Aliens: Jenette Goldstein plays Vasquez: : Muscle building

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Aliens: Jenette Goldstein plays Vasquez

a) From dance classes in London West End to Hyam's Gym in Hackney

 

Previously Jenette Goldstein had been going to four dance classes in London, in the West End and she lived in the East End. 

 

There was old fashioned boxing gymnasium called Hyam's gym with a boxing ring that she passed every day on the edge of Hackney in East London. 

 

Mr Britain used to train there.

 

She started lifting weights as a child, and she was near enough a tomboy and so she got into lifting weights there

 

She found that it was good discipline to have when she was unemployed and she believed that it saved her sanity. 

 

If she put in time and effort, she would get results which was more than she would get from acting, which was frustrating. 

 

 

1. Out of work at the time, Goldstein stumbled into bodybuilding almost by accident. "I was going to four dance classes in London. They were on the West End, and I lived on the East End. There was a man's gym with a boxing ring that I passed everyday.
   

   "It was a good discipline to have. When you're unemployed, you need some sort of a discipline. I needed something that I could do that—if I put in the time and effort—I would get results, which you're not guaranteed as far as acting. That's frustrating.
   
   (Copied from https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine #115)
2. Jenette Goldstein: Yuh, I was, I was erm, I was how many years out of, I was about two years out of drama school
   Interviewer: Mmhmm  
   Jenette Goldstein: I went to drama school in London, and I was er, unemployed, a resting as they say in England, it's so nice, I'm just resting
   Interviewer Resting. Or redundant when you're fired  
   Jenette Goldstein: Exactly  
   Interviewer A most amazing euphamism  
   Jenette Goldstein: That's fantastic yes, so I was resting and I was sort of yes, fitfully and I was really, I was really really frustrated obviously and I was like running and erm, there was a gymn. I lived in East London and there was like an old fashioned boxing gymn and Mr Britain trained there. So I went there and I started lifting weights which I used to do as a kid, I, you know, I was kind of a tomboy and I just got really really into it, that whole subculture of you know, body building and I, it was just fun
   Interviewer: Wow  
   Jenette Goldstein: Yuh  
   ("I was there too" podcast, 17th March 2015)  
   

 

 

 

 

b) Women lifting weights

 

There was a handful of women lifting weights there at the time. 

 

With her were the owner's daughter was there, and a couple of other women who were hanging out there to keep an eye on their boyfriends and started getting really buff. 

 

That was how the world was starting to change for her

 

1. Jenette Goldstein: I discovered this fascinating subculture of bodybuilding at Hyam's Gym in East London. It saved my sanity, because in bodybuilding, effort equals results. There was a handful of women lifting weights there at the time. The owner's daughter was there, and myself, and a couple of girls who were hanging out there to keep an eye on their boyfriends and started getting really buff. That's how the world changes!
   (http://www.aol.com/article/2010/06/22/jenette-goldstein/19522454/)
2. Jenette Goldstein: Yuh, I was, I was erm, I was how many years out of, I was about two years out of drama school
   Interviewer: Mmhmm  
   Jenette Goldstein: I went to drama school in London, and I was er, unemployed, a resting as they say in England, it's so nice, I'm just resting
   Interviewer Resting. Or redundant when you're fired  
   Jenette Goldstein: Exactly  
   Interviewer A most amazing euphamism  
   Jenette Goldstein: That's fantastic yes, so I was resting and I was sort of yes, fitfully and I was really, I was really really frustrated obviously and I was like running and erm, there was a gymn. I lived in East London and there was like an old fashioned boxing gymn and Mr Britain trained there. So I went there and I started lifting weights which I used to do as a kid, I, you know, I was kind of a tomboy and I just got really really into it, that whole subculture of you know, body building and I, it was just fun
   Interviewer: Wow  
   Jenette Goldstein: Yuh  
   ("I was there too" podcast, 17th March 2015)  
   

 

 

 

 

c) Thoughts about working as an American bodybuilder

 

She continued to enjoy lifting weights, to the point that she became hooked on it.  

 

Making it a tool to get work was the last thing on her mind although friends used to joke about the idea that maybe she would get a job as perhaps an American bodybuilder, and it would pay off. 

 

She had been going to the gym for a few years training and so she was in the physical shape as she would come to be seen in the film. 

 

1. "I enjoyed lifting weights, and I got hooked on it. It was something to keep me busy. I didn't see it as a tool to get work, though my friends used to joke that maybe they'll do a film about an American bodybuilder, or something like that, that it'll pay off. It's funny that it did."

   (Copied from https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine #115)