Sean Young on How She ‘Survived’ Hollywood: ‘The Industry Has Always Been Predatory’ (Exclusive)

Sean Young has had an illustrious Hollywood career — but now she’s set her sights on the stage.

The actress, 63, best known for a string of hits in the ’80s and early ’90s, made her New York theater debut in Ode to the Wasp Womanwritten and directed by Rider McDowell.

The Off-Broadway show details the untimely deaths of four doomed 1950s Hollywood stars. Young stars as Susan Cabot, a B-movie actress known for Wasp’s wifewho was beaten to death by her 22-year-old son in 1986.

Unlike Cabot, Young rose to A-list stardom with her portrayal of Rachael in Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner.

The noir thriller marked only Young’s third film. She would go on to appear in David Lynch Dune (1984), hit comedy There is no way out (1987) with Kevin Costner and Oliver Stone Wall Street (1987).

Her career famously soured in later years amid a series of on-set accidents and disputes.

She was originally cast as Bruce Wayne’s lover in Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman. But she was replaced by Kim Basinger when she was injured during filming, although she later publicly lobbied, while in costume, for the role of Catwoman in the sequel, which eventually went to Michelle Pfeiffer.

After starring alongside James Woods in the 1988 film An incentive, the actor filed a $2 million civil suit against Young, accusing her of stalking. Although they settled out of court and Young disputed Woods’ allegations, her career was damaged. In 2011, she would appear on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew for alcohol abuse.

In the 90s, at the height of the negative attention that plagued her, Young moved away from Hollywood to Sedona, Arizona, and with her husband Robert Lujan gave birth to two boys, Rio Kelly Lujan, 29, Quinn Lujan, 25.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Young draws parallels between the two Ode to the Wasp Womanthemes and his own journey, he looks back on it early Blade Runner fame, and much more.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Sean Young in the play ODE TO THE WASP WOMAN.

Marija Baranova

PEOPLE: Did you see any of your stories in this play about Hollywood failing these four actors?

Young: You go through these things in show business. That’s actually what fascinated me about the play. Having had some personal experience with what the turmoil in Hollywood can do to people and the things it can push them through, I think that ultimately you really control your career. But if you start young, you’re very influenced by your “handlers” and people who are supposed to give you the advice you need and all that stuff.

A business that somehow feeds on young people, in general. I mean, not in all cases. There are people who have grown old and continue to maintain their success. But it’s a business started by young people, so I found it fascinating, the tragedy and the stories of the people who are in the play.

The press release for the series quotes you as saying, “I want to break free from my personal experience of being eaten alive in Hollywood.”

Well, yes, I think it’s true. I’m so glad I survived everything I went through as a famous actress in my 20s and early 30s. I’m really grateful to have a family.

What made you leave Hollywood and move to Sedona to start a family?

It was like, “If you fuckers can do this, if you can accuse me of things and then try to rob or destroy my career, then fuck you all. I’m moving to Sedona.” Because it was such a shock to me, and I was quite young. I didn’t have a strategy at that point.

And I actually didn’t have the national team I needed because at the time, in my 20s, my mother was the manager, and that was quite a disaster. Momagers. Not good for business. Because she didn’t really know anything about how to be a real manager. So that didn’t help either.

Sean Young in the play ODE TO THE WASP WOMAN.

Marija Baranova

But overall I felt like I had a good reputation. And then I kept working, so I said, “Okay. Well, I can still work. I got offers.” I mean, in my late 30s, they weren’t such extreme A-list projects, but they paid well and they gave me an income and they gave me a job and I never had to do any other work. So that to me… that’s success.

Do you feel that in today’s post-Me Too era, what happened to you wouldn’t happen to you?

I don’t know if that’s true, because look at Bette Davis or Olivia de Havilland. They started that battle path before me. Plus, they were also in an era of golden Hollywood where perception was even more critical, in some ways, than it is today.

I think the industry has always been predatory. I don’t think that happened until recently.

But only now are we seeing the reckoning, finally, after all these years.

That. But with that comes challenges, because then in a way you create an atmosphere where everyone is afraid that someone will point them out. So there is a lot of caution around that.

When you were only 20 years old Blade Runner came out, but in interviews at the time you seemed so confident, so sure of yourself.

I think that’s true. I think I had my own personality. I’ve always had a very good sense of humor. I keep people in stitches all day long. And I always felt that I had the right to be me. I didn’t feel like I didn’t have the right to be me when I started. But then I learned that, in terms of self-preservation, being me isn’t necessarily an advantage in terms of other people’s egos and perceptions of other people or boundaries or whatever.

Sean Young in BLADE RUNNER.

Snap/Shutterstock

Because other people, I discovered, didn’t necessarily have the sense of humor that I did. There is a lot of arrogance in the business and a lot of manic people in the business. If you say something that’s really obvious to someone who might not want to see themselves a certain way, you can offend them.

I might have offended a few leading people along the way. But that was never my intention. That’s really true. I just thought it was all very funny. I didn’t take it that seriously. I took what I was doing seriously.

We talked about it last night in the locker room. Someone said, “Oh, you’re such a great actor.” I said, “No, no. I’m not really a great actor. I’m a great soldier.” I know how to show up. If someone tells me what they want from me, I know how to do it very well.

Stephen Sondheim’s last musical, here we areStar-studded debut — see an exclusive first look

Contrary to what people might think of me, or perceptions, it seems, open and blah, blah, blah, I had to learn that as an actress. I didn’t walk into my life as an actress being particularly loud or talkative.

I remember the first time I had to The David Letterman Show, I wouldn’t say I had those commas back then. But I have always, as a person, been funny and had a funny sense of humor. I struggled to learn what was expected of me and I think in my 20’s I feel I did a good job of being “open” because that was the thing you needed to get attention for your project.

And that’s what the producers wanted. That’s what they wanted. Because, I mean, you can’t go in and be like a dead fly on the wall. You have to be somewhat entertaining or at least entertaining or at least say something. Otherwise you’re straight. You’re a flat interviewer, and that just doesn’t help your cause of getting the word out, does it?

You seem like someone who should write a memoir.

Geez, I’ve written 300 pages, but I’m honestly bored of the topic. I couldn’t focus on myself anymore. I wrote it all down until I was 25, so it’s about 300 pages.

Are you the type to go back to your work when you come across it?

Not that I’ve never done it, but I generally don’t. I shot this film called The Blue Motel, and it was just such a piece of shit—. I couldn’t believe it. I watched for 10 minutes and was like, “Oh, my God. This is the worst.” This was so bad I couldn’t even take it. And then, kind of from that point on, I really didn’t want to see what I did unless someone said, “Oh, my God. That’s amazing!”

Ode to the Wasp Woman plays a limited 13-week Off-Broadway engagement from November 7 to January 31 at The Actors Temple Theatre.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education