Hero Isabella Rossellini Just Received a Master's Degree in Animal Behavior
Blue Velvet, Fearless, one memorable episode of 30 Rock: over the decades, Isabella Rossellini has blessed countless screens with her presence. But it's Green Porno, a colorful TV series in which Rossellini dresses up as various animals-often describing their sexual habits in extensive and curious detail-that may be her greatest acting legacy.
Maybe it's because her passion for the subject matter shines through. Rossellini loves her some animals-she owns a farm, has a theater show with her dog, has written a book about chickens. The works.
Animal behavior is "a subject that I like, that I find fascinating," Rossellini explained to Town & Country in an interview last year. In her work, she aims to "communicate my wonderment, my love of animals." (If that's the metric of success, then Green Porno is a triumph.)
This love has taken on an academic bent as she's pursued a Master's degree in animal behavior and conservation at Hunter College in New York City. "When I started to work less as an actress and a model, because there are not many roles for older actress, I went back to university," she said, matter-of-factly, to T&C.
This week, the actress, director, and professional eccentric took home her degree. According to Rossellini herself, though, she was hardly the star of her own ceremony. "The ceremony was most touching and inspiring. Hillary Clinton delivered the commencement speech!!!!" she wrote on Instagram. "I am overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude. Congratulations to all of us."
"All of us," of course, refers to Rossellini's fellow students, who were decidedly not star struck or, apparently, impressed by a woman returning to school after decades away. "There is very little respect, for my age," she told T&C. "My classmates are very young."
Still, a shared passion that binds them. "Some of them know my work, Green Porno, Seduce Me," she said. "They recognize me, because they are people interested in animals."
At her graduation, Rossellini had a chance to address to her classmates onstage as a featured speaker. (Rossellini was chosen in part because, as Hunter's president wrote on Instagram, she "has been a perfect fit @huntercollege since day one, six years ago.")
In a show of her relative stature at Hunter, Rossellini even entered just behind Clinton in the procession. Her son, Roberto Rossellini, caught a video of the two walking single-file.
Rossellini didn't miss her chance to get Clinton content, either. In a quick, delightfully fangirl-y video, she pans quickly to Clinton, then squeals with delight.
Clinton used her time to speak about Russian campaign meddling and social media platforms' content policies-and make a quick "Madam President" joke. For her part, Rossellini went for the traditional graduation pump-up speech.
"I am here to tell you that if you ever encounter a dip in your life, pay no attention to the voice inside of you that judges you, that is negative, that fosters further anxiety. Just follow your curiosities," she said, per her Instagram. "You will find renewed energy, dynamism, and verve. These are ingredients for happiness."
Hey, if it got us Green Porno, it's advice worth following.
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