She grew up on a small island off the English coast, ran off to LA in the 1990s to work as a hostess at The Roxbury on Sunset Boulevard, and today Donna Langley is chairman of Universal Pictures – and the most successful studio head in Hollywood history...
In this month’s issue of PORTER magazine, Vassi Chamberlain visits the brains behind Fifty Shades of Grey and Straight Outta Compton at her weekend ranch in Ojai where the quiet Brit talks about her brilliant career. We got an exclusive look at this must-read feature. To see the full interview with Donna Langley, buy the latest issue of PORTER, on sale globally on Friday September 30. Also available as a digital edition or go to www.portersubscription.com/portersub. Photography by Bjorn Iooss, courtesy PORTER magazine
On being adopted…
Just being adopted and having the knowledge that you are not of someone’s blood, if you will, makes you think about your place in the world, about fate, and it makes you very mindful of how things in life happen. I am a big believer that things happen for a reason.
On finding her birth parents…
I think everyone goes through questions of identity. But for me the question of ‘Gosh who am I, where do I come from, why am I like this?’-those things dissipated for me when I became a mother.
On being a mother…
Looking at two people who share my biology is really powerful; that was the piece of the puzzle that was missing. Having people in my life who resemble me, who have characteristics that I can identify with really clearly, that is what’s missing when you’re adopted.
On motherhood...
I was really desperate to be a mum, then you get pregnant and you’re desperately afraid to tell anybody in case anything happens, so you walk around with files and folders in front of your tummy, which I did for five months.
On work life…
I’ve reached a point in my career where I’m no longer climbing the mountain. It’s about figuring out how to stay at the top.
