Few actors are as versatile as Gina Gershon. From her early role alongside Tom Cruise for her first onscreen love scene in “Cocktail” and her role in Robert Altman’s “The Player” to back-to-back lauded performances in “Showgirls” and “Bound,” she’s long been a queer favorite. Along with such 21st century standouts like “Prey for Rock & Roll” and “Killer Joe,” Gershon has established herself as a go-to actor.
She has also added writer to her resume with a few books, including her latest, the collection of true stories, “Alpha Pussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs” (Akashic Books, 2026).
Gregg Shapiro: In October 2003 you were in Chicago for the “Prey for Rock & Roll” concert. In your new literary work you talk about musician and publisher Johnny Temple playing in your touring band. Did you ever imagine that a few years later Johnny would be your publisher for “Alpha Pussy?”
Gina Gershon: No! It’s so funny. We were on tour because I had to promote “Prey for Rock & Roll.” After a gig, we’d be like, “Oh, let’s go out,” and Johnny would just be surrounded by manuscripts. I said, “Dude, what are you doing?” He said, “I’m starting a publishing company.” I said, “You’re doing what?” Over the years, he’s done really well. It’s a groovy independent book company. When I started thinking about doing this book, and I logged into the name, I was like, “It’s going to be like this, and this is what I’m going to talk [about]…I’ve done two other books before with bigger publishers. With the last [publisher], I thought they’re gonna be like, “You can’t call it that! Can you put a picture of yourself on the cover?” I didn’t want a picture of myself on the cover. The Valley picture is exactly what I wanted.
GS: It’s great, with that vintage movie marquee.
GG: It’s cool, right?
GS: Yes, totally!
GG: I thought, “Johnny’s gonna be a better publisher for this.” Listen, it’s great getting advances, it’s great getting all this more money, but you’re kind of rolling the dice. You bet on yourself and the book. If the book does well, you do well. If not, it doesn’t. But you get to write exactly what you want to write.
GS: Some years passed between the publication of your first memoir, “In Search of Cleo,” and its follow-up, “Alpha Pussy.” Why was now the time to put out “Alpha Pussy?”
GG: I started writing this during COVID. My book agent kept saying, “You’re sitting on a crazy book with ‘Showgirls.’ Why don’t you just start sending me stories? You’re stuck inside anyway. I’m bored! Send me stories!” I started writing these stories because I have a lot of those. Then he said, “Great! I’m going out with this. This could be a big advance. This is gonna be huge.” Then I thought, “I don’t want to write this book. This is not who I am. It doesn’t feel right to me.” And yet, it was interesting starting a process of just writing stories down that I thought people would enjoy. Like the Prince story. Even as an exercise, how do I make this into a four-page story, like an essay, like little short stories? As I started to remember certain stories, I thought, “I’ve got to write it down before I forget the story.” Then, through a series of maybe self-examination and maybe therapy, and then, also, my mom wasn’t doing well, the Valley stories started just percolating. Old memories started showing up. Once I started examining those, I thought, “Whoa, that’s kind of gnarly.” It’s almost like my unconscious brought it up. Once the alpha pussy story came, because I had that as a real story – I used to say, “I’m just gonna alpha pussy the situation,” and people always thought it was a funny term. This is what it means! That’s what this book is. It gave me a theme to hang the stories on.
GS: I’m glad you mentioned remembering things because you made mention of a journal in the 10th chapter. Were you a consistent journal keeper, or did you have to rely on memory for the book?
GG: I was a pretty intense journal keeper for a while. I kept a journal of my dreams. I would write my dreams down a lot because I always had very vivid dreams, and I would write them down. I knew they meant something. I was always very analytical. If I wasn’t an actor, I would have been a dream psychologist. Through my acting work, I do a lot of sense memory work. I’ve been trained to go into certain moments and really explore that moment. Visually, but also how I was feeling and what was happening. It’s almost like a camera into my memory. I have that tool that I’ve used for a long time. I almost approached a lot of the stories like some of my acting scenes or my dream work. I would go into it, and then I would see the whole story reveal itself. Then I would just try to write it down as accurately as I remembered it.
GS: You wrote a lot about your late parents, as well as your siblings. How do your siblings feel about the way they are represented?
GG: Oh, my God, you’re reminding me. I’ve got to send a book to my brother. I gave it to my sister early on. She was like, “Wait a second! You’re making him sound better than me!” I’m like, “Tracy, I’m giving you props in this thing.” I think my brother will think it’s funny. I’m not throwing anyone under the bus. That was never my intention. I think there’s a story about him when he hangs me upside down on the bar and it was traumatizing. Honestly, he’s still my big brother, and he just laughs. He’s like, “See! It made you tough.” I think Tracy, my sister, said, “Wow! I didn’t know a lot of this stuff was going on.” I said, “I was living in the same house, but you guys were doing your thing. This is what I was going through.”
GS: To me, “Alpha Pussy” reads like a memoir crossed with a cautionary tale for actors. Does that sound like an accurate description to you?
GG: I think it’s a slight memoir because they’re all true stories. Cautionary tale? I don’t know if it’s just for actors. I think it’s just for anyone creative who wants to have some sort of autonomy or have sovereignty and be free to do what it is they want to do. You have so many people saying, “No, you should do this. You should do that.” If it’s not what you want to do, maybe they are cautionary tales. These are just my stories. If people get something out of it like that, great! But everyone has different reasons for doing everything. What is my journey may not be appropriate for someone else’s journey. They might be like, “Oh, you’re an idiot! You should have done that movie with Prince. You should have stayed on that TV show.” Maybe they’re right. Maybe that was a mistake. But it’s what I did for whatever reason.
GS: Clothes are a popular subject in the book, with mentions of an Etro dress, as well as Chemin de Fer and Dittos jeans, among other brands. Do you consider yourself a fashionista?
GG: [Laughs] No. I like fashion. I feel like I should be more of a fashionista. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had friends who have been designers. They say, “You’re wearing this.” I’m like, “Great!” I like to spend time with them, so they dress me. I have friends around me who are definitely fashionistas. If I ever get stuck, I ask, “Does this look okay? Is this good?” I have my own sense of what I think looks good, although sometimes, when I look back at pictures and think, “Huh. That really didn’t work right, but okay.”
GS: I am an Emerson College alum, and I was fortunate to have Denis Leary as a teacher for a literature class and a comedy writing workshop.
GG: I wish I had done that. I really screwed up.
GS: In chapter 27, you talk about Denis being a friend and how you took part in his roast. Were those seeds planted when you were enrolled at Emerson?
GG: I didn’t know him at Emerson. I only attended Emerson for one year. I was studying acting. I really wanted to be an actress. Honestly, their acting program at that moment wasn’t that strong. I think I recognized that. I said, “Fuck this! I want to go to New York.” I was secretly writing, but I didn’t consider myself a writer. One of the things I regret is not taking more comedy writing and not taking writing classes, especially starting at Emerson. I wish I had taken Denis’ classes. That was a strong department. I was so single-minded: “No, I must act!” I even had an agent at the time saying, “You’re really funny, I think you should be writing.” I said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I’m an actress!” That was very short-sighted on my part. That’s the mistake I made, I think.
GS: You laid the groundwork for a queer following with “Showgirls,” and then cemented it with “Bound,” which you followed up by playing Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” on Broadway. What does your LGBTQ+ fanbase mean to you?
GG: I have to say, I’m really happy. Some people get the EGOT: the Emmy, the Grammy, the Oscar, the Tony. I just finally finished my LGBTQ. I made my first trans movie. I’ve got the T! I had the L and all the other initials. It hasn’t come out yet, but I think it’s pretty cute. It means a lot to me, actually. They’re incredible fans. They’re really appreciative of “Bound.” I feel very happy that a lot of women have come up to me and said, “You helped me come out as a lesbian.” It certainly wasn’t my intention going in, but it seemed to have affected their lives in a really positive way. That, of course, makes me feel good.
GS: Finally, if a biopic were made from “Alpha Pussy,” who would be your choice to play you?
GG: Oh, God, that’s a really funny question. Am I too old to be me [laughs]?
GS: No! Who would play the younger you?
GG: I’d have to see auditions. I don’t know. No one comes to mind. I’d have to see; it’s an energy. That would be fun, wouldn’t it?