Photo: Albert L. Ortega/Getty
Nate Richertis speaking out in support ofGeoffrey Owens.
“I do improv andsongwriteto maintain my sanity,” he continued. “Actors so very rarely have job security or consistent work, quality healthcare, a reasonable retirement. We are actors anyway because it is who we are at the core, for the love and need to bring the words on the page to life and to make you feel them (god, I love to make you laugh!) Not for fame, at least not in the traditional sense. Fame, to me, has only ever meant ‘maybe more work someday.’ A necessary evil because fame = the loss of anonymity, which can be uplifting when it brings someone joy, and hard when mean people decide to be mean.”
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Appearing onGood Morning Americaon Tuesday, Owens, who wasproudly wearing his Trader Joe’s name tag, said he was “really devastated” at first — until he began to realize how much support was out there.
“The period of devastation was so short because so shortly after that, the responses, my wife and I started to read [them] … and fortunately the shame part didn’t last very long,” he said. “It’s amazing.”
Owens, who worked at the grocery store for 15 months, said he first took the job because he wanted “flexibility” in order to stay in the entertainment business, but he’s since quit over the attention. (He’s been acting, teaching and directing for over 30 years.)
RELATED VIDEO: Geoffrey Owens on Being Shamed for Working at Trader Joe’s: ‘No One Should Feel Sorry for Me’
“There is no job that’s better than another job,” he said. “It might pay better, it might have better benefits, it might look better on a resume and on paper. But actually, it’s not better. Every job is worthwhile and valuable.”
“No one should feel sorry for me,” he added. “I’ve had a great life. I’ve had a great career. I’ve had a career that most actors would die for. So no one has to feel sorry for me. I’m doing fine!”
The woman who took the photos of Owens working at the supermarket has sinceapologized.
“It wasn’t malicious,” 50-year-old Karma Lawrence toldNJ.com“That’s on my kids, my grandkids, my parents. I’m not that type of a person. I’m not the monster they’re making me out to be.”
source: people.com
