ReZoom

Actress Jennifer O'Neill is not one to back away from a challenge. Eternally etched on ReZoomers' minds as the erotic ingénue of "Summer of '42," O'Neill has repeatedly thrown herself into projects – and careers – forcing her to not just face her insecurities, but embrace them.

The costar of "Rio Lobo" with John Wayne turned to modeling for her 'second act' after her film career hit a bump, despite the fact she was uncomfortable having her picture taken. Conquering that demon not only helped her weather a career slowdown, but also put her on a path to a third act in the spotlight. Like many, speaking in front of large crowds gave her great anxiety, so, naturally, she remade herself into a motivational speaker.

"If someone had told me I'd be standing in front of large groups of women speaking to them inspirationally, I would have said they were nuts," O'Neill admits. "But if there is anything that I do well, it's transition."

Today she tells crowds her inspirational story about finding strength in her faith. You might think the starlet that shared screen time with the likes of Wayne, Anthony Quinn ("Caravans"), Robert Duvall ("Lady Ice") and Donald Sutherland ("Scanners") would be fearless, but her battle to overcome her phobias plays out almost daily in many ways.

"Horses have always been a passion of mine," explains O'Neill, who at one time owned horse farms in Malibu and Nashville. "I've broken everything. I broke my neck just like Chris Reeves after going over a jump, I was just fortunate that I wasn't paralyzed. But that (fear) prompts me to want to conquer it because I can't stand being owned by fear."

Understandably the 58-year-old O'Neill still gets nervous when she climbs up on a horse, but she still does.

Her most dramatic challenge came in 1992. Still in the business and living comfortably on a 25-acre Malibu horse farm, O'Neill's husband wanted to be a songwriter in Nashville. Wanting the marriage to work, she loaded her horses, children and parents (who were living with her) and moved to Tennessee to follow her husband's dream.

"When I got off the plane, I saw all the green and knew that this was a better place to raise my children," says O'Neill. Unfortunately the husband washed out of Nashville, and the marriage, but O'Neill stayed in Nashville.

"I felt that I was here for a reason," O'Neill reveals. "I had an opportunity to write my autobiography, and I discovered that reviewing my life was a very good thing to do."

Her book "Surviving Myself" became the foundation from which she started speaking. Still ambitious, O'Neill has a book deal that has her penning a novel every six months, and she's writing a one-woman show. Her newest book, "A Fall Together," is focused on a subject that is a topic of her public talks - how women support one another through life's various challenges.

"There are so many talented women that have a body of work who have reached 45 or 55 or 70 doing just about everything to look as young as they can," she says. "There are fifty fabulous women trying for about five roles. So what do they do? The smarter ones reinvent themselves."