John, over the weekend, I gave the 2025 Commencement Address at USC’s Annenberg School of Communication (see below!)

(Photo by Greg Grudt/Steve Cohn Photography and courtesy of USC Annenberg)

You may think after years of acting and big speeches that the novelty of events like these goes away, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It doesn’t matter the stage, I will do my best to speak truth to power and remind people there are two unprecedented and deeply interconnected challenges before us.

Democracy and climate. And for both, it is now or never.

I don't think that a graduating class has ever gone out into a world that is more uncertain and polarized.

Right now, we are losing the democratic norms, capacity, and infrastructure that we need to solve the climate crisis. And we're losing the climate stability to solve the crisis in our democracy and well… everything else.

We are going to win or lose these two things together, so here’s what you need to know:

The good news is, and I want you to know this, these challenges are winnable. Times are very hard but not hopeless. Across the country, people are pushing back, holding the line against the dismantling of democracy. People are advancing more climate solutions than you can imagine.

There is definitely reason for hope, but hope takes action. It's easy to be optimistic and say everything's going to be fine, but hope is a muscle like the heart. It's when we take action that hope comes alive.

So, I urge you to get involved, John. Vote with climate in mind. Encourage your friends and family to do the same. Join us in this fight because we can’t do it alone. And if you can, please chip in a few bucks before the end of the day to ensure we can continue to make a difference in the climate fight.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

xx Jane

P.S. If you want to dive deeper into my commencement address, click here and enjoy the full speech!