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Taking A Break For Friendship | With Sela Ward

18:48
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(Brian Rea for the New York Times)
(Brian Rea for the New York Times)

When she logged onto match.com, writer Elinor Lipman didn't know what to expect. Internet dating wasn't even around when she met her first husband. But no matter your age, dating is......complicated.

Sela Ward — you may know her from her roles in "Gone Girl," and "The Fugitive" — reads Elinor Lipman's essay, "Taking a Break for Friendship." Ward currently stars in the Epix political comedy "Graves."

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(Courtesy of Sela Ward)
(Courtesy of Sela Ward)

Award-winning actress Sela Ward continues to score strong, powerful roles in both film and television. She was last seen on the big screen as the President of the United States in the highly anticipated feature, “Independence Day Resurgence.” The project reunited Ward with director Roland Emmerich, with whom she first worked on “The Day After Tomorrow.” Other film credits include “Gone Girl,” “The Guardian” and “The Fugitive” with Harrison Ford.

On the small screen, Ward took on the role of former First Lady opposite Nick Nolte in the EPIX series “Graves,” which aired in the fall. The show was picked up for a second season and will follow Ward’s character as she pursues a political career of her own. You can watch the first season via streaming at THIS link. Previously Ward won a Best Actress Emmy for her break thru performance in “Sisters.” She earned another Best Actress Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for her work on “Once and Again.” She also co-starred with Gary Sinise on “CSI: NY.” Other television credits include a recurring role on “House” and starring in the made for TV movie, “Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story,” which earned her Emmy and Screen Actors Guild award nominations.

Ward, a Mississippi native and graduate of the University of Alabama, moved to New York after graduation. She started a career in advertising but soon after was approached by the Wilhelmina Agency and she embarked on a successful modeling and television commercial run. A move to Los Angeles catapulted her into the world of acting when she was discovered by Blake Edwards who cast her in his film, “A Man Who Loved Women.”

In her native Mississippi, Ward founded Hope Village for Children to provide a safe haven and an alternative to the traditional foster care system. The organization offers a more permanent home that provides a continuum of specialized treatment programs, services and facilities to meet the individual needs of neglected and abused children.

When not working or tending to her philanthropic projects, Ward is an accomplished painter and NY Times bestselling author. Her first book, Homesick, is part inspirational story, part memoir that tells Ward’s quest for a balance of the comforts of her small-town childhood and the big city way of life.

(Courtesy of Elinor Lipman)
(Courtesy of Elinor Lipman)

Elinor Lipman is the author of 13 books of fiction and nonfiction, including "The Inn at Lake Devine," "Isabel's Bed," "The Family Man," "The View From Penthouse B" and "I Can't Complain: (All Too) Personal Essays." Her rhyming tweets were published in 2012 as "Tweet Land of Liberty: Irreverent Rhymes from the Political Circus." She was the 2011-12 Elizabeth Drew professor of creative writing at Smith College, and lives in Manhattan. Her next novel, "On Turpentine Lane," will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on Valentine’s Day 2017.

Headshot of Jessica Alpert

Jessica Alpert Managing Producer, Program Development
Jessica Alpert is the managing producer for program development at WBUR. In this position, she develops new podcasts and programs while also launching and nurturing WBUR’s newest projects.

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