When your everyday life requires you to be an actor, writer, father, husband, activist and motorbike enthusiast, it’s hard to imagine you’d have time for anything else. Fortunately for us, Mike Farrell has managed to take a moment from his many careers to make an appearance at the UCLA BookZone on Nov. 4th from 2 to 3 p.m. for a signing and discussion of his new book “Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist.”
While Farrell is best known for his years as an actor on the hit television show “M*A*S*H,” it is his work in activism that truly distinguishes him from the typical Hollywood breed.
According to Farrell’s Web site, his work with issues involving human rights, animal rights and the death penalty “stems from his belief that being a responsible citizen means being willing to see conditions improve for the ultimate benefit of all.” His new book is not only Farrell’s gift to the activist world, but to students who know they want change but do not always know where to start.
In an interview with the Daily Bruin’s Courtney Powell, Farrell shows us that whether you are an actor, student or a part-time waitress, the heart of an activist beats within us all.
Daily Bruin: You’ve had a lot of amazing experiences throughout your life. Where exactly did the idea for “Just Call Me Mike” come from?
Mike Farrell: The idea was that there are some people who are interested in political and social activism, there are others who are interested in a Hollywood career, and there are some who were fans of “M*A*S*H” or some of the other things I’ve done. It’s often the case that people who have careers in Hollywood write about them, but this gave me the opportunity to write about things that I think are a bit more substantive than is the norm with that kind of genre.
DB: At what point in your life did your activism for human and animal rights become a passion for you?
MF: It was a combination of things. … When I grew up I joined the service. After the service, driving across the country, I saw the overt manifestations of social injustices. That combined with certain historical events: the killing of JFK, the women’s rights movement, gay rights movements, civil rights, the whole era of the ’60s. All of these served as my educational institution and became a wake-up call for me. … What happened was when I became an actor, it served as a kind of platform for opportunities to be involved in more important things. Before, I was just another person carrying a sign or making posters or demonstrating and protesting. But after I was viewed as a star of a television show I was able to make more of an effect.
DB: What would you tell students who are interested in important issues but don’t know how to get involved?
MF: What’s interesting is that I don’t think that young people don’t care. Quite often I find that young people are just confused. … I think people need to understand that there’s more to life and more to the world than having an iPod or becoming famous.
All people need to do is just become more aware of the extraordinary opportunities they have as a result of their role as citizens of the United States. That privilege is something that I think a lot of people don’t understand. For me, when I joined the Marines, I was able to travel abroad and see things that helped me better understand that there’s a big world out there that doesn’t get to enjoy the same kind of things that you and I think are natural.
DB: Can you give us some examples of what you’ve come across during your activist work?
MF: As an activist being involved in human rights work, I’ve been in places around the world that are bigger than the imagination. Walking through a church in Rwanda with a floor covered in body parts or meeting children starving in Somalia, if you’re from this country ““ just beyond comprehension.
It makes me angry when I see that a lot of what has happened to us is a direct result of the decisions that our politicians make. They don’t really care about anyone but themselves, and still we, as citizens of this country, let them get away with that. I find it galling.
DB: It sounds like after such astonishing experiences it would be difficult to figure out how just one person could start to make a change.
MF: Well it’s all in how you look at it. I’m very lucky. I’m a citizen of the most powerful country in the world. And that’s the most important thing, that’s what fuels everything else. You know, we have to recognize that we are people of privilege.
With that we must recognize that there is a duty that comes with that privilege. That is a duty of absolute integrity. More than anything else I would like to strive to live a life of integrity. After that, change will just naturally follow.
DB: What would you tell people who have the same ambition to live a life like you strive for?
MF: People need to know who they are first. Look very deeply into themselves and decide who they are and what they believe in. Those kinds of understandings compel change. There are four very big questions we all need to ask ourselves: Who am I, what am I, what is my purpose in this world, and what am I doing with it? It’s crucial to figure out what you have done in your life so far and what you can do with the time that’s left.
All of us as young people think of ourselves as immortal: We’re smart, we’re attractive, we’ve got so many years in front of us, we don’t really have to contribute anything. But, in fact, I think it’s urgently important, particularly for youth, to figure out how to make their mark on this world.
DB: Ultimately, what do you want students to learn most from your book?
MF: If anything I’d like them to know that they matter. Too many of us go through life feeling like we don’t. A lot of us are brought up in a way that makes us think that nothing we do makes a difference when, in fact, everything we do can make an impact or change a life.
Students need to work to understand how to be better and then be conscious of how they’re living that out in everyday life.