Down the Rabbit Hole with Amber Tamblyn

Fame came early for Amber Tamblyn. Purpose came from what she chose to do next.

She’s spent her life following that purpose — moving from acting to activism to authorship with a deep belief in the power of voice. Her work reminds us that change doesn’t always start with a megaphone. Sometimes it begins with a quiet question, a gut feeling, or the decision to keep going when it would be easier to quit.

I’m pretty excited to continue Down the Rabbit Hole, a series that highlights people who find meaning where others might miss it, and who show us that the small, intentional choices we make every day can add up to something amazing.

From child actor to cultural revolutionary, Amber Tamblyn's story shows how curiosity turns into action, and action into impact.

For this edition, we're diving into the world of Amber Tamblyn, someone who's been proving that real change happens when we dare to question everything — even our own intuition.

Here's what fascinates me about Amber: she’s never settled for just one path. Starting as Emily Quartermaine on General Hospital at age 11, she could have easily rested on her early success. Instead, she kept pushing boundaries, growing from actor to author to activist. Whether starring in Joan of Arcadia and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, or penning powerful works like Era of Ignition and Any Man, each step has been intentional — each role a stepping stone to something bigger.

As a co-founder of Time’s Up, Tamblyn became a fierce advocate for gender equality and social justice. Her work — spanning seven books and essays in The New York Times and The New Yorker — challenges us to think differently about the world around us. Her latest anthology, Listening in the Dark: Women Reclaiming the Power of Intuition, brings together leading feminist voices, showing how individual stories can create collective change.

What makes Tamblyn’s journey so relevant to the Chief Rabbit community is simple: she shows us that meaningful change doesn’t require grand gestures. It’s built on daily choices, consistent action, and the courage to keep growing.

Amber Tamblyn: Down the Rabbit Hole

Q1: Your book Era of Ignition captures a time of personal and societal transformation. Chief Rabbit is all about the power of small, intentional actions. What’s one habit or mindset shift that has helped you stay engaged in your activism and writing without burning out?
Amber Tamblyn:
I learned a lot about burnout from the #MeToo and Time’s Up years. I gave every ounce of myself to those movements and came out on the other side burned out and feeling slightly lost, existentially.

From that — and from my many years working in political organizing spaces, watching how some of the most brilliant organizers operate — I learned that being extremely strategic with political engagement and where you put your energy is key.

Right now, as it pertains to this current government and political time, I feel like I’m in the ring with a boxer that cheats. I’m ducking, bobbing, and weaving through it all. And it forces me to be calculated and smart about the way I fight, so I can land a good punch.

So a good habit for me is making peace with the fight that will always be a part of living in America — and holding strong space for rest, creativity, and love. Because you can’t do the former without nurturing the latter.

Q2: You’ve worked across multiple creative disciplines: poetry, essays, filmmaking, activism. How do you approach starting something new without feeling overwhelmed by the scope of it?
Amber Tamblyn:
One word at a time. One symbol at a time. One frustration at a time. One wild swing of an idea at a time. One rethink or rewrite or restructure at a time. One self-doubt, breakthrough, and breakdown at a time.

Q3: Your work often challenges deeply ingrained power structures. Change can feel slow, even impossible at times. What’s a moment in your work when you realized that a small action had a bigger impact than you expected?
Amber Tamblyn:
When I wrote Dark Sparker, about the lives and deaths of child star actresses. It wasn’t a small action necessarily — it took me seven years to write — but I thought it was a book I needed to write to get it out of my head and heart, to humanize these women and their lives as more than just objects.

But it turned out that people also needed this book in the world — maybe even more than I needed to write it — because it was a window into a world we so rarely talk about authentically: Hollywood, and all that it takes to exist within it.

Q4: What’s a daily or weekly practice—big or small—that helps you stay grounded in your work without getting lost in the noise?
Amber Tamblyn:
My friend, the composer Emily Wells, keeps her phone in a locked box when she’s writing music, and I’ve started doing the same.

I have an old wooden box that belonged to my mom, with flowers carved all over it and a little lock with a key. Before I write, I put my phone on silent, lock it in the wooden box, and hide the key somewhere outside the room.

It helps close me off from the outside world, so I can fully enter the imaginary one I’m trying to create.

Q5: Outside of your own work, what’s a fascinating rabbit hole you’ve gone down lately that’s captured your attention?
Amber Tamblyn:
Currently studying man-made lakes with old sunken towns underneath. Fascinating, haunting, illuminating.

Closing Thoughts

Amber Tamblyn’s journey from child star to cultural changemaker reveals a truth that often gets overlooked in our quick-hit, headline-driven world: transformation isn’t about abandoning who you were. It’s about deepening into who you’re becoming.

What makes her story so great isn’t just the range of roles she’s taken on. It’s how she’s approached each chapter with intention, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to telling the truth…even when it’s uncomfortable. From locking away her phone to protect her creative space, to reframing burnout as a call for strategic resistance, her practices remind us that real power is built in the quiet, daily choices we make about where to put our energy.

Tamblyn’s evolution — from actress to author, advocate, and editor — is a masterclass in what it means to keep showing up, to question the systems we’re handed, and to reshape them with clarity and conviction.

In a world that often demands performance, she has chosen authenticity. And in doing so, she shows us what’s possible when we stop playing roles and start writing our own scripts.

Readers can explore more of Amber's thought-provoking work on her Substack, AmberTamblyn.Substack.com where she regularly discusses writing, activism, and the intersection of art and social change.

To stay connected with Amber's latest projects and insights, follow her on Instagram @AmberRoseTamblyn or visit her website amtam.com where her most recent publications and upcoming events can be found.

As always, thanks for reading,
Derek
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