A lot of people my age feel quite powerless in their ability to change the world.
One of my heroes isViktor Frankl, who wroteMans Search for Meaning.
He survived a concentration camp and maintained this incredible non-guilt-throwing attitude even through that experience.
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I think theres a lot of wisdom in that.
A lot of male leaders could take a leaf from her book.
She was the first exec that believed in me and brought me on to big movies.
DOMINIQUE FISHBACK (Project Power)
“Meryl Streep.I use her as a guiding light.
In school, when all of my friends were trying to get agents, I laid back.
I was like, You know what?
I wanted that to be the truth for me.
She transforms in everything she does.
ELLEN PAGE (The Umbrella Academy)
My hero isLouise Delislefrom Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
She has met resistance from local government as well as her community, but has managed to persevere.
I am endlessly inspired by her.
EMMY RAVER-LAMPMAN (The Umbrella Academy)
“Barack, Michelle, Malia, andSasha Obama.
Theyre both beautiful people who have managed to have such strength and grace while crusading for womens rights.
They work tirelessly and are still able to open their arms and hearts to anyone who needs them.
JACK QUAID (The Boys)
My hero isSimon Pegg.
Hes just so talented and incredible to watch on set.
Plus, hes just the nicest possible human being.
The world could use more Simon Peggs.
Flood the world with Peggs!
She would allow me to play the piano.
Those are my heroes.
Without them, this never would have been possible.
Estelle and Mark Talley.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS (Halloween Kills)
I believe ineveryday heroes.
Theyre nurses and theyre doctors.
And, were learning, theyre grocery-store delivery people.
My heroes aremy women friends.
Theyre all braver and smarter and more strategic than me.
I look up to them and learn from them.
JANELLE MONAE (Antebellum)
Princehas been my hero.
It was the purple print that he created that inspired Wondaland Arts Society, my arts collective.
My hero would have to bemy grandmother, Bessie Hawthorne, who had 12 children.
She was a sharecropper in Aberdeen, Miss.
She was such a phenomenal grandmother.
She and I would watchThe Twilight Zonetogether.
JOE HENDERSON (Lucifer co-showrunner)
Elizabeth Warren.
Her passion is surpassed only by her incredible intelligence.
Shes a joyful warrior who shows you’re free to be a good person and a good politician.
I hope my daughter gets to pinky swear with her one day.
JONATHAN MAJORS (Lovecraft Country)
First and foremost, I would saymy mother.
And she kind of put that in me, the ability to sacrifice something that you love.
And she continues to do heroic acts every day.
You know, every day.
So, I mean, I got to start with that.
And then I would sayFrederick Douglass.
Frederick Douglass is a bad motherf—er, man.
He escaped from slavery at 20 and then began to really take care of the world he was in.
He taught himself to read; and not only could the man read, he could write.
He was an orator, he could speak to the moment, in the time.
I’ve escaped from my way of living, project country kid.
I’ve escaped from that.
And then it’s f—ing Comic-Con, you know what I’m saying?
You know, that’s the man.
He had a bad throat, too.
Especially now as I watch what he’s doing.
He’s a mega movie star, but he’s always kept his integrity.
And I watch what he does, I watch the work he creates, and it’s untouched.
And you know, the only person I know as a man is Spike, on that list there.
He’s been a hero to me.
Not really a hero, more of a role model.
You know, how to get it done.
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT (Project Power)
Mister Rogers.
Im a dad now and Ive been watching the old show.
The just pure kindness and thoughtfulness emanating from Mister Rogers, it moves me.
I sit and watch that show with my two little boys and I find it really inspiring.
Trying to change the world for the better, for the kids.
I think Mister Rogers is a great hero.
Obviously,my motherhas had the biggest impact on my life and is a real-life superhero, superheroine.
But yes, people likeAngela Davis.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, andSamuel L Jackson,Denzel and Pauletta Washington, the legendaryCicely Tyson.
These are people who have had direct impact.
These are people who have navigated such isolating spaces, and have done it with such dignity and ferocity.
I just feel incredibly humbled to have them in my life to call upon.
Or the heroes of the past Lorraine Hansberry, the writings ofJames Baldwin, the voices ofGwendolyn Brooks.
My hero is a person with whom Ive been connected my entire life:my mother, Delores.
Though it took a village to raise me, shes my unquestioned rock and emotional center.
For that, I honor my mother, an incredibly strong Black woman who deserves the world.
You want to be a star?
First step: Carry your own f—ing bags.
And I’ve been doing that ever since.
For that, Wendell Pierce is definitely a mentor, someone I look up to.
Jane Goodallis a big one.
I [admire] what shes done for the environment, and [for] chimpanzees in particular.
And her life story is so remarkable.
She wasnt a trained scientist.
Shes a real kind of angel walking among us.
And made my mother read!
And she got a s—load of pushback, I remember perfectly.
Its something that I wasnt totally able to understand as a teen, but I credit her.
ROBERT SHEEHAN (The Umbrella Academy)
Eckhart Tolle I enjoy him.
He puts things about consciousness in ways I can understand.
STEVE BLACKMAN (Showrunner, The Umbrella Academy)
My son Max, who has autism.
His books, likeStrega Nona, made an incredible impact on me [when I was younger].
He openly talked about being gay only last year, and he died this year.
Theres a new dimension to it now that [Im] an adult.
For more from our Heroes Issue,order the August edition ofEntertainment Weeklynow.
