demi Lovato - Guest: Emily Hampshire

Demi Lovato is platinum-certified pop-culture icon; her roller-coaster career from Disney child actor to a successful recording star to near-fatal drug over-doser and her subsequent recovery is the stuff that bio-pics are made of. “They” (as she terms her non-binary self) is also an outspoken advocate for various expressions of gender. Demi is truly a pop star with all its baggage but, as an interviewer, they is a delight nonetheless.

Emily Hampshire is an actor (who has also been working since childhood) who has recently seen her career take off as a result of her nuanced portrayal of Stevie Budd, the sarcastic/depressed motel clerk, in the critically acclaimed sitcom Schitt’s Creek.

These two women recently got together for an interview video-cast. Watching it was a big surprise for me—actors and singers can be something of a letdown when you experience them when they are not performing and are often self-serving and vapid. This is not the case here. It is immediately apparent that their intelligence and the rapport these “besties” display is unfeigned and, as the interview progresses, it reaches heights of intimacy and emotional release that is seldom seen anywhere. Demi had even asked Emily to go out on a date! While much of the conversation centers on eating disorders and how they can affect sexual identities and self-worth, their observations are life-affirming and even hilarious at times.

Here is the interview, in its entirety. I found it to be well worth 53 minutes of my life: