Interviews >> Carmit Levité                                                                         

Carmit Levité

(USA via Israel)

Pg.: 1,2,3,4,5,6

13. The sacrifices we make, the hero’s
journey and was it worth it?

Cristina: If you look back now over everything you lived, do you get to the conclusion that it was absolutely worth it?

Carmit: I don’t know… when I was going through all that turmoil with the Immigration service, I lived every day of my life thinking of what could happen if I did get the green card. As much as I love Israel – and to be honest, I feel the most comfortable ever in Israel. I love the people there, the mentality, my family is there, my friends are there, everything is there for me. It’s not like I would be dead in India, or scraping for food in Calcutta. I would be in Israel. Which is also kind of dangerous these days… but my family is there. That’s where I should be. I basically strayed. I think about it a lot of times, that I had to give that up. I had to give up my family, my friends. It tore me up, the fact that I did that. It wasn’t as bad in the beginning, when I’d just moved to the States. I didn’t need it and didn’t appreciate it at all. When I went to the Far East I yelled “Bye…” I didn’t miss them.

Cristina: But you wanted to see the world.

Carmit: Yes, I was on a mission. I followed this adventure that was waiting for me. Then I came back and decided I wanted to do acting again and came to the US. In the beginning I was fine. But every year that I go back and visit… something started happening. When I left Israel and came to New York I didn’t feel terrible because I knew what I wanted to do. If you know what you want to do it’s not bad at all.

Cristina: Then it started to tear at you.

Carmit: Yes. In the beginning I went home once every two years. Now every time I go back I realize that nobody can learn about themselves where they came from. But I think I wouldn’t appreciate them as much as I do if I hadn’t left them for years at a time. Every time I go back it pains me. In the beginning it wasn’t a problem. I saw them once every year or two, and I was happy to come back. Even though I knew it was going to be really hard because I was struggling. But the last couple of times I went… every time it gets a little bit sadder to leave. Last time my brother got married and it was a very emotional moment. Family from all over the world was there. I learned more about where I come from and the things that they do where they come from.

Also, because it’s so hard to leave, now I understand what I actually gave up. I gave up being with my sister – I have a younger sister. She didn’t have an older sister. I wasn’t there for her, though she really doesn't need me, she is a strong cookie and probably wouldn't take any sisterly advice anyway. I wasn’t there for my parents. I wasn’t there for my brother. I wasn’t there for anyone. I selfishly took off because I wanted to study acting. So that tear is always going to be there.

Cristina: But you can’t help it, it’s the “call of the wild”. You have to go, no?

Carmit: Yes. In the beginning my parents kept asking me to give it up, but now they are actually more supportive. I remember the day when I finally got that tiny piece of paper that allowed me to work here: I called them and they said “You know what, out of all the people, you are the one who deserves it the most”. They said that. I broke down in tears because it was the first time after four and a half years that they acknowledged what I was doing. That they took it – and me – seriously. I’ll never forget it. Now they are actually rooting for me, instead of pushing me to marry a lawyer or study accounting or something like that. They gave up on those things. I think they realized that I’m a big girl and I know what I’m doing. Kind of…

Sometimes, when you are on this kind of mission, you start going to roots that aren’t really the right ones for you. Because you know what you want to do: acting. But there are many ways to get to this destination: you can go through drugs, or through school, you can join a theatre company, or hope that someone will just come and rescue you. There are many mistakes you can make. And I don’t know if I necessarily did the right thing. Like I said, I could have gone to Yale, I could have joined a theatre company. The school wasn’t exactly the best thing for me.

Cristina: But you didn’t know and you had nobody to advise you.

Carmit: Exactly. So I sort of smelled my way through, in a way.

14. Feeling your way through and
a little bit of the “sixth sense”.

Cristina: By the way, speaking of “smelling your way through”, do you feel that your sixth sense, that extra ability, diminished a little bit in the beginning, right after you moved to the States? For instance, in my experience in the old country I got these things a lot faster. I know my way around a lot better – at least I used to. It’s sort of like living in a house for ten years and then moving into a completely new house. And yes, the kitchen is the kitchen, the bathroom is the bathroom, and furniture is furniture, but you still have to learn your way around and you don’t know it like the back of your hand. It’s almost as if your senses and your intuition need some time to get adjusted. Did you experience that? That you don’t “feel” people right away, it takes a little while.

Carmit: Yes, it happened to me too.

Then you’re also blind. People offer you things, they want to manipulate you because they know what you want so they’ll present themselves to be offering them but underneath they have a different agenda. It happened. There was this photographer… I didn’t have money and I was doing some headshots, but none of them came out well. So this guy said “I completely understand”, he gave me a very low rate - $250 which was nothing at the time – and said he’d do everything I needed. But he was a pain to deal with. It turned out that he had other intentions. It was a horrific experience. But my nose actually got sharper and now when I meet people I trust them less. I trust them but… don’t trust them. I do have to go with my instincts. That’s what I needed to learn the most: that I had instincts about people but didn’t follow them. That instinct can be very faint but it’s always there. I don’t always listen to it.

And talk about sharpening your nose… I learned that the instinct that you have about people is always right. You can color it and explain it in your mind, but your body knows.

Cristina: Is it the same sort of thing that goes into good acting?

Carmit: I think so. Yes. The problem with acting is that people are in their heads too much. You know the expression “learning the text by heart”… a lot of people don’t learn it “by heart”, but “by mind” so they don’t really feel what they’re saying. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on. That’s what I learned from Patsy Rodenberg. She’s a great Shakespearian coach. One of the things she said – and we all know that but a lot of actors think too much instead of just feeling.

15. Emotions and how some
things ARE different.

Cristina: Is friendship different in America?

Carmit: I think all the emotions are the same. Look at Shakespeare. All the emotions that come out of those plays are still relevant. People are made of the same stuff.

Cristina: Yes, but the day to day stuff is different, isn’t it?

Carmit: Not really. Sometimes, perhaps. Israel is very affected by America. All the shows in Israel are the same as those in America, only they speak Hebrew. The mentality, also, is the American one. I think that’s actually why Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East. That doesn’t have women under sheets. We actually went with the times.

But there are some differences. For instance if I have a heated discussion with someone people here think that I’m argumentative. But in Israel, that’s just the way it is. You are passionate about what you’re saying so your voice follows. Again, as Patsy says, when her voice ebbs "I'm not angry, I'm passionate." Same here in the Mediterranean.

Cristina: It seems to me that over all you don’t have a notion that life here is all that different. You have the attitude that here life is very much the same.

Carmit: Yes. Mentality differs, but I finally acclimatized. Looking back, comparing all the places that I ever lived in, I think South Africa is very segregated: the Jews with the Jews, the Christians with the Christians etc., there was absolutely no integration - at least when I was there. But in Israel it was one boiling, passionate melting pot. And that's what I love about Israel. That's also why I love Los Angeles and New York, these two cities are "the dance that never ends" but I feel that Israel is "home" for me.

 Read more: pg.6

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