Talking about endometriosis with actress Lexie Stevenson

Photography by Shane Rad.

Endometriosis is a common but unfortunately misunderstood disease that affects 1 in 10 people who menstruate. I sat down and talked to actress Lexie Stevenson about her experience with endometriosis and her work with the Endometriosis Foundation of America. Lexie openly discussed her arduous diagnosis journey and the things she is working with the Foundation to improve, like the level of education we receive in school about reproductive health and funding for research. We also discussed her work on The Young and the Restless and the importance of representation on screen. 

MR: You were on The Young and the Restless which is such an iconic soap, what was it like to work on such a popular show?

LS: It was really fun because it is a soap opera and we're pumping out so many episodes it did feel like I was in a Bootcamp for actors. It was such a big help though because now I'm able to memorise scripts for auditions really fast. 

MR: How did you prepare for this role? Is there a training camp to help you get ready for the insanely dramatic plots that the writers of The Young and the Restless put out there? I mean your character before morphing into a teen was kidnapped, in a fire and your father even faked his death. 

LS: To be honest with you, it kind of came naturally to me because I think, even though I definitely didn't go through getting kidnapped and my father in real life never faked his death, I think everybody kind of goes through things that are traumatic to them. So I think I kind of just brought that into the character and understanding that she was relatable not just to me, but to a lot of other teenagers because everyone's kind of balancing this crazy home/school life with all the personal things you go through growing up. So, I think I just brought that into the role and I don't know if there was any real preparation besides working with my coach but that was the backstory I kind of drew from. 

MR: What attracted you to the role?

LS: The fact that she was so relatable and I like the fact that her life on the show was pretty normal. Like when I was on the show the biggest thing that happened was that her dad cheated on her mum and had a kid with somebody else which is not uncommon. I also loved the fact that she was mixed, that was another thing that really attracted me to the role because there aren’t a lot of roles out there like that. 

MR: They’ve definitely normalised storylines on soap operas these days compared to what they used to do on shows like Sunset Beach. 

LS: Exactly! 

MR: And although representation has improved we still have a long way to go. 

LS: Oh yeah, for sure.

MR: Like the first interracial kiss on UK TV really wasn’t that long ago, which is so wild to me. And also just thinking about how there was a time where it would have been illegal for me to marry my husband.

LS: Yeah that is so wild to think about. I remember talking about that with my mum and her telling me that just a few years before she was born she wasn’t allowed to marry my dad which is crazy to think about. 

MR: Is that something you look for now in a role, that connection?

LS:  Yeah, absolutely. I like it when in the character breakdown it has mixed in there as opposed to me having to play a different race or culture. 

MR: Representation is so important especially when it’s done correctly, what movies or shows have you watched recently where you have felt represented as a person?

LS: Yeah, so a really popular show that comes to mind is Outer Banks. I really connected with Kiara, I saw myself in her because she was also mixed like me. I also loved how diverse the cast was, it’s so rare for there to be a mixed person and black person in the main cast, it’s usually one or the other. Everyone had their own real issues, I hate it when shows always portray black people like victims and nothing else. I think it's important to show the oppression but I think it's not necessary to always make us the victim.

I also really love anything with Zendaya!

MR: Yes, totally love Outer Banks and Zendaya. I agree, I think the writers for Outer Banks and Euphoria did a great job in creating characters that were a whole person not just a walking stereotypes with all the regular cliches - they had all kinds of issues that we all go through as people and actually thinking about the character instead of thinking what a black woman is stereotypical. I rarely see myself represented correctly because writers really have no idea what to write. Let’s write full stories. 

LS: I agree, a lot of characters are written so stereotypically which is why these shows stand out and why I love them. 

MR: You have been such an advocate for Endometriosis - can you tell me a little bit about your journey from when you were first diagnosed to now?

LS: I was first diagnosed when I was 17 or 18 after having an ovarian cyst removed they noticed that I had endometriosis growing all over the place. So when I came to after the surgery they told me I had endometriosis and that it had wrapped around my small intestine and they had to go back in to remove it. Thankfully they didn’t have to remove the whole thing, just part of it. 

I didn't know much about endometriosis at the time, I just knew that my mum had it and I hadn't given too much thought to it, like most people, I knew nothing about it. So I decided to share my story on my blog and the Endometriosis Foundation of America saw it and reached out to me and invited me to the Blossom Ball, which is their annual charity event. 

Photography by Shane Rad.

They usually have every year but unfortunately, we haven't been able to do it this year because of COVID, but they invited me and I listened to a ton of super inspiring, strong women of all shapes, sizes and colours get up on stage and talk about how they had endometriosis and shared their stories and their nightmares with it. And I honestly don't know what it was, but I just kind of heard the similar stories of women not being diagnosed for a long time, I mean it took me four years to get diagnosed and it took my mum six - it seemed to be a very common theme among the women, it’s not taken seriously when you bring it to your OB-GYN and I just knew that I wanted to do something to help that and bring awareness to it, which is how I ended up getting on the advisory board for the Endometriosis Foundation. 

It was pretty great because after I started getting involved in my blog, I actually had someone stop me and thank me because my blog actually helped them get diagnosed with endometriosis. It was so touching because it’s exactly what I was trying to do, making sure women were aware of the signs to look for. You know your body better than any doctor ever will. If you think something is wrong, then most of the time something is wrong, you know, and if your doctor isn't listening to that and that's not okay. 

MR: Can you explain to our readers what Endometriosis is and what symptoms they should look out for?

LS: Yeah, of course. Well, women of colour are more prone to it, fun fact number one. Also if you have really bad period cramps where you borderline feel like you need to go to the hospital, or you are genuinely not able to go to work or school and or if you feel like you're having period cramps, when you're not on your period, that was a huge sign for me because that's not supposed to happen.

MR: You should totally go and get medical attention if that happens.

LS: Yeah, because it's just not normal. Changing up your diet can also help alleviate some of the symptoms of endometriosis, although that’s not a sign. For instance, gluten will set off an endo attack for me. So if I decide to have a piece of pie or something at night, I have to make sure I'm at home. So definitely go get checked out if you’re having period pains as I described. 

MR: Did you feel supported by your doctor when you sought help - did they empathise with your pain at all?

LS: I think by my own personal OB-GYN at the time, no. It was just chalked up to either not getting enough attention at home or just bad period cramps. So not by my medical professional at that time but I felt supported by my parents because they knew something was wrong. Once I was being supported by medical professionals, they quickly found out what it was. 

MR: So many women, especially WOC have said that when they have sought help for chronic pain or illness, they have been met with disbelief, having their pain questioned. What advice would you give to them?

LS: Yeah. I would say, number one, if you call an OB-GYN to make an appointment and they say, why are you coming in? And you say, oh, I think I might have endometriosis. And if they have no clue what that is, don’t go with that OB-GYN.

Also, if they are thinking well, you're a little too young to have that. Let's test for something else first, then find another OB-GYN. If you have endometriosis or if you want to get diagnosed, it’s really important to go to an endometriosis specialist or make sure that your OB-GYN specialises in that or at least have some knowledge on the subject because there are a lot of people out there who know what endometriosis is but have no idea how to diagnose it or treat it.

MR: You have been serving on the advisory board for the Endometriosis Foundation of America. Can you tell us about the foundation and its mission?

LS: Yeah, for sure. Our mission is to spread awareness about the disease and to also raise money for research because there aren’t a lot of resources on the subject. We don’t have any cold, hard proof about the disease and how it is caused - we don’t fully understand it. There hasn't been a lot of research on it and it's not mandatory to learn about it in school which is one of our goals, to be advocates for women who don't have a voice and don't feel confident enough to speak on the issue because there isn't enough information about it.

We want to make sure women are knowledgeable about it so that they can detect it and notice the signs of it so that they can go and get it checked out and hopefully not have to wait four years as I did.

MR: Yeah, definitely. I do feel that education is key. It’s important to share information about endometriosis and learn how to understand your body. The level of education that we get in the UK and the US about reproduction and sex ed is very minimal and primarily focuses on the male perspective. I remember when I was in school and we were learning about our Menzies, they split up the class, it was boys in one room and girls in another and I remember the information being very basic, just once a month you're going to bleed, and that was pretty much the gist of it. 

LS: And it's also that whole idea of, we're going to teach the girls in the class about this and not the guys because it doesn’t concern them and that is so harmful. My boyfriend and my dad have had to go through this with my mum and me, it's been a learning process for both of them and they both agree that they wish they had known more about it before rather than feeling thrown into it and having to learn as they go. 

So I do think that it has to be taught in schools because I think it teaches boys the importance of understanding what we go through and why.

MR: Yeah and it also makes it a “we” problem rather than it all falling on us to deal with it on our own like pretty much everything else in life. Do you know what I mean? If we're all learning about this, it makes it our problem. Oftentimes with anything that affects women it's seen as a woman issue because it doesn't affect men too, therefore we don't need to know about it, you know, but it's like we know about “Male issues” why can’t we also learn about our biology, together. When it comes to menstruation, STDs, female pleasure, like anything related to us as women, it's like, Nah, we good.

LS: Yeah, that’s so true. And it's honestly a little sad, but that's our goal, to hopefully fix that. It's also a rule of mine as well, that if I do go and talk to a school or a class, I talk to the whole class, not just the girls. 

MR: Do you have any new projects in the works?

LS: Yeah I do have a project coming up that has to do with TikTok. I'm pretty excited about that.

MR: Totally, I don't really post on TikTok but I'm still totally obsessed with watching all the videos on there, there are so many funny accounts on there. 

LS: I’m the exact same way! I'm not going to get one and we're going to get one. I'm not going to be creating some really cool content that we'll be shooting in about two weeks. I'm, really, really excited about it because It kind of incorporates everything I love doing like acting, modelling, makeup and all that good stuff. We have created this awesome plan to bring the account to life. 

MR: Oh, that's awesome. So excited. Ok, the last question, name three things you can’t do without?

LS: Okay. Well, of course, my dog, Bella, I cannot do without her. I couldn't do without chapstick. I need to have chapstick at all times. And I couldn't do without my family, my boyfriend being included in that. So yeah, I couldn't do without those three things.

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