Interview with République du Glamour Magazine - March 2009

translated by Nickie from www.rachelshelleyonline.com

While being in Paris March 28th, Rachel Shelley, who plays Helena Peabody in the L Word, has agreed to an interview for our magazine. It is difficult to know whether i twas the Parisian air or the fact she's pregnant that made the beautiful Brit glowing

How did you feel about filming the end of TLW ?

RS : oh I must say it was very sad. We have spend so much time together during the shooting, about 6 or 7 years, it was sad but beautiful at the same time. And we all came to the conclusion it was time to finish the show. We ended filming in Vancuver October last year.

Did you have a big wrap party ?

RS : In fact there were several (laughs) As all the actresses didn’t finish shooting at the same time we had several parties. On the last night there was a smaller one for the actresses left, there was Jennifer Beals, me and some others who finished at the same time.

Was there another role in TLW you would have liked to play besides Helena Peabody?

RS : Every part was nice but I think it would have been fun to play Bette and there were times I thought it would have been fun to play Alice but Leisha Hailey is so perfect in this role I think nobody else could have played Alice, she is so funny in and outside the show. Once the characters have become one with the person who played them it’s difficult imagining them being played by someone else.

Which of the two Helena Peabody did you like playing best ? Helena the bitch or Helena the nice and funny one ?

RS : I really loved playing the first Helena but I don’t really see her as two completely different personalities, I tried to understand why she has changed, it’s because she suffered a broken heart. When they took away her money she lost every confidence but I really enjoy playing the more agressive Helena, the alpha female. I’ve had fun playing those scenes. I think to keep Helena in the season, she needed to be softened a little otherwise she would always at the outside, always be the vilain. I don’t think they would have been able to keep her in the show if she had been like that and I think they write the character according to actress ‘s strength as well and after some time they know you better and add who you really are to the role. I’m not that agressive so they started to write more ‘the gigue’ cause that’s what I really am.

Helena the bitch was your big success in the show, wasn’t it ?

RS : She made an impact which had a lot to do with Bette and Tina, the central characters of the show. Everybody wanted them to stay together. If someone came between them she was hated by the audience and that’s why the reactions were so strong and it wasn’t my character in particular but any character. Even Marlee Matlin who played Jodi, a great personality and a fabulous actress, hasn’t been embraced very well because she came between Bette and Tina even though there wasn’t anything negative about her character. She was different than Helena who wanted to split them up.

Do you think you have been chosen to replace Karina Lombard as the femme fatale ?

RS : I think initially yes. But you can’t replace that character, she was quite different than Helena, she was sensual and Helena was supposed to be sharper and harder than that. I couldn’t replace her but I know what you mean. There really was room for a bad character, one you loved to hate. There was talk at the end of the first season Helena would become the boss of Bette at CAC . That was the first idea and I don’t really know why they didn’t pursue it. A character like that would have been side lined. Being not very sociable it would have been difficult to become one of the group. If you want a person to be more liked she had to become friends with either Alice or Shane who are very much appreciated and because Alice and Helena have become friends, Helena was accepted as well.

A pleasant surprise was the swith from a role of femme fatale to a comic one, how did you take it ?

RS : I really enjoyed it. What was interesting is that before being chosen to play Helena, I've mostly worked in Britain and Europe – perhaps this has to do with my age or my accent - but I've played the sweet girl like Mary Poppins, the sweet girl with the eyes of a deer who dies in the end. Moving from this to the role of Helena was a real change, then go to comedy was super cause I couldn’t believe they would let me do all these things. I really enjoyed it, I didn’t have the impression I was exploring new territories but it was different. I also asked Leisha for advice because for her comedy is natural, she’s born with it. She is fun even of camera as well, she’s hilarious. I have learnt a lot from her, I have spent a great time

About the movie the Children – how did you manage to make the switch from a glamorous role to playing in a horror movie ? Was it easy to put Helena aside ?

RS : I think so, I hope so, it has been quite a long time. I played Helena in november, then another role in December and the role in the Children in February, so I managed pretty well. I also played a police woman in a TV show

Do you think that the fact you played a lesbian role has excluded you from other roles like for instance the James Bond Girl ?

RS : (laughs) no I don’t think so I think The L word was much bigger in the States than in the UK, I don’t know about the rest of Europe ….

Explain to us how is your role proceeding in Great Britain, does it have the same kind of success?

RS: I don’t think the show has as much of success in Britain as in America and I’m not quite sure but I think it’s quite big in France, isn't it?

You have been at the convention in Blackpool? How was it?

RS : yes, it was fun, it was huge so many people, it’s great, we had such a good time, it’s a great experience

It’s quite surprising it’s organized in Blackpool, is it a great place?

RS : no it’s not a great place but he does it there because it’s the biggest convention centre in Britain I think or that fits his needs whatever it is cause he needs that big ballroom and he can’t get those like in the smaller hotels in London, and the people that come want cheap hotels, the rates are very reasonable and they have a lot of beer. Apparently they drink the bars dry that weekend .

So did you meet the British audience?

RS : yes although people come from all over the world Australia, New Zealand, everywhere they came from everywhere for that so yeah we meet a lot of British people but they just come from everywhere it’s really quite shocking. They are talking about a convention in Australia next year that Laurel and I have been asked to do , I would love to do it.

Has the number of ‘coming out’ gone up in Swindon ? (Rachel Shelley lives in this little town in England)

RS : (laughs) I don’t know, maybe. I don’t have the slightest idea, I’m not sure of the effect of the L Word in the UK. The show has been shown on the Living channel, the first year and after that it stopped. Who knows, maybe it will be shown on the regular channels everyone can see.

I imagine you’re constantly recognized in the streets by the fans?

RS : Sometimes yes. But I’m sure that if I’m dressed like I was this morning, hair don and make up on, they would recognize me. In general I mostly have my hair in a pony tail.

If you could be reincarnated in a British actress would it be Vanessa Redgrave or Catherine Tate?

RS (laughs) Vanessa Redgrave …. Definitely Vanessa Redgrave yes definitely

Who is your favorite British actress? Or role model?

RS : Role models .. I find that really hard, you see I’ve never quite been for role models but Kate Winslet she’s amazing, she’s just incredible especially this last year that she’s had and I have a lot of respect for her as an actress in general, she chooses amazing roles but she also hasn’t been sucked in in this Hollywood way of living or being you know she’s her own person which I really respect.

The DVD of the Children is coming out in two days so what are your projects? What are your plans after that?

RS : well … to be honest …. My plans after that ‘je suis enceinte’ I am pregnant so my plans are …. well that’s my plan I’m nearly five months now so I’ve got this belly going on now so it’s there and I think I’m not be taking anything for quite a while. If I wasn’t pregnant I’d gone to the States because it’s the busiest time in the States right now, it’s really busy, new TV shows are casting and I would have been with all the other L Word actresses auditioning but I wasn’t going to go abroad cause I didn’t want to be away from my midwife and my partner so I’m here, well I’m in England and there’s not very much work in England but we’ll see if something comes up and it’s good and it’s something that I could do while being pregnant and if not I just watch this little thing grow.

One last question did the fact you played a lesbian character make you better in bed?

RS (laughs) : I think people perceive me as being better in bed, actually it’s very weird cause like I said my reputation used to be the sweet girl, Mary Poppins and I used to get for my Birthday like um a book or a sweatshirt and now I got L Word and so many people are buying me magazines, frisky magazines about underwear ….. I haven’t changed but yes the perception has changed which is part of the battle I suppose.