Jessica Carter Altman has a lot to reflect on.
The daughter of Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter is releasing her new single “Mirror Mirror” on Friday, April 25, and shares a first listen of the track exclusively with Parade.
“I was really fascinated about the psychological concept of mirroring,” Carter Altman, 34, tells Parade of the new song, which is about the desire to hide from the truth. “At a time where we're constantly on social media, we put on filters or we use FaceTune or we edit ourselves. We're not always so happy with what we're seeing when we look in the mirror.”
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Carter Altman knows the feeling all too well. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2013 and attending law school, the singer wasn’t being her most authentic self.
“I grew up wanting to be a singer,” she explains. “I always loved it, and it was always what I wanted to do, but I was really afraid to put myself out there in that way. It felt foolish. I was hyper-aware of the realities of what it was to be in this industry, how unlikely anybody really is to succeed when this is the path that they choose to take. Perhaps I was too afraid of what people would say or think.”
As the daughter of 1972’s Miss World USA, Carter Altman had an up-close-and-personal view of the ups and downs of the entertainment industry, so she decided to put education first. Like her father, late attorney Robert A. Altman, Carter Altman went to study law.
“[My mother] wanted me to have my eyes open and understand what the industry is, what are some of the pitfalls,” Carter Altman says of mom Lynda. “I think that was her biggest concern. And she wanted to protect me because it can be quite a ruthless place.”
After years of putting performing on the back-burner, Carter Altman began to take the stage again during her time in law school from 2014 to 2017, and she started to work on her music professionally. (Her debut EP, No Rules, was featured nationally following its release, and her debut album, Aftermath, is available now.)
Jessica Carter AltmanFrancisco Bravo
“The moment that I stepped back on stage, it was like, ‘Oh my God, I can't have that be the last time,’” she explains. “I took the bar exam, and then I decided, ‘Actually, I don't want to do that. I want to be a singer.’ And I was on a walk in Central Park with my dad, and I told him that I didn't want to be a lawyer. I wanted to be a singer, I wanted to be a musician, I wanted to be an artist. I was so nervous on that walk.”
Her parents, however, were completely supportive of her decision. “A) I don't think he was surprised. And B) He told me if all I got out of it was that I tried and it didn't work out, or I tried and I didn't like it, that was enough. I didn't have to try and succeed for it to be worthwhile. And that permission to essentially fail was really all I needed.”
Related: Lynda Carter Has the Best Advice for Women Who Are Afraid to Follow Their Dreams
As for mom Lynda’s reaction, “She was so supportive,” says Carter Altman. “She still is. She's always my greatest cheerleader. And as I'm developing as an artist, she's giving me the space and the freedom to find my own way rather than try and pull me along to a path that she might find because we're different people, and we're different artists. She had her path, which was an extraordinary journey that she went on, and she's giving me the space to do my own.”
But it’s also nice to have someone to go to for advice (the two also recently worked together on a special shoot for Waterford to mark International Women’s Day). “It's great to have her as a resource and [someone] who understands,” Carter Altman says of her mom. “I mean, there've definitely been moments where I really just need her guidance and her ear to listen to maybe a mix of something, or I play her lyrics.”
Jessica Carter Altman and mom Lynda Carter for WaterfordWaterford
As for the new music Carter Altman has in the works, “It's really cathartic to be able to write what you're feeling down,” she says. “One of the reasons I love writing with other people is that it helps provide this universal sentiment and feeling that we all have because, as an audience member and as a listener, as a fan, I want to feel something when I'm hearing a song, and I want to be able to relate my own experiences to whatever I'm listening to.”
After hanging up her hat in law, Carter Altman seems to have no regrets. “I just am so happy that I get to [perform]. There's not really a single element that I don't like.”
“I face rejection all the time. Everybody does,” she admits of a life in entertainment. “Of course you have disappointing moments, but overall, I am really enjoying the ride.”
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