Abigail Arader is a very active member of the Open Squash community, and she works as an actress. In her 'Boast About It' interview with James Green, she walked us through her journey into squash.
She comes from a squash family, with her brother playing college squash, and her father was an all-Ivy hardball squash player during his time at Yale. Arader begins by talking about the parallels she sees between squash and art, and the emotional attachment that can form for the game because of these reasons. “Your emotions are 5 times what they would be” when you are playing, she says.
Arader grew up playing, but not as much as the rest of her family. She says she began playing competitively on the NYU Club Team, where she was studying Drama. She now continues playing competitively and dedicating her time to playing and improving. She only decided to play in her Senior year, and that is what has now sparked her love for the game post-college.
“Really it's the community at Open Squash. I think without it, I wouldn’t be playing as much as I do now.” She also feels that over her time playing, her mindset has changed so much and she is able to be so much calmer and not emotional on the court.
“I think squash has taught me a completely different side to my mind and myself that I had no idea existed. I am so much more confident in myself and my decisions. I think as women, we are not necessarily encouraged to make decisions individually, and I think squash has really taught me to embrace that.”
Arader also spoke about the similarities between playing squash and her acting career, especially with improvisation. She says she has had to learn how to improvise her game just as much as she needs to improvise on stage.
As for her acting career, she says the Writers Strike had a big effect on the industry and her career. Her first big acting role was in Gossip Girl Season 2, and then filming for Season 3 was halted from the strike. Arader wanted to continue to pursue her dreams, so she founded her own production company, Prodigal Daughter Productions, that makes commercials. As a producer, she says she is learning so much about the length of time it takes to get things done, and just how rigorous the process is.
Arader is also in the process of working on multiple films. She is working on one about the 1985 MOVE Bombings to act in the film, and also to produce it. The film is called EYAS, and is hopefully coming out in the new year. She is also working on a film about Maria Sibylla Merian, the discoverer of metamorphosis where butterflies come from cocoons. “I cannot wait for it to come out!” Arader exclaims. Meanwhile, her own company just finished work on a commercial for a small bridal company, Atelier Arielle.
Arader explains how playing with Kat Amir, a former top-100 PSA player, has helped her mindset on court so much. She explains how in her work life, there are not too many individual mistakes you could make as an actress, because you are following directions. Squash entails so many individual decisions constantly, and with the help of Amir, she has learned to trust herself and her decision-making skills on court. She also thanked the coaching staff at Open Squash.
“If you are a young woman thinking about playing squash or coming back to playing squash, there is a community at Open Squash that is ready to embrace you fully and completely. Everyone here is so welcoming, so kind, truly, truly kind.”