Heather Graham, an actress who rose to fame in the ’80s through her roles in “License to Drive” and “Drugstore Cowboy,” has revealed that she hasn’t spoken to her parents in almost 30 years, attributing the rift to her decision to pursue an acting career.
“I stopped talking to my parents when I was 25, and I’m estranged from them now,” she told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Aug. 27.
Graham, 54, explained that her dream of becoming an actress was born while playing parts in elementary school plays, including portraying the lead role of Dorothy Gale in a reenactment of “The Wizard of Oz.”
Although her mother, Joan, an award-winning children’s book author, was supportive of her acting ambitions, the “Boogie Nights” star said her father, James, an FBI agent, would always warn her about the dangers of show business.
“He regularly told me that the entertainment industry was evil and that Hollywood would claim my soul if I became an actress and appeared in anything with sexual content,” she said.
Hollywood Career
Graham, who grew up in Virginia, moved to Agoura Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, with her family when she was 9.
Graham began taking acting classes in Hollywood when she was 16, later appearing in two episodes of the family sitcom “Growing Pains” in 1987. The following year, the actress—then 18—starred in the teen comedy film “License to Drive,” opposite actors Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. She also played a minor role in the buddy comedy film “Twins,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.
In 1989, Graham landed her breakthrough role in the Gus Van Sant-directed film “Drugstore Cowboy,” starring Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch.
Around the same time, the actress had graduated high school and enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied English. However, she dropped out in her junior year to pursue acting full time.
Graham went on to appear in a number of telefilms and movies throughout the ’90s, including “I Love You to Death” (1990), “Guilty as Charged” (1991), “Six Degrees of Separation” (1993), “Desert Winds” (1994), “Swingers” (1996), “Boogie Nights” (1997), “Scream 2” (1997), and “Bowfinger” (1999). She also starred in the hit crime drama “Twin Peaks,” among other television shows.
More recent performances include roles in the horror Western thriller “Place of Bones,” which premiered on Aug. 23.
In a recent interview with Moviefone, published on Aug. 21, Graham said she decided to sign on to the genre-bending film because she found the script appealing.
“When I read the script, I thought it was surprising. I didn’t know where it was going,” she explained. “It’s got aspects of being a thriller, it’s got aspects of being horror, and then I feel like there’s a lot of humor in it.”
Graham said she also enjoyed portraying the character Pandora opposite her co-star Tom Hopper in the indie film. “As an actress, you want to find a juicy role, and it was fun to play this tough badass woman who’s super smart and gets to shoot bad guys with a gun,” she shared.
“I think that you feel drawn into the story. You care about the characters. As an actress, you want an interesting role. For me, it’s doing something different where I feel like I get to play this tough badass character who can outsmart these bad guys. That was very fun.”
Graham’s latest film, “Chosen Family”—a comedy-drama that the actress wrote, directed, and acted in—is set to premiere in October. She’s also set to star alongside Nicholas Cage in the action-Western film “The Gunslingers,” which will be released next year.
