Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles that will profile College alums working in film and television.
"Me, Tarzan. You, Jane." You've heard it before, but this Jane's a little different -- just five years ago, she too walked the familiar grounds of Wheelock, Main and Webster.
In 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel about an undomesticated man in a loincloth hit newsstands everywhere. Soon, the adventurous tale of a scantily clad man-ape swinging through the trees of the jungle became a hit literary series soon brought to the big screen in 1948 and again in 1999.
Today, however, Burroughs' jungle hero is no longer a half-naked barbarian swinging from ropes; he is an aesthetically pleasing man trying to survive the jungle of New York. And the WB's modernized Jane character doesn't prance around the jungle in a bikini made of leaves only to get rescued by Tarzan whenever possible. (He does save her in the premiere episode, but that's only because she is busy leading a life of dangerous crime fighting.) Tarzan falls in love with her, and who can blame him?
Smart, witty and beautiful Sarah Callies '99, aka Jane Porter, has already battled the harsh jungle of the entertainment world and emerged victorious as the star of this fall's hit new simian drama, "Tarzan."
Though she graduated from Dartmouth only five short years ago, Callies has already made a name for herself on the small screen. After roles on shows like "Dragnet" and "Law and Order: SVU," Callies has secured herself a solid starring role on the WB.
But, for Callies, it's not all about glitz and glamour. The daughter of two University professors, Callies did a senior Fellowship at Dartmouth on Indigenous Theology then continued on to complete her Masters of Fine Arts at the National Theatre Conservatory. And if she thought a 10A-2A schedule was brutal, Callies now spends from 14-16 hours a day, five days a week on set. Despite the long hours, according to Callies, "We have a wonderful ensemble. It's rare to have a mix of people as diverse as we are (age range of about 40 years, both genders, three nationalities, several ethnicities, etc.) who work so well together. It's an honor to be a part of, and I'm able to learn a tremendous amount from those actors who've been in the business longer than I. They, in turn, have been generous mentors."
According to Callies, "The hours are very long and the schedule demanding." The cast shoots, an average of 8 days for an hour-long episode on both a sound stage in Toronto and on location in Toronto and New York, where she lived for a year following her master's program at the National Theatre Conservatory. "It's always nice to be back. I love New York."
And though Callies may make her role look easy, a lot of preparation was required for the role of Jane. "Preparing for the role involved some physical training for me in stunt work as well as reading some of Burroughs' books. Our series isn't based literally on his texts, but the underpinnings of my character are, I believe, almost identical, and I found his work very helpful, if perhaps rather disastrously outdated in race and class terms."
Although the WB's version of Jane is a modern-day policewoman rather than a Barbie-like schoolteacher, "Jane and I have overlaps. Although a Venn diagram of our personalities would probably look not unlike the MasterCard emblem:, we have significant differences as well that center around her whirling, ever-spinning mind. I think I have more quiet places than Jane does, and I certainly enjoy spending time away from the city as well as spun up in the heart of it."
Before her small screen love affair, Callies spent her days in Hanover, N.H. eating at Food Court and studying in the library. "While many people speak of hindsight being 20/20, I find that looking back on Dartmouth is less like a corrective lens and more like a stained glass window. Different moments in my present reflect back to different understandings of my past."
Of her time at the College, Callies said, "I certainly never felt attached to the Dartmouth mainstream, and was alternately grateful and confused by that. Then, I think I was at Dartmouth when the understanding and composition of mainstream itself was changing. I never identified with the privilege -- of so many varieties -- that seemed to characterize both the pasts and futures of so many other students, and yet I felt then and feel now immensely privileged to have found the enclaves of intelligence, passion, difference that made my time there wondrous."
Married to a '97, Callies cannot forget her Dartmouth experiences. "I spent a good deal of time in the theatre, walking around Occom Pond, at Amarna, in the jewelry studio and Wood Shop, in Collis, working with exhilaration in and for my classes, and watching the creative and intellectual work of my peers. I was taught by virtuoso professors, and I remember specifically Priscilla Sears and Framji Minwalla inculcating me with ideas that shape my work and identity to this day."
Even the Hanover weather didn't seem to faze this Hawaiian native. "This time of year, Dartmouth always blew me away. Coming from Hawaii where the colors don't turn, my first falls on the mainland were filled with awe, and I couldn't stand to be indoors."
Despite her success, Callies remains modest. "As for Dartmouth students who are moved to pursue the arts/ entertainment, I'm not sure I'm in any position to give advice as my own career feels hours old, even though it began, in a sense, when I was 11 and led my first play ... I love my job, but work isn't everything."
