Isabella Rossellini Actress, model, conservationist
Recently, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens hosted their annual Toast to Conservation, an evening to celebrate the commitment to protecting threatened animals, plants, and ecosystems around the globe with special guest, Isabella Rossellini. Established in 2017, the zoo’s wildlife conservation programs include organizations locally and globally which they have dedicated over $1.25 million to within the past five years. The event was hosted at the Glass Factory, a charming venue that set the stage for a once-in-a-lifetime performance from Italian model, actor, and wildlife activist, Isabella Rossellini.
Rossellini has graced the cover of over 500 magazines, including 24 covers of Vogue. After making her cinematic debut in 1979, she appeared in numerous TV shows and films such as Julia, The Incredibles 2, Blue Velvet, and Death Becomes Her. She then earned a master’s degree in animal behavior and conservation from Hunter College and received a Ph.D. Honoris Causa from the University of Quebec at Montreal. Rossellini has won several Webby awards for the short film series she wrote and directed—Green Porno, Seduce Me, and Mammas—that offer comical and scientifically insightful studies of animal behavior.
When did you first become interested in conservation and why is it so important to you?
Since I was a little girl, I loved animals. When I was 14 years old, my father gave me a book called King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Lorenz who won the Nobel Prize having founded the new science of ethology, which is the science of the study of animal behavior. At that time, I thought, “Ah! This is what I’m going to be when I’m a grown up. I want to be an ethologist.” And since I come from a family of filmmakers, I thought I’m going to make films about animals.
I ended up taking many detours, but lately I have become an ethologist and I’ve made films about animals. While my primary interest is animal behavior, that cannot be separated from conservation. Conservation and the problems that wild animals are facing—loss of habitat, poaching, et cetera—cannot be ignored. That’s not something that I love, I only love animal behavior.
What role did White Oak have in further developing your involvement with conservation and animals?
I became a friend of Howard Gilman, who owned White Oak until he died. We met through the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, while I was working on the film White Knights. During the film Mikhail and I became friends, and when he discovered that I loved animals he said, “You have to meet my friend Howard.” And I came to this incredible place. Just unimaginable, indescribable, a kind of a Noah’s Ark with endangered species. Sometimes they help with breeding in zoos, sometimes in the hope to bring them back to the wild, to the original country where the animal came from.
This was my first personal confrontation with a conservation effort as an adult and that’s where I met John Lukas, who ran White Oak. We’re born the same day, June 18th, and we became very good friends. After many years, John left White Oak, and he’s now working for the Jacksonville Zoo, and that’s how I became involved with this gala.
