Anne Heche reintroduces herself posthumously in her new memoir, “Call Me Anne” (Éditions Viva, 176 p., forthcoming).
Heche died in August at the age of 53, nine days after being pulled from a burning car and hospitalized in critical condition following an accident at a Los Angeles home. The memoirs — dedicated to his sons Homer Heche Laffoon and Atlas Heche Tupper, as well as his “Better Together” podcast co-host Heather Duffy — were completed shortly before his death.
The late actress details her late 1990s relationship with then-newly-dated Ellen DeGeneres, alleged abuse by directors Harvey Weinstein and the late Donald Cammell, overcoming childhood abuse, and working with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford.
It also serves as a self-help book. “Every phase of life has had lessons for me, and I hope what I learned could help ease the way for other people,” Heche writes in the foreword.
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Keep reading for the biggest ‘Call Me Anne’ reveals from the late actress.
Anne Heche Says Ellen DeGeneres Is the “First and Only” Woman She Loved
The relationship between Heche and DeGeneres in the late 1990ss was a big moment for LGBTQ+ culture, as they were one of the first gay couples in Hollywood to openly love each other. “NOTThere’s nothing in my life that I’m prouder to have been involved in – apart from giving birth, of course!” Heche wrote.
“He or she didn’t matter to me. The first time I saw Ellen, I realized how real it was,” the actress recalled. “To put it simply: the exquisite has no gender. Neither does love.”
DeGeneres was the “first and only” woman Heche fell in love with. Heche, whose father hid his homosexuality until his death from AIDS in 1983, was drawn to the talk show host’s honesty about his sexuality. DeGeneres caused a stir after appearing on the cover of Time in 1997, but agents were still reluctant to be open as a couple. Heche recalls being told by reps before the premiere of his 1997 film “Volcano” that it was not a good idea for them to make their red carpet debut.
Heche fired the representatives in protest. “The next day I was kicked out of a multi-million dollar deal by Fox and then blacklisted. It would take me ten years to do another studio shot. I felt like patient zero in the cancel culture,” she wrote.
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Anne Heche recalls telling the LGBTQ crowd that sexuality is a choice
Because Heche did not label her sexuality, she writes that she was “ostracized for being different from both gay and straight people. Little did I know yet that I would become a representative of the right to be different.”
Heche recalls being hired by DeGeneres to document her comedy tour after her sitcom “Ellen” was canceled in 1998. One of the stops was at the Millennium March on Washington for equal rights and liberation for lesbians, women and men. gays and bisexuals. The actress writes that at the time she didn’t have the proper language to express how she felt about their relationship and ended up offending the crowd.
“I disagreed that being gay wasn’t a choice. After all, I think choice is power. I had chosen to fall in love with a woman and I had never been with the same sex before,” she wrote. “I had denied their colossal and historic protest.”
Her intention was to say that she felt like love was a choice – gay or straight.
Heche later writes about the importance of giving yourself grace and learning from your mistakes. “It’s far too easy to say something hurtful unintentionally – like telling a whole march of LGBTQ+ people that their sexuality is a choice. But once you learn why what you’ve said or done is hurtful, you have the choice of doubling down and insisting you’re right no matter what you’re told – or by listening to what others say and considering their point of view.
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Harrison Ford Supported Anne Heche While Filming ‘Six Days, Seven Nights’
Heche and DeGeneres were plagued by rumors while Heche was filming the 1998 romantic comedy “Six Days, Seven Nights” with co-star Harrison Ford. Heche writes that director Ivan Reitman once asked him, “Why can’t you be like Jodie Foster?” When she asked for clarification, Reitman reportedly said, “Everybody knows that, she just doesn’t talk about it.” Foster, who is married to Alexandra Hedison, came out at the 2013 Golden Globes during her speech.
DeGeneres’ “Ellen” show was coming to an end, and her relationship with Heche seemed like “proof of the need and importance of everyone staying in the closet,” Heche wrote sarcastically.
When Heche ignored Reitman’s plea for her to be tight-lipped about her love life, Ford assured her that they would continue filming. “I still don’t know exactly why he chose to help me when it seemed like the whole film industry had decided that I was box office poison. But at that point my career seemed to be at rock bottom, and all I had worked for was slipping away from me, Harrison reached out and threw me a lifeline,” Heche wrote. “He did me the courtesy of not caring who I slept with. It meant – and does – the world.
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Anne Heche accuses Harvey Weinstein and Donald Cammell of sexual misconduct
Heche opens Chapter Nine with a bold statement: “I regret not kicking Harvey Weinstein in the (expletive) after he opened his hotel room bathrobe to share his (penis) with me, as an offering: a gift! For me? No, you You really shouldn’t have. I was as disgusted by his face as by the fact that he was exposing himself to me.
She alleges Weinstein asked her to give him oral sex in the early 1990s. very few. A good percentage are poor – or will be if they don’t find work soon!” Heche writes about the disgraced movie mogul.
In December, Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault during his trial in Los Angeles. In 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for his New York sex crimes case, convicted of sexual assault and third-degree rape.
Heche also writes that she was sexually harassed by the late director Donald Cammell while filming the 1996 film “Wild Side.” In the film, Heche shares a sex scene with actress Joan Chen. Heche writes that Cammell asked him to perform a sex act on his wife China Kong to help Heche “get comfortable” with your sexuality. She refused and only finished the film because the studio threatened to sue her, writes Heche.
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Anne Heche recalls having her period during Alec Baldwin’s sex scene
Heche’s memoir is filled with words of encouragement, even at the expense of his own embarrassment. The actress recounts an incident while filming a sex scene for the 1996 film ‘The Juror’ starring Alec Baldwin. Heche recalls having a privacy cover over her genitals which she describes as ‘just shy of a bandage’ and going around in circles with Balwin to hint that they had sweated during a steamy sex session .
The director cut the scene before it ended. Heche writes that an assistant asked her if she had her period. Sure enough, Heche had had her period.
“Apparently I was bleeding buckets of blood, for in a half turn of my head I saw the entire crew helping and encouraging the frantic un-weaving of the bed I had just bled to. There was no way it hadn’t taken over Alec. The blood was all over“, she wrote. “It was my worst acting nightmare, because it was real! I had just had my period all over Alec Baldwin and decimated the only set of sheets they had.”
Why did Heche share this moment? Baldwin got Heche a role in the 2004 Broadway show “Twentieth Century.” Years later, Baldwin appeared on his “Better Together” podcast and he “couldn’t even remember the mortifying details” that transpired on the set of “The Juror.” In short, your most embarrassing moments will pass.
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When did Anne Heche write “Call Me Anne?”
Heche mentioned she was working on another book in a posthumous episode of the “Behind the Velvet Rope” podcast. Heche told host David Yontef that his “next book” was the “flip” of his first book, 2001’s “Call Me Crazy.”
“It’s the practice of how to overcome abuse and begin the process of living in love with yourself, engaging with others, and living in love with kindness when you can offer yourself fully to others. ability,” she said. .
In his memoir, Heche writes, “I don’t have all the answers, but I have found some over the years of working to overcome the struggles I was born into.” “I am guided both by my higher power and the importance of bringing more love and kindness into the world. …Love is everything, and awareness is the one and only light that guides me. “
Contributors: Amy Haneline, Edward Segarra; Associated Press
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If you are a sexual assault survivor, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-HOPE and online.rainn.org).
