BRIEF:
Q&A
T
HOUGHHE’SONLY26years old, Chris
Bashinelli is probably best known for
beingoneof theyoungest peopleever
tomoderate an event at the General Assembly
Hall of theUnitedNations. (That, and he also ap-
peared on HBO’s critically acclaimed hit show
The Sopranos
.) Sowhat exactly lands someone
in this position?Well, for starters,
how about establishing your own
socially conscious production com-
panycalledBridge theGapTV, then
serving as the host of its flagship
series,
Bridge theGap
?On theshow
(which includes teammembers like
the famed Jane Goodall), Bashi-
nelli travels to some of the poorest
places on Earth and explores life
there bymeeting andworking side
by side with locals. It’s Bashinelli’s
desire to show the world what
it’s like to walk in someone else’s
shoes for a day. The latest in the
Bridge theGap
serieswillpremiereJuly 19onPBSandwill feature
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
As reward for his hardwork, Bashinelli recently
was named a 2013 National Geographic Young
Explorer, anhonor thatprovidedhimwithagrant
for an upcoming expedition toMongolia, where
hewill spend 30 days living the life of a nomad
and visiting numerous communities. Before set-
ting off on his new adventure, though, he took
the time to chat with
AmericanWay
about his
extraordinary life.
AMERICANWAY
:
Youweresomethingofaglob-
al citizenevenasakid inBrooklyn,N.Y., right?
CHRISBASHINELLI:
My friendswereamixof 13
nationalities, all sitting onmy stoop. Tome, the
stoop is the essence of community and building
relationships. Having friends from all over the
world, I saw therearedifferent cultures that influ-
ence thewayspeople live.
AW
:
Youearnedatheaterdegreeandwantedto
beanactor.Whathappened?
CB:
I went on hundreds of auditions and finally
landed a speakingpart on
TheSopranos
. But on
thedaywewere filming, I just feltunfulfilled— like
I wasn’t followingmy real passion. I wanted to
explore theworld, so I went toTanzania onwhat
was called an academic safari. I was so naïve. I
thought theTasmaniandevilwas fromTanzania.
AW
:
Whatdidyou learn there?
CB:
Ihad thismedia imageofAfricaasnothingbut
starvingkidswith flieson their faces,
but therewas somuchmore. I met
PeteO’Neal, a formerBlackPanther
who runsacommunitycenter in the
villageof Imbaseni. I askedhimhow
I couldmake a difference, and he
challengedme toput others’ needs
aheadofmine.Hesaid I should take
$100 and do something goodwith
it.Weneed toquit lookingat every-
thing through the lens of our own
personalwants. Everywhere Igo for
theU.N., almost every issue canbe
tracedback to this one simple idea
of puttingpeople first. It’sabout trying tobuilda
global stoopwe canall share.
AW
:
Howdo you see your rolewith theUnited
Nations?
CB:
I thinkmy role is that of a communicator be-
tweengenerations and cultures. I try to relay the
issues in a very simple way that calls people to
action,motivates them todo something.
AW
:
On your
Bridge the Gap
programs from
Ugandaandotherplaces,youreallyget involved
inthedaily livesofpeople,sometimestakingon
dangerous,messy jobs.
CB:
You can’t assumeyouknowwhat someone’s
life is likewithout walking in their shoes. You’ve
got to see theworld from their point of view.
AW
:
Howdidyourfather’sdeathafewyearsago
changeyour lifeandyourwork?
CB:
I alwayshad thissenseofdelaying.Youknow:
I can do it tomorrow or next year. In the face of
death, all the nonsense in your lifemelts away
and you see the core of what’s important. From
him, I learnedwe have to find our “why” — our
inspiration. Forme, the “why” iscreatingpositive
media, inspiring people and bridging those cul-
tural, ethnicand religiousgaps around theworld.
Buildinga
GlobalStoop
CHRISBASHINELLI
hasonegoal in life: tobridge theworld’s
gapofdifferences.
“Youcan’t
assume
youknowwhat
someone’s
LIFE ISLIKE
without
walkingin
theirshoes.”
Seemoreof Bridge theGapTVat
30
MAY 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
