Rita Wilson has revealed how Bruce Springsteen helped her overcome fears of becoming a songwriter later in life.
The 69-year-old star – who released her sixth album Sound of a Woman on May, which marks her first solo LP since 2019 – first turned her attention to music with the release of her debut record AM/FM in 2012, but the Boss urged the Hollywood actress not to let timing put her off.
Speaking at the Sound of a Woman: Rita Wilson in Conversation with Demi Moore event at 92NY, she recalled: “We were talking one day about songwriting. He was giving a masterclass, really, on it.
“And so when there was a pause, I said to him, ‘What makes me think that I can start writing now when you’ve been writing all your life?’
“And he said, “Because, Rita, creativity is time independent’. And I thought that’s so true.
“Like, who’s got the clock? Who up there has got the clock saying, ‘I’m sorry, that was supposed to happen in 1985?’ ”
Rita noted how everyone has “so many limiting beliefs” which come from ourselves and society as a whole.
She added: “I just think we have so many limiting beliefs — our own beliefs — but also societal beliefs that say, ‘You can’t do that, or that’s not acceptable.’
“And I’m here to break some rules. I never was a rule breaker when I was a teenager, a rebel in any sense. I’m gonna be now.”
Rita admitted it is “scary” to put out such a personal record, particularly as she and her husband Tom Hanks try to keep their life private.
She explained: “We have public personas that are out there, and I am a very, very private person … [and] I have felt very comfortable being that private person.
“But when you feel compelled to say something … you have to go out into the world. It can’t be held too close to you anymore.”
She is also aware that not everyone will “like” her music, but she’s at peace with that, and will be happy of if even just “one person” connects with her songs.
She added: “You know, [people] may not like it, and that’s okay, too. I still feel like I wouldn’t change it. I wouldn’t change anything that I’ve done to get to this point, you know?”