Actress and activist AnnaLynne McCord’s latest role is far from the glamour of the 90210, and it’s changing the world.

Best known by her portrayal of privileged socialite Naomi Clark on the CW reboot, 90210, AnnaLynne McCord effortlessly transitioned from multi-talented Hollywood heavyweight to global activist raising awareness and leading the fight against human trafficking. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, the bronzed goddess began creating her own moments once she left home at the age of fifteen. First stop: New York City. “I began modeling with Wilhelmina Miami when I was fifteen. I split my time between Miami and New York for a couple of years.” In hopes of being her version of Julia Roberts, Georgian turned Hollywood darling, and McCord had little trouble leaving the world of modeling in pursuit of the big screen. “When I moved to New York, I disappointed my modeling agents at Major Model Management. The director wanted me to be her ‘new Kate Moss’.” Remaining true to herself, McCord’s new chapter was just around the corner. Her first role came just two years later in 2005’s action-thriller film Transporter 2, on her birthday she adds. A memory she holds dear, she looks back on the day her agent Melissa Hirschenson — then casting director — spraying brunette hair color in her hair in the casting office restroom — and Jason Statham, Louis Leterrier, and Steve Chasman collectively singing “Happy Birthday” during the audition. Looking back, she says it was one of the happiest days of her life.

After years of developing her repertoire in The Big Apple, Los Angeles came calling. From jet lag to becoming a working actress, McCord’s concept of time was nothing to play with. “When I first started 90210, my Monday mornings began at 3:15 am,” she says with her eyes closed. Understanding the struggle, for a leading actress it could feel as if there was no end in sight. She continues, “I would get home around 8:00 pm or 9:00 pm if I was lucky. By Friday, we were filming through to sunrise on Saturday. 90-hour workweeks and press shoots or travels for appearances on the weekends ensured that sleeping was a luxury I couldn’t afford.” When you are the leader of one of the decade's highly acclaimed series on television, getting normal errands done would be seen as a dream concept for many. “It does not happen,” she laughed. Leaving before anything opens and heading home after everything is closed, life would seem to be in a standstill for several months at a time. “For nine months, you’re just thinking, ‘during my hiatus I’ll catch up on everything.’ Of course, by the time you wrap a season you are either desperate for a vacation or you’re already slated to do a film in the months of your time off.” A cycle that continued for five seasons. “Of course, having said all of that — I get to do what I dreamed of doing since I was a 9-year-old little girl. There is a lot that goes into being an artist, the pay-off is the art itself. I love what I do between action and cut. Acting can be incredibly cathartic. It also gives you such a beautiful opportunity to slip on the shoes of another person and see the world through their eyes.”

Finding satisfaction in the act of disappearing into a new character — a story, a life — McCord compares the thrill to a self-induced adrenaline rush. With mild anxiety-like undertones, her excitement as a performer questioning her relativity to the character’s presence borderline present and instinctual. “It’s exciting. I don’t know if I’m going to kill it or screw it up. It’s an odd process, but it’s my process and I love it. 90210’s Naomi Clark and I don’t share very many personality traits. She’s a party-girl extrovert. I’m a solo traveling bookworm,” she says, with a hint of humor in her voice, “The beautiful element of all my characters is their flaws. I enjoy bringing relatable and deeply human qualities to my roles. That’s my fun, personal challenge. Finding the moments that weren’t necessarily written.” After the end of 90210 in 2013, McCord’s character development search was finding storylines that were dissimilar to her own. “Playing a character like me always felt too exposing.” However, in 2011, McCord signed on for a role in the film Excision. The project, a genre-mashup under the horror category, she felt a sense of understanding as to the anti-hero. In no way a murderer, but she further explains that small moments during filming explored her abilities as an artist and growth as an individual. “[My character] Pauline analyzed and processed the world around her. There were moments during filming that I felt very exposed. It was confronting and grew me as an artist.” In the end, McCord went on to receive several awards, including the Málaga International.

Now at 32, McCord’s most crucial role thus far has been voicing her support and awareness on the global issues of human trafficking. Together1Heart, founded in 2014 by Somaly Mam, is an organization that supports young women and girls who have been victims or are currently at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking. With its established programs for rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration, the team has provided extensive psychological care, art therapy and mind-body focus work coupled with primary, secondary, and higher levels of education. Based on the girl's needs and desires, Together1Heart also offers vocational skill training opportunities encouraging girls to gain self-confidence as they reenter society. McCord’s decision to join the fight to end human trafficking was born out of necessity. “I was experiencing an incredible amount of professional success. From being offered 90210 and other roles and opportunities, from the outside, everything was going well. But on the inside, I was screaming to be set free.” Intuitively, McCord knew that if she took a stance against modern-day slavery, it could one day lead to her freedom. “Sometimes it’s easier to see what we’ve learned looking back at our lives. However, if we’re able to ask, whether it be our higher self, God, or the Universe, how our current pain can become a teacher we’ve found the key to unlock the freedom from that pain. My hero, best friend and the founder of the organization, Mam told me, ‘We thank our enemies, they bring us the greatest lessons.’ I love this because it means there are no mistakes. If someone’s action causes me pain, I can focus on the hurt or I can ask, ‘what can I learn from this struggle?’” Sensing a moment of Eat, Pray, Love, McCord’s discovery of self soon began to mold and mature. “With all I’ve discovered in my life there is one thing I am certain of — it’s that I am certain of nothing. Everything always changes. Nothing lasts forever. When we leave this earth, the only thing we take with us is all that we gave away. So, what will you be able to take with you? I want to be able to say that I took the entire world with me because before I breathed my last, I gave the whole world to the world. Clearing the mind and clearing the body of the mind’s habits is the fastest path towards personal freedom that I’ve found.”

With a clear mind and body, McCord’s idea developed into a means of reflection. By using that same calm nature from within to the outside world and her advocacy efforts, she strives to promote mind-body integration as she ventures through her pains and leading the girls and women-based organization. “What is within me will be what I reflect outward. If I am in pain, I will project pain. If I am enslaved inside my mind, I cannot promote freedom outside in the world. Mind-body integration must occur for peace to be a part of daily life. Most every issue in the world begins and ends with the state of the body. As my good friend and neuroscientist Benjamin Fry discusses in his book, The Invisible Lion when the nervous system suffers dysregulation when the mind nor the body can find ease. And this ‘disease’ is exacerbated by both in a vicious cycle. An unhappy body creates unhappy stories in the mind, creating more unhappiness in the body. This then extends outward to those around us, as our energy has a ripple effect throughout the world.”

Mentally aware of said ripple effect, McCord and Mam launched the Storm the Planet World Tour. The massive global awareness campaign, a 20-city tour, features a mass meditation event with an emphasis on fighting slavery from the inside out. With excitement in her heart and voice, McCord explains the movement being, “A very loud and energetic Compassion Meditation, which will feel like love and sound like a storm. I’m going on a [Storm the Planet World] tour and I want to meet everyone.” Kicking off in January in Los Angeles, the tour will stop in New York, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. Followed by an overseas trip to Toronto, London, Paris, Geneva, Rio De Janeiro, and many others. Forming a unique bond between individuals having endured self-tragedies, McCord and the Together1Heart organization’s aim is for us all to see our chains unite us, not break us. “Everyone on this planet has felt pain. It is my mission to make sure they also feel compassion and love. Instead of the pain we’ve experienced keeping us held back and isolated, we have an opportunity to allow it to connect us. This requires light to remove the darkness, love to remove the fear and compassion to remove the hate. Compassion is not a weak choice. Compassion takes the fiercest strength on the planet. Compassion requires a Storm made of pure love.”

With a new storm coming in 2020, McCord, rest assured knows who she is and what we can all do and become with love and discovering our power. “I am the storm. I am love. So are we all. And so it is.” 

If you would like to join the anti-trafficking efforts, visit together1heart.org.