Having been an ’80s pop culture idol and a lesbian icon, Jennifer Beals can now add historian to her résumé with the release of The L Word Book, a collection of photos and memories she says she made for her L Word "family." by Tracy E. Gilchrist
For six seasons on the benchmark series The L Word, Jennifer Beals was virtually synonymous with her character — the erudite power lesbian and aesthete Bette Porter. Now the touchstone of ’80s pop culture and international icon for lesbians can add accidental historian to her résumé with The L Word Book, a photographic journal by Beals that takes you behind the scenes of the groundbreaking Showtime series and acts as a vibrant document of the show that forever changed lesbian representation in Hollywood.
A photographer with a knack for capturing actors in private moments between takes, Beals saw her work featured prominently in the 2001 insiders’ glimpse into Hollywood, The Anniversary Party. And while she’s photographically chronicled other film-set experiences, including 1994’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, shooting the actresses on the L Word became a six-year-plus passion project, originally intended for her cast mates but then also for the audience that ardently supported the show throughout its run.
Beyond the by turns jubilant and arresting photos of L Word favorites including Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman, Mia Kirshner, and Kate Moennig, Beals’s book includes transcripts of interviews with the actresses conducted as she took each one on a photographic trip down L Word memory lane. The book, destined to become a collectors’ bonanza and an integral piece of L Word ephemera, can be ordered online with the option of personalizing a dedication page, with proceeds going to charities dear to Beals, including the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Kirshner’s I Live Here Projects, and the Pablove Foundation.
The Advocate caught up with Beals to discuss her inspiration for creating the book, her editing process, her predilection for holding on to memorabilia, and exactly just what happened to that Flashdance sweatshirt.
The Advocate: Congratulations on The L Word Book. I can’t wait to get my hands on one. I’ve only been privy to looking online.
Jennifer Beals: Thanks. I'm so thrilled to be done with it. You have no idea. It was really such a long process. You know, you’re sitting around and you think, Oh, yeah, I'll make a little book and make it available to the fans, and you know ... a year later.
Why was the process so arduous?
In retrospect, it wasn't that arduous. I didn’t count all the steps it took to get from A to Z. I didn’t even count the ones in between. And also, it's been an interesting process not doing it working with a traditional publisher and using an online publishing house, which I think is the way of the future, frankly. It’s a new modality. It’s interesting; I don't even know how to think of it because it's so new.
I think that’s a common response to new modes of communication ... What aspects of publishing the book in this manner, as opposed to traditionally, are different?
People can type in a dedication page if they want to give it as a gift to a friend. They don’t have to have it sent to their house and write in the front and then send it out again. They can have it put in the very front of the book, and then in a couple of weeks, hopefully, upload their own images into the book so they can have their own version of it. People can feel that, and rightly so, this is also part of their story in many ways, because the fans were so important to our journey.
I love the dedication page piece of it. Is that something you realized needed to happen from the onset of the project?
Someone had introduced me to this company called ColorCentric, someone who made an inaugural book for the Obama campaign. In the back of that book you were able to upload your own images, because so many people worked so hard for the campaign and really felt that it was theirs. So instead of just having all sorts of presidential pictures and people in presidential clothes and first lady clothes, you could also have pictures of yourself or family or friends or people you campaigned with. I thought, That’s interesting, and that it was something that should be part of my book because it’s a similar notion. The show was so much about not just storytelling but about representation, and it should be reflected some way in the book.
You wrote on the L Word Book site that this was an era of your life you wanted to preserve. How did you know that going in to working on the show?
You've got a show with all women, first of all. And you've got a show, the likes of which has never happened before. Also, with all those young women who were just starting out in their careers, there was part of me that wanted to preserve that time for them because I know how delicious that beginning time is, and they wouldn’t necessarily recognize it as being so precious. So there was part of me that wanted to archive that history for them. I have a tendency to do that. I save so much stuff. My storage room is a joke.
Will we see you on the next episode of Hoarders?
I didn’t know there was such a thing, but no. I’m not quite that bad. I do have some ability to discern things. I don’t save every tiny little thing, but I do save a lot of memos that resonate for me. That sounds crazy — a memo that would resonate with you. Like — a call sheet, to me, is just kind of amazing. This group of people on this day are being called to work these scenes and this is what transpires.
And so the call sheet is, to me, a spectacular, historical document. It may not be particularly interesting to anybody else, but to the people on that call sheet, in 10 years it’ll be fascinating. Even as just a remembrance of "Oh, yes, I did this at that time and this is what I was doing. There is no unwasted effort, and all those things we did at that time have now led me to where I am right now at age 75." So it's sort of archived.
Did you realize what a part of history The L Word would become when you began? It sounds like you look at your life as though all of the pieces are a part of your personal history.
Well, I don't know if I look at my whole life that way. I know that going to the grocery store isn’t history ... but certain things. I really believe that there is no unwasted effort, and when a group of people comes together to work on a project, regardless of the project, something good can come of it. There’s something you can learn from it, something you can learn from one another. I really believe that, and sometimes it’s difficult to have that learning experience when you’re with people you don’t necessarily want to be with all day on certain projects.
And on this one, we became a family. We became friends and then we became family to one another, so I don’t know if I look at my whole life that way but I do treasure certain moments. And I treasure, not as an attempt to go back in time, but in appreciation of how that time led me to where I am now.
Years from now The L Word will be in the annals of pop culture history, right up there with Ellen coming out. Your book is a piece of that lesbian history. Had you thought of it that way?
Uh, no. That’s terrifying! Hey, no pressure! Really, the book was originally just for the cast. There will probably be things in there that only the cast will understand, but I tried to make everything available to the fans as well because there might be some fans who understand it on another level, or it may resonate with them.
I had the photographs, and at first it was going to just be a book of photography ... Then I thought it would be fun while I was showing the cast the photographs ... I wanted them to be happy with the photos I chose. I wanted it to be a positive experience for everybody. I thought, Wouldn’t it be fun to tape-record the conversations? because years later things come up, memories come up. I thought that might be fun to put in the book for people to remember, and for fans if it’s at all interesting to them. I don’t know if they want to hear about Frye boots, but you know, for us it was fascinating.
What girl doesn’t want to hear about Frye boots?
We talked about everything from mundane things like Frye boots and fashion to what the sixth season felt like to how grateful we were to be on the show and to be able to represent in the way that we did — to have come to know one another. It was all these things that came up.
This is not the first time you created a cast book for your projects. What was the genesis of the Jennifer Beals’s cast photo essay?
After Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, because it was one of those experiences where you have all the cast members together and it’s just such a fascinating experience — to have that many people interacting. Teaching one another, laughing, telling jokes, irritating one another. It was a real learning experience for me because I was so shy, it was difficult at times to integrate myself into the group.
And that was a pretty heavy-hitting cast with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lili Taylor, Campbell Scott ...
Definitely. And they were all really lovely. Also, part of making a book is for me to organize the experience for myself. I made another one for The Anniversary Party.
Your photos were actually used in The Anniversary Party. That was a large part of the film.
That was an interesting project just because I had so much material. Jennifer Jason Leigh just kept giving me film and asking me to shoot all the time. So they just kept giving me film and giving me film. It was nice, but in some ways it was more challenging to put the book together because it was more editing, but really satisfying because I had several images that I actually really liked.
You’ve done these books before for films, but you began this latest project at the start of a series that ended up running six seasons. Did cast members start to hide after a while, saying, "Oh, no, here comes Jennifer with a camera again"?
[Laughs] I don’t know. When I was working on The L Word I had no intention of making a book. It didn’t occur to me ... I think because I had just had my daughter, so all my energy had gone toward my family. If it wasn’t at work, it was going to my family, and it takes a tremendous amount of energy to make a book. So it didn’t really occur to me. Certainly my sleep cycle was saying, "Don’t do the book, don’t do the book."
But then I realized I had to do it. I thought I kind of have to, and then I told myself it wouldn’t be bad, it would all be online. I won’t even have to go to the darkroom. It won’t take that long ... one year later So, I didn’t shoot as much. Maybe if Jennifer Jason Leigh had been around shoving film at me, I would have taken a lot more pictures. There were some times I took more than others. But there were a couple of seasons really clearly I didn’t because I was pregnant, or my daughter was just born and all I wanted to do was stare at her and take pictures of her.
Were you surprised by any memories evoked when editing the book?
That surprised me? Hmm.
A memory of your time on the show that came back or was particularly resonant ...
Well, you know what was really sweet actually was, I showed Mia [Kirshner] a picture of her and Rose Rollins, and Mia started talking about, by her definition, her unlikely friendship with Rose Rollins and how much Rose meant to her. And it was so sweet and so heartfelt that it was very moving to me to hear somebody talk about their friend in that way ... so openly, and wanting to share that with other people, because she signed off on it and it’s in the book.
What was interesting too was, as difficult the six seasons was, every single cast member realized how amazing the experience was and how amazing [creator] Ilene [Chaiken] had been with all of us and how lucky we were to have this on Showtime as opposed to a network. Not that it would have been possible with a network, but you know, in the fantasy land. And people were immensely grateful for their time on the show.
We’ve talked about all these things that are of particular interest to the lesbian audience, but I do need to get a question in for the gay men.
For the boys ...
Yes! Were you aware when you made Flashdance that you were inspiring a generation of gay boys to sport an off-the-shoulder sweatshirt?
[Laughs] No, not at all. You are the first person to bring that up.
I’m sure there’s Flashdance drag out there. I just haven’t seen it.
I’m honored.
Do you still have the sweatshirt? Where do you keep it?
It’s in storage with the rest of the stuff. And the red band jacket too.
Friday, March 26, 2010
What Jennifer Sees
Monday, March 8, 2010
Jennifer Beals Shoots L Word Book, Is Perfect: The Autostraddle Interview
As you already know, Jennifer Beals is a supreme being. She’s beautiful, talented and her body is a temple of organic vegetables, yoga and marathon endorphins. When not running impossibly long distances in tight spandex, being a Mom or acting (most recently in the film Book of Eli, and on the TV in Lie to Me and The L Word), Beals has been honing her photography skills. An avid photographer since high school, J-Beals has developed a tradition when she’s working on a film or TV project especially close to her heart — she takes her camera on set and ultimately uses the pictures to make a gift book for the cast & crew at the project’s end.
Because of the intense fanbase spawned by Showtime’s The L Word, Beals decided she’d make her L Word photo journal available to fans, too. The book provides a deeper look into the daily life of the show with 400 never-before-seen photos, commentary from her castmates, script bits, call-sheets and production memos.
All of the proceeds from the book sale will be donated to three charities: the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Mia Kirshner’s organization I Live Here Projects, and The Pablove Foundation.
The hard cover book is available for order at lwordbook.com.
After my six years of obsessing and deconstructing The L Word, I had a TON of questions for Jennifer [that's Dean Porter to you]. We spoke about her disappointment in Obama, the Johnny Weir controversy, the possibility of an L Word movie, the TiBette phenomenon, closeted Hollywood actors, and just what makes her so goddamn perfect.
Jess: What was the cast reaction when they found out you were putting together the L Word photography book?
J. Beals: Oh, they were excited! I went to all of them and I showed everybody their pictures and let them edit their pictures and their text and let them know if there’s anything they wanted to say to send it to me and I’ll put it in the book. I gave people a list of questions to get started but it seemed like the photographs themselves were the biggest prompt for the cast to remember specifics.
Jess: Was there anyone in particular who was excited about it?
J. Beals: Everyone was, really… Mia was, Kate was, Leisha was…and Laurel just wrote me cause she was very excited, especially now that it’s finished and they get to see it. But everyone was excited cause it’s all their history, ya know? It’s a family photo album.
Jess: Do you have a favorite photo from the book?
J. Beals: I have a couple favorites. One of the ones I really love is the one of Laurel very, very pregnant in my trailer, I think it was just a couple days before she gave birth, and that to me is very meaningful and it was such a lovely time in the show and for her, and for me – for all of us. We were all on the cusp of everything. I also love the ones from the Vanity Fair shoot of Kate and Leisha. I like the ones where we’re all together. It’s also cumulative sometimes. Sometimes there are pictures that don’t mean much as a photo, but as a cumulative document in a way it adds to the story.
Jess: Who do you speak to regularly from the cast?
J. Beals: I talk to pretty much everybody, really. Rachel [Shelley] and I email each other a lot, and Pam [Grier] and Alex Hedison. And, I hear from Laurel [Holloman] every now and again. I was so out of the loop on her paintings! [Laurel has been auctioning off several of her paintings for charity]. Like, my god, look at these paintings that she’s done! They’re amazing! And Mia [Kirshner] I talk to all the time, and Kate [Moennig] I just heard from. It’s everybody kind of in a cycle.
Jess: Any update on an L Word movie, if that’s happening?
J. Beals: You’d have to call Ilene on that one, I don’t know…
Jess: If a movie should happen, where would you want the story to pick up on?
J. Beals: I think Bette and Tina should get outta dodge. I think it should be in New York.
Jess: Have the other cast members expressed interest in a movie?
J. Beals: Yea, everybody’s interested, but we have other stuff that we’re doing so to make this happen is really gonna require quite a bit of effort in terms of scheduling, so it will be interesting to see if and how that happens.
Jess: In the L Word book you and Kate Moennig talk about the Six Feet Under series finale. Would you have wanted the L Word characters lives and stories to be finite in the way that Six Feet Under ended?
J. Beals: Well, I loved the way Six Feet Under had ended. I have never seen anything like that on TV. It was phenomenal. Because what it did was, you were appreciative of these people’s lives as individuals and then you all of a sudden became aware of a trajectory of an entire life. Not only an individual life, but how those lives are woven around family and friends and it became about the sum of all the parts, and that’s profound and incredibly moving.
Jess: Would you watch the new reality show on Showtime produced by Ilene?
J. Beals: I want to go to Ilene’s house and watch it! I’d love to go watch it with the cast; I think that would be really fun!
Jess: If you had the opportunity would you have wanted to write an episode?
J. Beals: No… [laughs] No one would’ve wanted me to write an episode, that wouldn’t have been a good idea!
Jess: Did you have a favorite episode or storyline?
J. Beals: For me, it was really all about 607 [Last Couple Standing, the dance marathon]. Like, in terms of celebration, to have the cast together in that dance episode that Rose Troche directed, it was really about having everybody together and celebrating and watching people do their work and watching them do things that were sort of our of their purvue, and it was exciting. It was my favorite episode to shoot.
Jess: Did you ever bring anything to the table with ideas for storylines or plot points? [aside from making Bette biracial]
J. Beals: Well, I just brought ideas in as far as tweaking things. I liked being surprised by Ilene and rather than dictate to her from my imagination I liked seeing what she would bring and then tweaking things, not huge plot points. After seeing Marlee [Matlin] on Dancing with the Stars I joked that we should have a dance episode at The Planet and …. [607].
Jess: You mentioned in an old interview that you stood up for Bette refusing to kiss the Dana Delaney Senator character so you did influence the story in that way. Were there any other instances like that where you put in your two cents for Bette’s choices?
J. Beals: It’s funny, there were so many that I don’t even think I can name them. There were so many times that the baby isn’t even present and Laurel and I would look at each other [laughing]… You never see our child! How is this possible?! [laughing] And behold, Angelica would be part of the scene.
On the Tibette Phenom…
Jess: Any insight as to why Bette and Tina inspired the largest fan base in comparison to the other couples on the show?
J. Beals: Gosh, I don’t know… Why do you think?
Jess: Well, I think they had the emotional connection for people to relate to. And they were also the least threatening characters, compared to someone like Shane, who might make some people uncomfortable because her sexuality is right out there and in your face.
J. Beals: Right, see, but I think that would draw me in and be alluring… It’s a true mystery, one of the myths of the universe. I don’t know… but I’m grateful for it!
Jess: Were you satisfied with how the show dealt with Bette being biracial?
J. Beals: I think we could’ve done more things but I’m glad that we dealt with some of it anyway. Obviously there’s a lot more that we could’ve touched on but there were a lot of characters on the show and a lot of stories that needed to be told so you do what you can…. But, I’m glad that we did do something with it.
Jess: How are you feeling about Obama so far?
J. Beals: I have to say, as far as the LGBT community goes, I’m really frustrated. I’m really frustrated, frankly. I don’t know what he’s done. And I campaigned really hard for him and people who I know keep saying “be patient…be patient…” so, I’m hoping that good things will come. At a certain point I believe you just have to wait and I know that there are many things on his plate, and I get that – but, that doesn’t stop me from being incredibly frustrated.
Jess: Living in Vancouver, I’m sure you were following the Winter Olympics. Do you have any thoughts on the Johnny Weir controversy? [The 2010 Olympic figure skater widely believed to have been underscored because he’s flamboyant. Broadcast commentators were also called out for their thinly veiled homophobic comments.]
J. Beals: I think it’s absolutely appalling. You know, I saw him skate for the first time this year, I didn’t know of him before that, and I watched him skate and he was so fantastic and so accomplished and I really don’t think his scores were commensurate with his ability. And I feel in some ways he’s penalized for his presentation, and I feel he continues to present himself as authentically as possible, and frankly I believe he’s unbelievably fabulous and I would love to meet him one day! The way he was treated was appalling and almost from another era. They should really be ashamed of themselves.
Jess: The best was when he skated to Poker Face.
J. Beals: I love it. He’s amazing… I have a little crush on him.
Jess: Why do you think so many actors and actresses are still closeted in Hollywood?
J. Beals: Fear. I think they’re afraid.
Jess: Do you think it’s important for actors and actresses to come out publicly?
J. Beals: I think it’s important to make the decision that’s best for them… But I think they stay closeted probably out of fear, and I hope that one day they won’t be fearful.
Jess: Had you been gay, do you think you’d choose to come out publicly?
J. Beals: It would be that or perish, honestly. I mean, I think I would have to but I can’t possibly presume what that would be like for me… And it also depends on so many things, not only your sexual orientation but it also depends on your class, like how much money do you have? Because some actors may not even feel like they can afford to do it. And they go to that place where they go “oh, I need this job…” – and they get into that mindset. If you’re independently wealthy you can be independently everything.
Jess: How has becoming a parent in your 40s changed your outlook on life?
J. Beals: Everything feels very new, and I appreciate sleep so much more.
Jess: Did your family ever watch the show?
J. Beals: My mom did sometimes… my mom’s not a big TV watcher either but she did sometimes…
Jess: You always come across very ethereal and Zen-like. Were you always this centered and together?
J. Beals: I do meditate and I also do yoga, which helps. But I was actually more grounded when I was younger in a way. I was much calmer when I was younger. I mean, I lose it upon occasion, that’s for sure and I certainly did with the end of the 6th season which I talk about in the book a little bit. Everybody talks about how they processed the 6th season. As much as everybody was so grateful to be on the show, like deeply, hugely, immensely grateful to be on the show, everybody had an issue with the 6th season and that may have happened for a lot of reasons. Maybe it happened because people knew that the show was gonna end and they’re processing ending this thing that meant so much to them. And then there’s the issue of storylines that you may disagree with and how they’re represented. I’m not always really calm, but I try not to get taken away by things that are incredibly transitory.
Jess: Let’s talk about your workout routine.
J. Beals: Well, it depends on the day, but lately I’ll go swim for 30 minutes and then I’ll go run or do yoga or work out with lots of light weights afterwards.
Jess: What are you reading or some of your favorite authors?
J. Beals: I just read – and this is gonna sound so “deep” [laughs] – it’s this really great Viktor Frankl book called Man’s Search for Meaning which a friend of mine gave me while I was shooting this movie called A Night for Dying Tigers [also starring Lauren Lee Smith aka Lara Perkins the Soup Chef], it’s an independent film and it’s about this incredibly dysfunctional family, like extraordinarily dysfunctional family and I was talking to one of my friends on the set and he had recommended this book so I went out and bought it and it was really interesting. I keep re-reading parts of it, it’s a very engaging book.
One of my favorite authors is Walt Whitman, for sure. I’ve read Leaves of Grass over and over and over again.
Jess: What are you listening to right now?
J. Beals: I tend to play the Dixie Chicks ad nauseam. [I mention they need to come out with a new album cause it’s been so long] I know, my husband is really getting tired of the same rotation. I’ve also been listening to a lot of David Gray, and I’m a huge Joni Mitchell fan.
Jess: I read that you prefer to shoot with film rather than digital, why is that?
J. Beals: Film surprises you in a way that digital can’t… Film is this unknown thing that happens where you just don’t know, even just in terms of the age of the film, the particular chemicals on that particular roll of film. I like being surprised in that way. And, I’m sure that somebody somewhere has a digital camera that they know how to make all of those certain effects happen, and I kind of secretly like the waiting [for film to develop].
Jess: Do you use a particular kind of camera?
J. Beals: Oh, I have several! I use a Mamiya 67 which is nice, a Rolleiflex 2.25, a Leica M8.2. I know I should probably stick to one and learn that one really well but I get a kick out of using different kinds.
Jess: You mentioned you just finished shooting A Night for Dying Tigers. Do you have any other projects lined up after that?
J. Beals: Not really, I mean I’m developing a couple things, but there’s nothing imminent. I really, truly need a break after that [A Night for Dying Tigers.] That was a roller-coaster ride so I need a little bit of a break now.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Jennifer Beals interview
In anticipation of the release of Jennifer’s Lword book, we had an insightful telephone interview with Jennifer . The book will be released online on February 1st 2010 and proceeds of the book and prints will go to three different charities: the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Mia Kirshner's I Live Here project and The Pablove Foundation. When we talked to Jennifer we had the chance to ask her about the working process behind the book, her new movie The Book of Eli which will be released on January 15th and new projects she might be working on in 2010.
tibette.com: Can you tell us about the working process of the book – did you get to choose the photos on your own or the rest of the cast helped you choose?
Jennifer: I did a first pass at everything, and it was an enormous selection. Then I went to the cast one by one or everybody that I could sit down with. Some people I wasn’t able to sit down with but almost everybody, I was able to. Those people that I wasn’t able to sit down with, I sent them their photos to go through and edit what they didn’t want to have shown or to tell me what they liked so it was sort of a combination. I did a first pass and then everybody else went through their stuff and told me what they felt comfortable with and what they didn’t feel comfortable with, that’s kind of how it went. And then the designers looked at it and decided what would work with the book. So it was sort of a group effort.
tibette.com: Do you have a date for the book, we heard it’s going to be next week – is that correct?
Jennifer: Next week? Gosh, wouldn’t that be lovely! It’s going to be February 1st. We’re going through the proofs right now and doing test runs to make sure, because I really want to make sure that when the book goes up that everything runs smoothly, so we’ve been in the mix of doing some test runs to make sure that when people upload their own photographs into the book, that that goes smoothly and people would be able to put their own dedication on the book if they choose. I want to make sure that goes smoothly so it’s all about getting the technical aspect up and running because the book is ready. The text and the photos and everything is ready but it’s just a matter of making sure that, you know, somebody from China uploading their photograph is going to get the correct book.
tibette.com: Why did you choose to sell the book online rather than a more conventional way of selling the book in a bookstore?
Jennifer: I did get a very lovely offer from a great company to publish the book but they wanted to give me such a small royalty and because the book is a charity project, it’s not a vanity project, I just thought I want the charities to see more money, that’s all. Kodak had approached me quite a while back to do a project with them so I contacted the representatives at Kodak and I said that I was thinking about doing this book in a different way – what do you suggest and how can we work together. They suggested this process of people being able to upload their own photographs and they introduced me to a company called ColorCentric who’s very experienced at doing this, as experienced as anyone can be in the 21th century with these things. It’s been a really great partnership so far. We’ll see what happens, it’s just a complete experiment . Frankly I appreciate that the publishers need to charge that much and not to give away their profits because they have so much overhead. So I don’t think they’re being greedy by any stretch of the imagination, I think they’re just trying to conduct their business and trying to stay afloat but I just realized that with online publishing, you do have the opportunity to create more revenue for whomever and in this case, it’s the charity. Stuff like that is really helpful and it’s interesting – it’s a brave new world, it’ll be fun! I thought it would be fun but really its mind boggling, like I thought it would be so simple and it really, really isn’t.
tibette.com: I think it’s a great idea because we have the opportunity to actually upload our pictures and it’ll be kind of our own book – we’re going to be a part of it.
Jennifer: Yeah, see that’s what I realized when I went to the convention – gosh it’s been a while now, back maybe a couple of years ago – you know you realized very clearly that it’s a communal show. The show doesn’t just belong to me or the cast or the crew or Showtime or Ilene – it belongs to everybody so I thought it was important to have those people who supported the show, kind of made the show what it is, be part of the archive of the show.
tibette.com: It’s going to be really special for all of us.
Jennifer: I think it’ll be fun! People will get a kick out of it, you know, it’s images that you’ve never seen and really the book is pretty much about the cast and sort of what we went through behind the scenes and it’s all pictures of people on the set or at dinners or at their house, you know, with their families or pets or whatever. Pets take up a big part of the book. (laughs). It’s not like some great tome, it’s not "War and Peace" and it’s not some kind of “tell-all” but it does give you a glimpse into what our day-to-day life was working on the show in Vancouver.
tibette.com: How many pictures does it have?
Jennifer: Well, there’s over 220 pages right now so I can’t really tell you how much pictures I have in there but in addition to the pictures, what I did was, when I was showing the cast members the images, I also interviewed them to a certain degree and let them have their responses to their photographs on tape so then I transcribed those interviews and those are in the book as well. So you have people talking about the photographs and what they’re doing in the photographs and their relationship to so and so – you know perceptions and misperceptions that we had of each cast member. You kind of get a sense of how these separate individuals grew to be a family, basically.
tibette.com: Do you have a favourite photograph from the book?
Jennifer: There’s two that come to my mind. There’s one of Leisha jumping through all the clothes at the Vanity Fair shoot and then I also have a picture of Laurel when she was very very pregnant, she was about to give birth in a couple of days, I really really love that one too but there are several and I love them for different reasons. Some of them that I really loved aren’t necessarily great photographs but they remind me of something. They have a meaning to me and the rest of the cast and hopefully, the fans will be able to see and understand.
tibette.com: We love your B&W work and just wondering, what makes you choose to photograph something in black and white over colour?
Jennifer: Well, I have learned to process black and white. I don’t know how to process colour on my own. If I went to a lab, I wouldn’t know how to process colour but I know black and white so I understand it a little bit more but I wanted to play with colour so I shot some in colour just for fun just to see what it would be like. It’s always a process, right? You never know what’s going to happen. You know, you do your best and then the rest is a surprise and that’s also what I like about film, there aren’t any real surprises on digital and I like the surprise that film has. You’re pushing something to stop, you don’t really know what it’s going to look like. You have a sense but you don’t really know exactly what it’s going to be and so it’s fun, I like the surprise of it.
tibette.com: When did you start taking photos seriously as you do now? Did you take any course ?
Jennifer: I probably started in high school, it was always around boyfriends. At first I just started photographing – my boyfriend had a darkroom so wasn’t it great to be in the dark room with my boyfriend? (laughs) So that was always exciting and yeah. His mother couldn’t open the door. (laughs) And then I had a boyfriend again in college, I’d never taken a class and my boyfriend took a class with some really wonderful professors at Yale, and I wasn’t sure if I could cut it in the class because there was a certain amount of being unsure of myself. So I took a portrait of him and I said can you submit this in your class as self-portrait?. Every week the students put up their work on the wall and they would have a critique, the professor would critique the work. I said, could you put this up on the wall and say it’s a self-portrait and just tell me what they say. He said the professor really liked the photograph blah blah blah and then at the end of the year, the professor picks two photos of each student to put in the final show and the professor picked the picture I had taken to represent my boyfriend's work. I was thrilled because I thought, oh ok, alright so I can take a class and I won’t be...torn apart. So then I started taking photography when I was at Yale and I didn’t really start studying until I was at Yale.
tibette.com: You have friends who are professional photographers, do they give you any tips?
Jennifer: Oh sure, I always ask them about one thing or another. But I haven’t been photographing that much lately. I’ve been so busy with acting and it has to be a particular moment, for me anyway, to be able to bring a camera onto a set. I can’t always do it because I do need all of my faculties for the acting most of the time. I’m not like Jeff Bridges who can just seem to go in and out of character very easily and pick up his camera and be so facile with it on set. Really, he’s a remarkable genius actually so I’m envious of him in that way because I can’t always do it. Most of the pictures taken on the set are more of a snapshot, not all of them are very considered, there’s only a handful that are truly considered.
tibette.com: You seem to like photographing people, if you had the chance to photograph anyone , who would it be and why?
Jennifer: It’s not like I want to photograph a specific person... when I was very young, I was interested in very close portraits, I was very interested in the person’s face, just the face and now I’m more interested in how the person is in space and how the environment informs the person and how the person informs the environment and I think as I get older I’m also more interested in landscapes, which is why Alexandra Hedison’s work really affects me. What’s really cool is that before she put up the show, she came to work one day with 8x10’s of her work and some of them were just Xerox copies and in her trailer she put them all up and she numbered them and she asked everybody to go and number which ones they liked and which ones they didn’t like and why and we all did it anonymously. While she was working on the L Word, she was editing the show and she enlisted everybody’s help and opinion which I thought was really lovely and brave.
tibette.com: In general, what is the one lasting impression you want to leave with your photos?
Jennifer: Gosh, in general – I don’t know. It’s really documenting where I was at a certain time and I don’t think I have any kind of agenda in that way. To me, it’s just about partially remembering but not in a sentimental or nostalgic way but it’s kind of putting things back together and re-figuring things and sort of figuring things out in a way that a journal would. Sometimes there are certain things that I’m just so in love with, like I’m just so in love with the way something looks that by photographing it I’m part of it. In a way, I become part of it and it’s exciting. If you love a character, you get to be part of that character, if you love a story and you get to be part of that story. I think sometimes with photography, I get so excited that it makes me very excited to be in the world. A very simple thing like seeing a pattern of fabric on a chair, sometimes it gets me really excited in a way like a light will hit it and when you look at the detail like that – it just makes me excited to be in the world, anything to make you happy to be alive is a good thing.
tibette.com: You seem to be very observant…
Jennifer: I tend to be a lot more when I have a camera in my hand. It slows me down quite a bit which is a good thing, for me to slow down, so it’s very helpful.
tibette.com: Let’s talk about another book, The Book Of Eli. What can you tell us about Claudia, your character and how did you prepare for this role?
Jennifer: First of all we’re talking about a post-apocalyptic landscape. The character is blind, she’s been blind since birth and the fact that she is still alive is a testimony to her resourcefulness. She has a young daughter under 20 who she has cared for and the fact that they are both alive is extraordinary. She is the paramour/queen to Gary Oldman’s king and she is trying to hold onto hope in this time of real desperation and she thinks there is no more hope. The only hope she has is her daughter and then Denzel’s character Eli comes through town and things start to change.
In terms of preparation there were little things that I tried to do, there is this necklace that my character wears in the film that I made myself, out of things that she would have found and each thing on the necklace represents a memorable event in her life, so as to not forget. Her life has been so incredibly painful that it would be very easy to forget everything and that would perhaps be a way that you would survive, but she doesn’t want to forget. For her, to forget everything means you are no longer human, really. But I had a great time working on the film, one of my favourite experiences that I have ever had on a show or a film or anything else, it was so wonderful. I mean, it’s huge, I could go from the l word to this huge testosterone driven movie, but at the helm of this big testosterone action movie, that has a big heart, actually, are the Hughes Brothers. They are two wonderful men, who are biracial twins and Allen Hughes told me that he had heard a lot about my show and I said, oh how’s that and he said well, my mom’s gay, she’s a lesbian. So, they were two biracial boys raised by a lesbian mom and I was like: ‘I gotta meet your mother! When is she gonna visit the set?’ She raised them to be pretty great men, artists.
We filmed in New Mexico, in the high desert with basically no oxygen in the air and when you’re running you feel like you are dying but when you get back to a regular altitude you feel like a super hero. Working with Denzel was really fun and easy and Gary Oldman was amazing, he is so dedicated to acting and so much fun to be around, very inspiring. Mila Kunis was great too.
tibette.com: We heard that you and Mila wrote a song for Gary, is that true?
Jennifer: Where did you hear that!?! Yes, we did, I wish I could remember it… “Gary is not scary, on the contrary....”, he’s something...
I can’t remember. I made it up, I’m always making up dumb songs and I had to, because he should have his own variety show, he’s so funny. I probably wrote it down somewhere, I can’t remember what the tune was. He’d be sitting in hair and make-up and he would make us all laugh. Certainly he is scary when he is in character but as soon as he is out of it...you know we’re sitting singing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang songs between takes. He’s really amazing, I’ve never seen anybody so intent on not giving up until he has solved the problem, the acting problem and doing it with such joy. I’ve never met an actor quite like that, he’s a very interesting man.
tibette.com: Are we going to see you in more episodes of Lie To Me?
Jennifer: I shot a couple of episodes but I don’t know when they are going to air, you know how the networks are. We could be shooting things in December that air in June...
tibette.com: Do you have any other projects that you might be able to share with us?
Jennifer: I have a film coming up called A Night For Dying Tigers that I’m going to shoot soon, that’s the next project.
That was all the time we had with Jennifer, we thanked her for taking the time to talk to us and Jennifer left with a message to all of us:
"Thank you so much to all the tibetters, I’m very, very appreciative !! "
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Jennifer Beals Captures 'The L Word' Cast In Photos: Exclusive, Part 1
Despite The L Word wrapping its six-season run on Showtime nearly a near ago, Jennifer Beals has spent almost every day with the cast of the ground-breaking lesbian drama -- on her computer. Paring down hundreds of photos for selection into her upcoming L Word book, Beals has been hands-on -- conducting interviews with her former cast members, transcribing them, editing photos, layouts and more - and she's is so excited that she might "dance on the table when the first book goes out."
In Part 1 of SheWired.com's exclusive interview with the actress who played our beloved Bette Porter, we get all the details on The L Word book, how she got into photography and why donating the proceeds from the book to charity is important.
SheWired caught up with the actress who played our beloved Bette Porter to get all the details on The L Word book, how she got into photography, what she thought of the way the show ended and if she’ll reunite with series creator Ilene Chaiken on her upcoming reality series The Real L Word: Los Angeles this summer.
SheWired: So how did The L Word book start?
Jennifer Beals: Usually if I do a film or a project that I really love and I’ve been photographing during the shooting, I will make the cast and crew a present out of the photo book. Partially it’s a selfish endeavor (laughs) because I want one. And I figure if I’m going to get one, I might as well give one to everybody else because they might appreciate it as well. I was going to do one for The L Word and I was in the midst of putting it together when I remembered this experience I had at an L Word convention a couple years ago. People seem to be really interested in the minutia of the show. I had a couple of prints that I brought to auction off for charity and they went very quickly, and I thought, “Maybe I should make this book available to the fans and the book can benefit charity.”
"Ilene and I were talking about it and how the show was so often used to galvanize people to give to various organizations — like there would be an L Word dinner and the cast would be invited and they would auction off a walk-on and we helped various organizations make quite a bit of money. So there was this tangential agenda that The L Word seemed to have in terms of fundraising and giving. That became another thing that the show was able to accomplish. So I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if this book could kind of continue that tradition, that something from this show continued to give back in some way.” So I thought, “I’ll just put these images together and get the cast to see what pictures they like, what pictures they don’t like, we’ll just put it together, and boom, it’ll be fun and 100 percent of the profits will go to charity.”
I just had no idea what it takes, really, to put a book together. We had a very lovely publisher who offered to publish the book and the royalty that they offered was so small that I thought, “Well, then the charities won’t see much money and that’s the purpose of the book.” As much as I would have loved to have a copy of the book, period, the real purpose of the book was to generate funds for charities that were hit in the recession — which I think would be every single charity. So I called a representative that I know at Kodak, and they had approached me years ago about doing a project, about doing something online. So I talked to them and they introduced me to a company called ColorCentric in New York. Both Kodak and ColorCentric have been incredibly helpful in putting the book together. So that’s how it became a project that’s going to be alive online. Kodak had also suggested, “Why don’t you offer people the opportunity to upload their own images.” And I said it would be perfect because it has really been this communal show — whether you like the show or don’t like the show, it’s galvanizing and people feel a sense of ownership of the show. And I thought it would be nice for people to feel like they were part of the continuum in some way.
What were your cast members’ reactions to your putting the book together?
They were all really excited, because everybody wanted one, too. And it was fun! Because originally I had just imagined it as a straight photo book, and invariably I went to the various cast members and showed them the pictures because I wanted everybody to be happy with how they were represented in the book and I let people edit themselves. Most people were really pretty easygoing about it. What I started to then was interview people as I showed them the photos because the photos from the first rehearsal ever brought up a discussion about how the show began and what our relationships were like when we first started and how we imagined things would be. And then you have a photograph of Mia Kirshner’s last day on the show and that elicits another conversation of how the show ended and how people felt about the way the show ended and what our relationships were like by that time. And certainly by that time we were like a family — functional and dysfunctional. Everybody had an opportunity talk about their journey. So I transcribed those interviews and put them in the book as well for us to have — for everybody to have.
As you were taking all the photos on the set, was there anyone specific in the cast that was really excited about it? Was anyone a ham or shy?
The thing was, I initially wasn’t taking photos to make a book. If I had been taking photographs to make a book, I would have had at least 10 times the amount of photographs that I have. I would have documented every single thing. There are cast members who aren’t in the book because I didn’t really have scenes with them; I wasn’t around them very much. There are some people who I really wish were in the book but aren’t, which really breaks my heart. But that’s just the nature of not knowing what you’re going to be doing in two years.
Anyone specific?
Kate French. There’s like one picture of Kate and I wish there were more. She’s really sweet and I just really got a kick out of her. But we just never really spent very much time together. We were always working on different scenes. And I didn’t bring my camera with me every single day because I didn’t know I was making a book. (Laughs). But all of the original cast are all very well represented.
Is there a favorite photo of yours that’s part of the book?
I don’t know that I have a favorite; there’s some that I really love. Like the picture of Leisha (Hailey) jumping through the clothes at the Vanity Fair shoot, and I love the picture of Laurel (Holloman) in my trailer very, very pregnant. And then there are certain pictures that I love because they invoke certain things for me, they’re not necessarily good pictures, they’re just a good remembrance for me.
So when will the book be available for purchase?
It will be up by Feb. 1. I just talked to the representative at ColorCentric today (Friday, Jan 8). But all the text is done, all the photographs are chosen, all the layouts are done. It’s just a matter of making sure that technically the site works well, so that when people upload their images, there’s not some error that happens where you’ll have to go back and reconfigure the whole thing.
But there will be a hardcopy of the book, right?
Oh yeah. It’s a hardcopy book. There will be three different things that you can order — or a combination thereof. There’ll be a static book where if you don’t feel like uploading pictures or making a dedication — you just want a regular straight book that you get at a store — there’ll be that version. And that version will probably be up first, that along with a static version where you’ll be able to make a dedication. Like say somebody wants to buy it as a Valentine’s Day present, they want to put a dedication in the front. They’ll be able to do that. And those two books will probably be available first. Then the third one will be where you can upload images. I think there’s a choice where you can add I think six pages of images at the back of the book where you’ll be able to upload your own pictures and/or make a dedication in the front so that the book is more alive.
So the book will only be available for sale on the dedicated Web site?
LWordBook.com, yeah. Right now that’s where we are. And PowerCentric takes care of all the things — they send out all the books and take the orders. They’ve been in business as long as one can be in that business in the 21st century, but they have a really good track record. I anonymously ordered some books through them to see how it went and it was great, it was really fun.
How many images are included ?
Well, the book is over 220 pages long. It’ll be fun. I can’t wait to have one. I just can not wait! (Laughs.)
Do you know a price on it?
Not yet because they haven’t given me their price point on it yet.
How did you decide which charities to donate proceeds from the book to?
I wanted to donate to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, because I worship Judy Shepard and I think it’s an amazing organization. And I wanted to donate to Mia’s organization (I Live Here Projects) because I so respect what she’s doing and what she’s trying to do and she’s been so immensely helpful in the creation of the book. And the other organization (The Pablove Foundation) is very dear to me because it’s also a friend who has created it and her son passed away recently from this harmful disease (Wilms’ Tumor) and I wanted to support her and her family and all the families that are encountering the same disease with their children.
If the book is a great success, maybe we’ll switch out and give some other organizations the opportunity to benefit. Because you know, quite frankly, I really hope the book does well — for many reasons. But one of them is, when I talk to various people about putting the book together or about organizations that help you put together foundations, people didn’t want to be involved with the book because they said, “Oh the lesbian community is too small and you won’t get many people to buy the book because it’s a lesbian community and it’s too small.” And it made me so angry. It was all I could do not to channel Bette Porter. It made me really angry. I was like, “You do not know the power or the scope of this community.” And it was just really insulting, actually, to me. So I would really love for the book to do really well so those people could eat crow.
That would be awesome.
(Laughing) That’s what I’m hoping!
So how did you get into photography?
I have to say, it was a boyfriend thing. I had a boyfriend in high school and he had a darkroom and he was a really good photographer, and I started taking pictures because it was a really great way to be in the darkroom with him and his mom couldn’t open the door. Then when I was in college, I wanted to take a photography class but was really unsure of myself because every week you’d have critiques of people’s work, and I didn’t know how comfortable I’d be doing that or how capable I was, and of course it’s a class, so you’re not supposed to be capable right off the bat, you’re supposed to learn something.
But I had a boyfriend who was taking the class, and I took this portrait of him and said, “Can you put this on the wall and say it’s your work and just tell me what the professor said?” So he came back and said the professor loved the photograph and told me some details of what he had said. Then at the end of the term, the professor picked two photographs from each student to put in the final show and the portrait that I had taken of my boyfriend was chosen to represent my boyfriend’s work, which I thought was hilarious. I was then emboldened to enroll in my own photography class and take my own picture to represent myself rather than somebody else.
Are there any photographers whose work you admire?
Oh so many to start to name. It’s absurd. My house is just stacks and stacks of photography books.
What other projects have you made photography books for your cast mates for?
Anniversary Party and a bunch of them. But the last one was Anniversary Party.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Jennifer's photo book
includes never-before-seen photos, cast commentary, and the ephemera that composed our daily lives on the show - bits of scripts, callsheets, production memos. Also a series of large format prints and limited edition prints will also be available of select photos from the book.
Years ago, I started a tradition of making of making a photo book, to give as a gift to the cast and crew, after completing projects that were near and dear to my heart. As I started working on my cast-and-crew present for The L Word, I realized this wouldn't be like the others. The L Word was about the power of storytelling. And it was particularly unique because there were two streams of stories being told. Clearly we were telling your stories, but in some way we were telling our stories - the story of a group of colleagues who became friends while endeavoring to make something worthwhile. Somewhere along the line there was a kind of convergence. Somewhere underneath the plotlines of The L Word ran our own stories of friendship and struggle. These photographs evoke the various bonds and battles we as a cast endured.
The L Word as a series was, at its core, about community and that played out behind the scenes as the cast formed its own community. But the series also was about all of you who made our collective journey possible. That is why I wanted to make the book available to fans of the show.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Beals"
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Interview with Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals was born in December 1963 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in the city. With a life-long desire for acting, Beals first appeared in small high school plays and even got an uncredited bit part in My Bodyguard (1980) in 1980. After graduation, she enrolled in college at Yale University, studying American literature. She appeared in her first starring role in the movie Flashdance (1983) while still a freshman at Yale. While at Yale, she also starred in Franc Roddam's The Bride (1985). After graduation from Yale, Beals married independent filmmaker Alexandre Rockwell in the mid-80s, and has appeared in several of his films. Most notably, she starred in his In the Soup (1992), which won the 1992 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Deauville Film Festival.??Beals continued to find acting work in various movies and TV productions through the 1990s, in lead and supporting roles. Her most recent and notable role came in early 2004 with her appearing as a regular on the Showtime TV-cable series "The L Word" (2004) playing a lesbian art gallery manager named "Bette Porter".
MP (Matthew's Place): This is MatthewsPlace
J (Jennifer Beals): Yes! Hi! It's Jennifer Beals.
MP: Hi Jennifer. How are you?
J: Hi. I'm sorry, I went for a run and completely lost track of time.
MP: [laughing] No, it's not a problem. I'm glad we finally nailed down some time.
J: Yes. Me too, me too.
MP: So … I bring regards from Judy [Shepard]as well. She wanted me to say hello.
J: I'm bowing low.
MP:[laughing] Well, our conversation today is going to go on our website for young people called Matthew'sPlace.com …
J: Okay.
MP: … and really the purpose of the site and Judy's vision was for it to be a place where young people can come gather information that could help them lead healthy, productive, hate-free lives. So we like to have conversations with people who are advocates and allies for equality to sort of help young people see the world is a safe place for them. … So I just wanted to start out by asking you if there was ever a time in your life when you felt like you were marginalized for something that made you different?
J: If I ever felt like I was marginalized for something that made me different…
MP: Maybe picked on or bullied or anything of that nature?
J: Umm, not when I was a girl funny enough, like anything [that] made me feel different?
MP:Yes.
J: I had read, or my mother had read, enough Greek myths to me to instill in me that any difference could also be something that was incredibly powerful and that you searched for that thing that made you different -- that thing that made you special, which therefore was the thing that made you powerful. Not in a sense of, necessarily, strength, but in your ability to transform things. So there was magic in being different. But I have to say the only time I felt marginalized was as a woman on-set sometimes and obviously not on "The L Word."
MP: And how did that manifest?
J: It manifested in not being included in discussions that all the male actors were being included in.
MP:Has that shifted, would you say? Or…
J: No. [laughing]
MP: … would you say it's still an issue women in Hollywood face?
J: It depends on the group, obviously. I mean, there are some men who are more restrictive, and there are others who are more inclusive. And luckily I've primarily worked with people who are incredibly inclusive, like the Hughes brothers. Working on "The Book of Eli" was an amazing experience and I felt valued and respected and trusted …
MP: Okay.
J: There have been other experiences where I was definantly … diminished. I think it was because I was a woman and they didn't respect a woman's point of view.
MP: Okay. What would you say your time on "The L Word" taught you?
J: Oh my gosh, so many things, so many things I learned from "The L Word." I think … the one I live with the most often is the importance of authenticity. You know, being on the show, so often we would get letters or people would come to visit the set … you know, there was one couple in particular that I think of who had been together as a couple for, gosh, I don't know, 30 years, but who were still closeted as a couple until they saw "The L Word" and it somehow gave them courage to come out. And when they came out there were no deep, dark ramifications -- there was just a sense of freedom. But listening to their story and many other stories like theirs I realized it was incumbent upon all of us to live as authentically as we possibly can. Not just for our own sake but for the sake of everyone else as well, because we don't do anyone a favor by … hiding our candle under the bed.
MP: Right, right.
J: Let it out.
MP: So what does living authentically -- how does that manifest in your own life?
J: Well really listening to my point of view and if I am on a set ,say, that doesn't really value a woman's point of view, regardless of how they feel, continuing to give my point of view and try to find a way to be heard and not diminishing myself because other people are diminishing me. Because that, I think, is the worst temptation --that, you know, you judge yourself by how others are judging you, and to fall into that trap is to walk into the realm of self-annihilation. Which is not a good place to be, obviously …
MP: [laughing] Did you have any reservations about taking the role and being involved in the show, and that maybe you might be pigeon-holed as an actor?
J: No, no, not at all. I was really just so thrilled to have a wonderful part that was complicated and rich, and was very excited to play someone who wasn't also always nice or right or, you know … that was lovely too.
MP: Uh huh.
J: And it was a nice change to work with all women for a while.
MP: And as a part of that experience and your experience in the entertainment industry, how important would you say it is to include positive LGBT images in today's society, in today's modern pop culture, as opposed to the stereotypical view of what a gay or lesbian person is?
J: I think it's incredibly important, but I think it's just as important to tell the truth of the story. You know, I don't think it's helpful to anyone to … for example, say that every LGBT person is wonderful and perfect and without flaw and … lets all ring the bells to perfection. I think it's much more helpful to tell the story as truthfully as you can, and with all of its complications, because that's also when people recognize themselves, and that's when people who are not part of the LGBT community will recognize themselves within that character. And then [they] hopefully empathize and maybe there'll be some kind of shift.
MP: Right, right.
J: So … I think it's important to be positive, but I think it's most important to be positively truthful, to this.
MP: Ah, okay. Well, and you have been such a strong ally voice in the fight for equality. Why, in your opinion do you think that ally voice is such an important voice that needs to be heard?
J: Well I think everybody's voice needs to be heard. I don't think of my voice as being particularly special or unique, but … I have learned during the course of the show to speak up and to be heard and to be seen and to say what you think. And … in a polite way, you don't need to be rude. Which, you know, is the danger of the Internet with the way people throw around invectives, it can be a little harsh. I don't think that kind of dialogue, well it's not dialogue, needs to happen. I don't think it's very helpful, but I do think it's really important to say what you think and to make sure that everybody is invited to speak at the table, you know, that everyone is included in the discussion.
MP:And how can we do that?
J: Well I think the most important thing first of all is to live as authentically as you can and that will come naturally. I think it flows from knowing who you are and embracing who you are and then it becomes a celebration of who you are, hopefully.
MP: Okay.
J: And then communities are formed around that idea and the community gets larger and larger. And then, I mean it starts from the individual and then smaller communities are formed and then larger communities are formed perhaps just in that one group. And then all of a sudden that reaches out to a larger extension to humanity, if you know what I mean.
MP: Uh huh.
J: It's important I think at a certain juncture to be informed about what's going on. I mean there's so many ways you can do it. Self-expression is obviously important, to me anyway, you know, being able to tell your story, even if you just write it down for yourself. And then maybe you share it with one person, or several people, but you express yourself. And then there's another realm of being informed politically. Which is incredibly complicated because the ground seems to shift constantly. You know, just looking at the trajectory of the Matthew Shepard Act is so complex and maddening and really, really frustrating to me. I mean I just long for the day when I can go and, you know, dance on the bar with Judy Shepard in celebration, that's what my fantasy is.
MP: [Laughter] Well that's looking like it may be sooner rather than later.
J: I mean you just want to burst into tears you get so excited about it.
MP: Well it does, and it's been Judy's mission for almost the last 11 years.
J: Oh, I know.
MP: It's this bill and things don't happen quickly.
J: No they don't and the politics of what to attach it to, I mean who would have thought to attach it to a defense bill?
MP: Right, right. Well and for us it seems that people tend to be very scared or frightened of issues particularly around the LGBT community. And that's a question that we're always asking ourselves is, why is this an issue that people, that tends to polarize people so much? What are your thoughts as to why?
J: Well I think it polarizes a certain generation. I don't think it polarizes a younger generation. I don't see that.
MP:Very much so.
J: Yeah, I think it polarizes an older generation who perhaps is not as well educated, in a funny way.
MP: Uh huh.
J: And those people will be gone soon, and life will be different.
MP: [Laughs] Well you know and that's the message that we spread and that Judy spreads, that this generation gets it and when this generation starts taking office, things are going to change a little quicker than they are now.
J: I hope so. I certainly hope so.
MP: And, you know, thinking about young people in particular, and one of the reasons that MatthewsPlace is in existence is [for] that young person in rural Iowa that thinks that there really isn't anyone out there that feels like them, and maybe doesn't think that they have a place in the world. Any thoughts or advice that you might give to someone who is in an environment where they're not seeing positive images?
J: I would want them to know that their community is much larger than the neighborhood in which they live. That the world does not end at that town. That there is a bigger world out there and if they need to leave to go find a more immediate community that will sustain them, then that's what they need to do. But the first thing is for them to cultivate kindness for themselves and acceptance for themselves, and that the world is much larger. And especially with the Internet. In a moment's time you can get on and speak to people who are like you, or understand you or who can support you or can at least argue with you, understanding who you are and what interests you have. But you can build a different community because of the Internet.
MP: Well and then, thinking about you as an actor, is there anything that actors can do in selecting projects that would help them increase positive representation of people that are traditionally marginalized by the mainstream media? Does that make sense?
J: Well I would encourage those people to write.
MP: Oh, okay.
J: You know, there's not another television series that I know of that deals primarily with the LGBT community.
MP: Right.
J: I mean, I would encourage people to write. Writing.
MP: So create the type of shows, or entertainment that…
J: You want to create the show that -- you know, be the future that you want to see.
MP: Right. Well I have a quote, I know your time is precious so I don't want to keep you too long.
J: Oh but this, Judy Shepard is precious. She's more precious than my time. Believe me.
MP: [Laughs] Well and I have to say to you that we are very excited to sort of have you as part of our Foundation family, so please know that we mean that deeply.
J: Well thank you. I just also want you to know that I'm creating a book based on the photographs that I've taken primarily during the six years that I was on the L Word and making kind of a photographic journal in a way. And I'll be selling that to benefit charity and one of the charities that I will benefit will be the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
MP: Oh well thank you very much, and I will let Judy know that when I chat with her.
J: Okay, great.
MP: And she's also having a book coming out on September 3rd, that I'll get you a copy of.
J: Oh, I would love that. Thank you.
MP: It's the first time she's told her story.
J: I would love to read it.
MP: I'll send it to you. Penguin is publishing it so we're quite excited about it. Well and to sort of wrap up, there was a quote that you gave to a Chicago newspaper back in 2003 that sort of for me, sums up a lot of what we've been talking about today and I'm going to read this to you. And this is what the newspaper quoted you as saying: "They talk about the fact that history is written by the victors, but if you can make yourself victorious by writing your own history and supplying your own images, then you've done yourself and the world a great service."
J: Yes, absolutely.
MP: And I think that sums up sort of what we've been talking about and I just wanted to know if you might have any comments on that quote and where you were coming from if you have a recollection of saying it.
J: I do have a recollection of saying it, and I've said it often and in various forms because I think that story telling is a very powerful tool. We tell stories to each other all the time. It's how we come to know the world. It's how, in some ways, that we come to know aspects of ourselves, and how we tell each other about ourselves. So by writing our stories, by writing our history, we let people know who we are, we communicate with one another, and we make sure that we are included in the continuum. And we benefit everyone else, it's just, I mean I just can't stress enough how it's to benefit everyone else. Particularly those people who are not like you, who need to hear the story. Who don't know the story, and they need to know the story so that they understand.
MP: Well and you know Judy and myself when I talk to high school kids I always say, how are people going to know how to support you, if you don't tell them.
J: Right.
MP: How are people going to know what you're life is like if you don't share it with them?
J: And also, how do you even know what your own life is like truly until you start expressing it in some way. You discover so many things about your own life just by writing. Things that you don't know that just come out through the unconscious. And you pick up on yourself as well.
MP: Right. No, I completely agree and I want to thank you for sharing some time with us.
J: Thank you and give Judy a big hug for me please.
MP: I will, thank you Jennifer.
J: All right, take care.
MP: Okay, bye-bye.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Obama Honors LGBT Pride at White House
Some advocates and bloggers saw the reception as a merely palliative measure after the administration last month defended the Defense of Marriage Act in a Supreme Court brief with insulting language, followed by a Democratic National Committee fundraiser seeking money from top LGBT donors. Some boycotted the event on principle.
Others did attend and heard the president speak about his desire to repeal both DOMA and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).
“Even as we face extraordinary challenges as a nation, we cannot—and will not—put aside issues of basic equality,” Obama said to a round of applause. “We seek an America in which no one feels the pain of discrimination based on who you are or who you love.”
He also noted that in six months his administration has begun the process of eliminating the ban on HIV-positive travelers entering the U.S.; signed a memorandum extending as many federal benefits as possible under current law to the partners of gay federal employees; urged Congress to pass the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act, which would ensure LGBT couples receive federal benefits including health care; and supported ENDA and a federal hate crimes bill.
He also spoke out against DADT; perhaps in reponse to many activists’ belief that the administration is not moving fast enough to repeal it or put a moratorium on military discharges while it is under review.
“Someday, I’m confident, we’ll look back at this transition and ask why it generated such angst, but as Commander-in-Chief, in a time of war, I do have a responsibility to see that this change is administered in a practical way and a way that takes over the long term. That’s why I’ve asked the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a plan for how to thoroughly implement a repeal.”
Monday, May 25, 2009
Ebay Auction - Would you like to have Jennifer's camera?
The auction for Jennifer's camera has started at Exposed! DOXA’s Celebrity Camera Auction. The auction will end on June 1st. For more information click here and go to ebay!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
TimesTalks with Ilene Chaiken and Jennifer Beals – April 20, 2009
Some call me “dedicated fan”, some call me “crazy lunatic” and there are some who call me all kinds of names that I can’t put in this report. I prefer to be called a dedicated fan, though I’ll admit to some craziness. Before I report about the TimesTalks event in New York, let me tell you what happened on my journey there.
Turbulence or Fear of Flying
I know some of you might not want to read this part because it’s about my journey to New York…believe me, it wasn’t fun for me to write this either because I was doing it while I was in the air.
On Saturday, April 18, I went to the GLAAD Awards in Los Angeles as a reporter for the l-word.com. Initially, I planned to fly to New York right after the GLAAD event and attend the TimesTalks. Then I found out about Mia Kirshner’s Benefit event in Los Angeles on April 22 that Jennifer Beals and Laurel Holloman were planning to attend. I wanted to go to that event as well but I wasn’t sure if I could manage three events in such a short time, especially if I had to fly back and forth across the country, and expect to be employed I got back!
I decided to cancel the New York trip and go to the LA events instead. A day before leaving for the GLAAD Awards, I found out that Mia’s benefit was canceled but I had already made all the flight changes and I didn’t want to deal with making changes again for New York. And then something happened at the GLAAD Awards that made me change my mind …and that something was Jennifer Beals.
When she approached me on the red carpet and before we got to the actual interview, Jennifer asked me if I was coming to New York and I explained that I had to cancel that trip to go to Mia’s benefit, which was also canceled. We began talking about other things and doing the interview but when it was over and Jennifer was ready to leave, I asked if it was okay for me to come to New York. Jennifer replied that she would be disappointed if I wasn’t there. Even if it was a joke I realized that I couldn’t say no to Jennifer Beals, so I decided to rearrange my flights again to go to New York.
I flew home from LA on Sunday and Monday morning I was back at the airport. As fate would have it, my plane to JFK was delayed for two hours due to bad weather on the East coast. Imagine my frustration and despair. I had to fly five hours each way just to get to a two hour event in New York and I might not even make it. I guess that’s the crazy part of me.
Luckily, there was another flight to Newark that was leaving an hour before my original flight and it had one seat available. It was in the back of the plane by the restrooms and, of course, a bunch of crying kids but at least it was getting me closer to New York. I exchanged my ticket, got on the plane and then found out that it was also delayed but now I was stuck inside the aircraft on the runaway, not knowing when we were leaving. So maybe I wasn’t as lucky as I thought.
So here I was, exhausted from the previous trip, sitting on the plane bound for Newark, waiting for our departure and hoping that I’d get to New York on time for the event.
Finally we were in the air and at that point all I wanted was just to get to New York because the flight was long and the turbulence was bad. When we reached the East coast there was another delay landing and we were stuck in the sky above Pennsylvania. For almost an hour we were making circles accompanied by turbulence…I don’t know how many because I stopped counting after the fifth circle when half of the plane became sick and searched for the motion sickness bags.
After we finally left the circles of hell, the plane began to descend in a weird pattern. After we landed, I looked at the yellow trace on a moving map on my TV screen and it looked like the pilot was trying to spell The L Word.
When we finally landed, I spent another 30 minutes waiting to get off the plane. Everyone who needed to make connections was already late so they didn’t care and I was almost jumping out of my skin because I couldn’t stand idle for another moment.
Finally, I was free, running down the terminals and stairs to get to my shuttle. Little did I know that my adventures were not over yet! Because I flew to another airport the super shuttle had a van available for me only in another 30 minutes and I had to share it with other passengers. So I was warned right away that I wouldn’t make it in time if they needed to be dropped first. My best chance was a taxi.
At that point I didn’t care that it was three times more expensive. I was in New York already and I had a little over an hour to get to Times Square or the whole thing would be for nothing. I kept running in the rain, searching for a taxi stand. It was like an episode from “Amazing Race.” There was no line, so I quickly pre-paid, jumped inside the next free taxi and yelled, “Go, go, go…here’s the address where I have to be by 8 pm.”
The driver was really nice and even listened to my explanation as to why I was in such a hurry. I looked like a mad woman, literally. I was running in the rain so I was wet, sweaty, breathing hard and speaking in short sentences because my English always gets worse when I’m nervous or tired…and I was both.
To make this long story short, the driver knew what he was doing and got me to Times Square by 7:30 pm. I made it! I went inside and nobody was in yet because they had another talk going on until 8 pm. I met a few nice fans and spent time chatting with them. When I finally got inside, all the front middle rows were taken; it looked like I’d probably sit somewhere on the edge. But, alas, a couple of very nice girls, who had one seat available in the second row right in front of the stage, offered me a seat. I was very close and right where Jennifer ended up sitting so I had a very good view.
Conversation with Ilene and Jennifer
New York Times Live is a very interesting live event which is held year round at TheTimeCenter, including TimesTalks. “Life after the L Word” with Ilene and Jennifer was a really exciting event and I don’t regret even for a moment that I had to endure the worst flight ever to get to New York so I could hear Jennifer and Ilene talk to the fans.
The moderator, Kim Severson, is a staff writer for the dining section of The New York Times and she was really great with her questions. She at least was someone who watched the show and knew what she was talking about.
Before I describe their conversation and the Q&A part, I’d like to go back to the story about Jennifer practically inviting me to go to New York. I said that even if it was a joke, I still decided to go because no one in their right mind would say no to Jennifer Beals. As it turned out, it wasn’t a joke because when Jennifer came onto the stage and saw me in the audience, she smiled and said, “I’m glad you made it.”
Later, after the event was over, I saw Kim the moderator leaving the building and I approached her to thank her for a great evening and she told me she’d heard about me from Jennifer. Jennifer told Kim about me and said she hoped I’d make it to New York. So you see, it wasn’t a joke and I’m really glad I went.
The audio for the entire talk will be posted in the podcast section of TimesTalks (http://www.nytimes.whsites.net/talk/podcasts.html) so I’ll only mention highlights of their conversation. It’s not verbatim and might be out of order but I wrote this to the best of my ability.
- At the beginning when the guests sat down, Kim said: “I think I can speak for everyone here…Ilene, what the hell?” (She was talking about season six, of course, and Ilene was laughing while Jennifer made a gesture as if she was stabbing her. It was funny). Jennifer said that she talked to Ilene about it because the Disney part of Jennifer wanted the show to be a celebration of friendship. It was very hard for her to tough through it but she had to work with what Ilene gave her. Ilene has a dark side according to Jennifer; and she did the finale to the best of her ability but then she would go back to her trailer and go, “Why? Why?” Jennifer was really upset over the ending.
- After that they talked about the movie because Ilene said it was a possibility and Jennifer mentioned that the movie would be great but she’ll only do it if it’s a celebratory, happy movie about love and friendship. Ilene replied that there’s a big amount of interest and support for the idea of the movie and they all would like to do it.
- Ilene said that she would like nothing more than to work with Jennifer again and they both mentioned that they are working on a very exciting project together that in some way is a continuation of The L Word. They wouldn’t reveal what it is but said we’ll find out soon. (I think it might be related to the coming out stories that they were going to collect on OurChart before it’s untimely demise).
- Ilene always thought that she was a solitary writer until she began doing The L Word but then she had a group of women who wouldn’t let her be solitary. They were all socially communicative and it turned out to be a great collaboration. Ilene was talking about cast members, of course. She said that they would always go to her with their ideas for stories or the characters and all the cast members at some point were asking Ilene to change things in their storylines.
Jennifer stepped in and said that she was the least demanding of them all. She also said that though Ilene was the head writer, she made it clear to the cast that the door was always open for them. Jennifer joked then that she didn’t think Ilene could have ever imagined the door would become this much of a revolving door because everyone was constantly offering their own ideas. Ilene added that there were moments when it would become a little wild but it was also a really great collaboration. She said that Jennifer collaborated with her the most and they constantly talked about the storylines and character development. Often cast members would come to Ilene with issues about their character being “out of character” or just to express ideas for a story.
- Ilene said that after Queer as Folks was produced, she brought up the subject of the lesbian show once again and this time she got a green light. She told Showtime she was grateful for their support and that they would get some interesting, significant and well-known actresses who wouldn’t be afraid to play these characters. They had a very short list for Bette because she was deemed the main character and Jennifer Beals was on that list. Ilene said that if they could get Jennifer they would be there already.
- Jennifer told her side of the story. She had just been offered a show where she was going to play a prostitute. She met with the executives from that show and then literally the same day she met with Ilene and Larry and some others to talk about The L Word. After that meeting Jennifer thought, “Hmm…do I want to be a prostitute or a lesbian?” She saw the potential for the show and Ilene had some great ideas. Then Jennifer met Rose Troche who was so passionate, intelligent and very engaging; Jennifer realized then that she would be a part of something very special and the choice was easy.
- Kim mentioned Pam Grier and Ilene and Jennifer told a short story of how Pam’s character in the original pilot was someone else. Her name was also Kit but she wasn’t Bette’s sister, she was this wacky sea captain. Jennifer was laughing really hard at that, by the way. The Showtime executives loved the Pilot and said that they would pick up the show but they were not sure if Pam’s character was working. Ilene was glad but she also really wanted to keep Pam on the show so they decided to create a character just for her. In the original Pilot Jennifer and Pam did an incredible scene together and they were so connected. Ilene looked at them and decided to make them sisters.
- Laurel Holloman was cast opposite Jennifer after they narrowed it down to two actresses who would play Tina. Both actresses had already done their auditions and now they needed to see them with Jennifer. Jennifer was working on a movie at the time and the actresses went to her trailer and their conversations were filmed to see who had more chemistry with Jennifer.
- Kim asked about the Laurel/Jennifer chemistry and their love scenes. Jennifer laughed and said that she read somewhere on the Internet that people have all these fantasies that they are lovers in real life. (Everyone cheered and she just laughed). Jennifer then said that in their love scenes they had to trust each other completely. In the love scenes that they had, they were very intense, especially the one at the end of season one and Jennifer said that she trusts Laurel implicitly. They had each other’s backs, literally. If they had a part of their body that they were not comfortable with, they would always ask the other person to cover it.
- Jennifer also said that in the Pilot she was so focused on Bette’s work that when it came time to do a love scene she was like, “Oh my God, I’m a lesbian. What am I supposed to do? I’m going to be this ugly hetero person who doesn’t have a clue…can I google something?” Laurel asked her if she wanted maybe a glass of wine and Jenifer thought it was just crazy, until she realized that it was just a scene like any other scene. It wasn’t just a love scene, it was a scene about two people who have been disconnected and it was a way for them to reunite. They choreographed everything and they actually had to re-shoot that scene. Jennifer brought in a love scene that she liked and Laurel also brought one that she liked, and they all shared ideas with Rose Troche who was directing. In the end they all came up with something more substantial and more specific that the one they had before (we call it The Pilot Sex).
- Kim asked if they could share some juicy details from the set, like arguments or fights…Jennifer said that they were like family and it’s not like people didn’t argue but she didn’t want to share because she considers them all a family. Ilene said that they had some highs and some lows, and there were moments of great collaboration and moments when someone would disagree with something. Jennifer added that it was definitely a different set from what she is used to. People always talked to one another and if they had a problem with something, whether a scene or someone else, it was addressed very quickly. Jennifer said that she felt so “heard” on the set in a way she had never been before.
- Jennifer mentioned her film “Book of Eli” that just finished filming and said it was an amazing experience. She attributed it to the fact that the Hughes brothers are biracial and were raised by a lesbian. Jennifer said that she felt lucky to have two such great experiences. Kim added that the movie industry is not really known for that kind of thing and Jennifer said that it has a very monolithic, patriarchal structure where your voice often isn’t heard as a woman.
- Kim made a comment that it was probably a challenge getting back into the real world after The L Word. Jennifer joked, “Oh yes, I talked to Kate Moennig recently and I said, ‘What would you give to have just one more scene at the Planet, talking over a cup of coffee?’”
- Kim asked Ilene if she ever started out to change the culture in America because she did, in Kim’s opinion. Ilene said, “I didn’t.” Kim, “Oh, you did.” And then Kim asked if Ilene started out by saying, “This is my life’s political work” or “I have an idea…” Ilene replied that she didn’t start out by saying that she was going to change culture or do something political, she started out by saying that she wanted to tell some great stories and entertain people and if it worked, then great. The show came out in the midst of a cultural change and it was thrilling to be part of it but she would never go on saying that that’s what she planned all along.
- Jennifer said that she herself didn’t watch a lot of television and she had no idea that The L Word was the first of its kind. When they were dealing with the press, Ilene told Jennifer that it wasn’t political but Jennifer thought that it was personal and, therefore, political. She went on to say that if there was a young girl in the middle of nowhere, with no access to a larger community and this show helped her to see herself represented, then that was a wonderful thing. Then Jennifer paused to collect herself because she was almost on the verge of tears, “And if that’s political then I felt very political.” She added that giving someone an opportunity to be authentic, to be heard and to let others hear your true voice is incredibly important.
- Kim asked Jennifer if, as a Yale graduate, she knew a lot about LGBT issues or if being on the show had opened her eyes and Jennifer said that the show had completely opened her eyes because she learned what a “twink” and “dental dam” were…after everyone stopped laughing she added that seriously, one important thing that she learned was that we are all connected. The “gay issues” are also women issues because homophobia is a form of misogyny. She is more motivated now to speak out if she sees something she doesn’t like. And Jennifer also said that she can see now how all women are connected because we are either repressed or repress ourselves and that’s codified in our culture.
- Kim asked Ilene how she developed a think skin because she was criticized a lot. Even the lesbian community expressed dislike for: the women being too pretty, too much sex, or not enough sex or Max with beard who is a girl and other issues. Ilene replied that it developed over time. In reality, if people are engaged on all levels, when they get angry, when they are debating or even hurling something at you, it means that the show was successful. If no one cared then the show wouldn’t have been on the air for six years.
- Kim made a comment that it was a remarkable run and brought up a few other shows, like Queer as Folk, Will and Grace, Ellen; and all these shows were coming out when America was more comfortable with gay characters. Ilene said that she certainly hadn’t dreamed that some day she would do a show about lesbians and Ellen DeGeneres definitely laid down some major stones, even though it wasn’t necessarily good for her at that time. Now she owns the world. In 2004 the world was also ready for a lesbian show.
- Ilene mentioned again that she first pitched it in 2001 when she had written an article for a Los Angeles magazine about the gay and lesbian baby boom. Her twins were two years old and she looked around and saw lots and lots of lesbians in Los Angeles having babies; it was a phenomena. She wanted to tell stories about it and to make a show about it. She went to Showtime because she had already worked with them on another project and she thought that maybe they would be receptive to her ideas. She presented an article and mentioned that she would like to do an ensemble drama about lesbians. She was kindly rejected.
- Six months later Showtime bought the rights for Queer as Folk and they put it on the air. And Ilene approached them and said, “You have a show about gay men, what about lesbians?” And they said, “You’re right.” The world was some how opening the doors for them to tell their stories. And now, with it finished, it will be harder to produce another show like this. Economic reasons are part of it but also it’s still harder to sell a project with a gay character.
- Kim replied that it seems weird that there are hardly any gay characters on television. Ilene said that it’s very sad. Jennifer and she actually talk about it all the time because they had believed that after The L Word ended, there would be many shows like it. She finds it very sad that we find ourselves in a cultural desert with no representation of our lives in the culture.
- The next subject that Kim brought up involved the social issues that the show tackled that were not mainly LGBT issues like substance abuse, race, adoption, breast cancer. Ilene said that they were using many issues that one could face in life because they wanted to deliver a message that our lives are just like the lives of everyone else, we are all dealing with the same things, no matter if we are gay or straight.
- Biracial issues were addressed and Jennifer said that originally Bette was written as white. During their first reading Jennifer said to Ilene that she wanted to be represented as a biracial lesbian and Ilene was very open to it.
- Next question was to name a few scenes or episodes that they were especially proud of. Ilene said that she couldn’t really do it but she confessed being a Bette fan and loving all the scenes when Bette was going on a rant. Jennifer said that one of her favorite scenes was the Bette and Tina fight/love scene at the end of season one. It was a very complicated and intense scene. Tony Goldwyn, who directed that episode, just let the cameras roll and they just kept doing that scene over and over. It was very exhausting but Jennifer felt that she had accomplished something important at the end. She was very proud of what they brought to that scene.
- Kim asked if Jennifer is a different actor now having been on The L Word and her reply was that she did change and become more vocal. She is more confident in expressing her opinions when she wants to understand the direction and development of her characters. Working on The L Word was an amazing experience, especially working with different directors, who were predominantly feature film or independent film directors. They were all very passionate about their work and involved in the re-writing process. Ilene added that it was a very unique situation because each episode was like a mini-movie.
- Kim mentioned again that it was probably hard for Ilene to give up some control and Ilene replied that she could be a control freak but she also liked the collaborative process because it was better to have people sharing their ideas about the storylines and Ilene always welcomed their input. She also admitted that often the ideas of others were much better than her original idea.
- Next subject of conversation was about things that Ilene regretted and Kim brought up one of the things that fans were always vocal about, killing Dana Fairbanks. Ilene said right away, “I’d like to rephrase it…I didn’t kill Dana Fairbanks. Dana got sick.” She then said that part of the fan’s anger was based on the fact that she killed a lesbian and Ilene’s reply always was, “I’m sorry but lesbians do die.” She also mentioned that during season one and two she was attacked for making Jenny Jewish. Ilene added that it was another thing that happened because of the actress, because Mia is Jewish and she suggested making Jenny Jewish, as well. Then Jenny turned crazy and fans were angry at Ilene for making a Jewish character crazy.
- Kim then brought up the question of Jenny being based on Ilene. Ilene replied that in the first season Jenny and Bette were two characters who were loosely based on her. Jenny presented her coming out experience, being a writer and Jewish. Bette represented her more mature experiences, being a career woman who tried to start a family, tried to keep a relationship working while having a very busy and big career. So, many of Ilene issues were reflected in these two characters. Over the seasons, the characters became so much themselves that Ilene no longer felt any kind of proprietary relationship with them. Ilene also added that at different moments she could relate to all the characters, just as the audience did.
- Kim then asked Jennifer about Bette and her development. She asked that since Jennifer is a photographer and has an aesthetic sense, was she using it when she portrayed Bette or was all of it given to her. Jennifer replied that everything was completely given to her. She knew nothing about painting and learned a lot while doing the show. Kim mentioned that she heard that the character of Bette was based on a friend of Ilene’s who has a gallery. Ilene said that she wouldn’t use word “based on” but there was a mutual friend who became an inspiration for Bette and helped them with some ideas about being an art museum director.
- The next subject was clothes for the show. Jennifer said she misses clothes from the show the most. Cynthia, their costume designer, was extraordinary and she got to know everyone’s taste and style and always listened to their input about the clothes that they wanted to wear. Jennifer added that she really misses her cufflinks. At the end of each season all the cast members were allowed to buy at a bargain price any part of their wardrobe they wanted, including clothes other characters were wearing. Sometimes there was a frenzy at the wardrobe room because everyone would be hiding things that they wanted. (Jennifer and Ilene were really funny during that sequence).
- The next subject was about the guest stars. Kim asked how they managed to get so many tremendous stars to appear and if any of the storylines were written for a specific guest. Ilene said that she attributes it to the fact that there are so few parts for women that are interesting and different, in which a woman’s character isn’t just part of the orbit of a man’s story. Another factor was that that a lot of actresses were just excited about being part of the show that talks about women in an interesting and self-determined way. Jennifer added that in the movie industry there’s often this old Victorian notion that a woman’s world is all about love and it’s just an episode in their life. She was doing a movie where her character brought up an affair in the middle of a crisis, asking her male partner if anyone knew about their affair. Her partner replied, “Oh, we have bigger issues now because we have to save the world.” And Jennifer said that she told the director that she couldn’t say that and she suggested, “Hey, why don’t you give the line to him, and I’ll say, ‘We have bigger issues’.” (This statement was met with a lot of applause and laughter.)
- They continued talking about the guest stars and Kim mentioned Cybill Shepherd. Ilene said that usually they got calls from people who wanted to be on the show. She knew that Cybill wanted to be on The L Word and when they came up with the idea of Phyllis, Cybill was the first actress that they thought of for that role. Marlee Matlin was also the one who knew a lot of people and she would come to Ilene with new names of people who wanted to be a part of the show. Often agents or casting directors would call her.
- They only had a few minutes left before the Q&A and Kim asked about webisodes as an alternative avenue for delivering the show. Ilene explained that when they first went on the air, the web was relatively new in its relationship to television. In the beginning Ilene knew about people posting things online but she thought she didn’t have to listen to the fans.
- By the time the second season was out, she realized that she was dead wrong and that she needed to pay attention. She also realized that The L Word fans were a huge global community who connected on the Internet because it was a place for them to talk about the show and their lives. There had never been content like this before for lesbians and it was very important. OurChart was a response to that need as they created an on-line community for fans to gather and connect. OurChart didn’t work out because they had to do it with CBS and the big corporate structure made it impossible for them to grow the site in the way they wanted to.
- Showtime owns the L Word characters but they are very generous in letting Ilene continue their lives on the Internet and they are also very supportive of The L Word movie. This was when Jennifer said once again that she would only do it if Ilene would abandon her dark site and make a happy movie. Ilene basically promised that she will do a movie about love, romance and friendship…and she mentioned a wedding!
- More on webisodes and specific content for the web. Jennifer said that doing stuff for the web feels like a continuation of the storytelling process because for her, the story is paramount. And what was so exciting about The L Word, was that the stories they told encouraged other people within the community and outside the community to tell their own stories to one another. Jennifer was really disappointed when OurChart folded.
- She also said that she can’t read things on the Internet because she gets really upset. She read one comment when someone didn’t like her short hair and called her a soccer mom. But there were also moments that she really liked, like when she did a triathlon in September. She did it as a way to raise money for various charities, and also as a way to make sure she wouldn't quit. She read some of the comments on OurChart where people were so encouraging and so sweet and helped her a lot when she was doing the race.
- Ilene also mentioned a series of interviews that Jennifer did with Tobias Wolff during the presidential campaign. It was before Obama got the nomination, and it was an incredible dialogue that really brought a lot of people into the conversation. Jennifer agreed and said that she was able to ask him questions that the fans asked on OurChart and it was a great way for her to facilitate their conversation.
The conversation with Ilene and Jennifer lasted almost an hour and it was time now for questions from the audience. I didn’t ask any because I just had a short interview with Jennifer and Ilene at the GLAAD Awards and I wanted to hear what other fans wanted to know about. And honestly, I wanted to just enjoy my time and watch Jennifer answering the questions.
Q&A with Jennifer and Ilene
When Kim announced that there was time now for questions and answers, two lines of people formed by the microphones that were posted on the stairs. A lot of fans made a few comments and statements before asking their questions. There was even one man and a few straight women who stood to ask questions; it was another indication that the show reached a diverse group of people and not just lesbians.
One statement I liked in particular was when one woman said that though she was already out for over twenty years before the L Word came on TV; it was like coming out the second time. Because of the show she was more comfortable with herself and more comfortable talking about herself and her wife and her kids, and the people at work were more comfortable talking to her about it. So it’s not just young girls in Iowa coming out (she referred to a letter that some girl wrote to Jennifer) but it’s also all those people who were already out, coming out again because of the show.
Here’re a few questions that were asked that night. Again, they are not verbatim and I probably missed a few but I tried to write them as I remembered and from the notes I took.
Q. Initially I heard that season five was the last one and I was happy that there was season six but is there a reason why the show ended there?
A. (Ilene) Season five was never a last one but what happened was that every year when filming was finished, it wasn’t known if they were picked up by the network. After the season ran, they’d wait to hear from the network. When Showtime picked them up for the sixth season they said to Ilene, “We want to do a final season.” They’d been doing the show for five years at that point and she felt they’d said everything they needed to say, as well as they could say it and they wanted to go out while they were at their peak rather then when they flat lining.
Q. What is the purpose behind the interrogation tapes?
A. (Ilene) The interrogation tapes served a two-fold mission. Ilene wanted to address questions that fans asked on OurChart and at the same time she knew that there were some issues that they didn’t have the time to explore during all six seasons. So they wanted to find a way of addressing some of those questions because she kept hearing things like, “What about Tina? How come we never met her parents?” So they literally used the contents of the interrogation tapes to answer those questions.
Q. Why, at the end of season one, did you cut out one of the best characters, Marina? I’m asking both of you, from a creative point of view and from another character’s point of view?
A. (Jennifer) “I don’t know why she cut Marina but, I don’t know why Dana died, why Tina’s sister raped her, why Jenny was peeing on somebody…I just go, ‘What the hell?’” She also said that it’s hard when a character disappears and it feels sometimes like it’s a friend who moved away and you try to focus on other things but you can’t get back the joy that was there.
(Ilene) There are many reasons that those things happened and these kind of questions probably shouldn’t be answered because they are complex and they don’t necessarily have to do with a storytelling decision. Sometimes they have to do with a business decision, sometimes it has to do with people’s personal lives changing, or when they go off to do something else, whether due to another job or family reasons. There are answers to those questions that just don’t belong in this type of forum and it’s the best way to answer honorably.
Q. When it was suggested to make Bette biracial, it brought up one of the most intriguing aspects of the character, especially because she had to deal with biracial issues. Usually in popular culture with every biracial character I see, the biracial issues don’t come up…could you explain as an actor how you dealt with those issues in bringing them to light and making them personal?
A. (Jennifer) She said that she primarily dealt with the materials at hand and she also used her own imagination. She wanted to explore the complexities of being biracial but being frequently identified as white. That, for Jennifer, was really specific and interesting.
Q. The interrogation tapes raised more questions so do you know how long they will go on and can they continue to be posted so we’ll get all of the questions answered?
A. (Ilene) Ilene said that she didn’t know for how long they will go on. They are on Showtime’s website and she wasn’t sure if they intended to keep them running. They were not planning to produce anymore but there’s plenty of material to work with so it might go for some time.
Q. Nobody could play Bette Porter but Jennifer Beals. Are you like her?
A. (Jennifer) She said that she’s very emotional and in her personal life she would love to take Bette Porter with her when she needs a good rant. She also said that she spends a lot of time in Vancouver. She runs a lot and there are woods in Vancouver where she loves to run. That place is her sanctuary, her home and recently there was a woman who was running there one afternoon and she was murdered. (Here’s the article about that ).
And then later that week Jennifer was helping them to organize the run. She said that mostly she was helping to make posters at Kinko’s to warn everyone about what happened there and to make a banner for the run that they organized to take back the woods and to honor the family. At one point she was talking to one woman who was the organizer of the event (at that point Jennifer turned to Kim and asked if she could swear; Kim said it was okay and Jennifer did). She basically said that she would take that “blip’s blipping blip” and do something painful with it. The woman told her that they were not allowed to say that and Jennifer thought, “Why are we not allowed to say that? Are we not allowed to say that as women or because we have to be respectful to the family?” If it’s because of the family then Jennifer would understand why but if it’s because we are women and we should keep quiet and be afraid to go to the woods, then she didn’t understand. We shouldn’t be afraid and we should take what’s ours. Then she added, “And that’s when I knew that Bette Porter was alive.”
Q. I’ve heard about you being a photographer and that you took photos behind-the-scenes from the beginning of The L Word and I was wondering what are you planning to do with that project?
A. (Jennifer) She said that she took a lot of on-the-set photos and she wanted to put them into a photography book for the cast and the crew as a memento of the six years on the show. Recently she was invited to an L Word Convention and she brought a few prints with her to auction off to raise money for various charities. People were incredibly generous at the auction. She was thinking of this global recession and the fact that a lot of different organizations are having a difficult time and she thought that it would be great if she could make this book available to the fans and take the royalties to give it to different charities. If she is forced to put it on line and make it an e-book then she’ll do it; but if she would prefer to find a publisher and publish it as a regular book.
(At that moment Kim said that she hadn’t heard about L Word conventions and Jennifer replied that they are happening in England and there’s one that’s going to be in Australia, which means that she at least knows about it and the convention’s organizers already hinted that they were talking to her publicist about inviting Jennifer to Sydney.)
Q. Can you tell us anything about you future projects and what you’ve been working on?
A. (Jennifer) She mentioned her film “Book of Eli” with Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman and Mila Kunis that is coming out in January 2010. It was a terrific experience and it’s going to be a great film, and Jennifer said that she’s very proud of it. She also mentioned her appearance in a couple of episodes of “Lie to Me” with her very good friend, Tim Roth. She had a great time playing his ex-wife.
Q. You’ve already made it clear what you think about Tina’s interrogation tape, can you tell us what you think about Bette’s?
A. (Jennifer) She hadn’t seen Bette’s interrogation tape because she doesn’t like to watch herself but she watched the other tapes. Ilene added that she was trying forever to make Jennifer watch herself but to no avail. Jennifer said that she’s probably in a minority of celebrities who don’t like to watch themselves but she likes to be in the editing room with the director and talk about various takes and the direction of the story. She feels that she has the experience of the scene and when she goes to the editing room, she learns more about the editor and the director than about herself as a character. She likes to hear their interpretation and sometimes it’s helpful and sometimes it’s incredibly frustrating because she gets disappointed easily.
Q. Did you hear Laurel Holloman’s Bravo A-List acceptance speech and what was your reaction?
A. (Jennifer) “I didn’t see it, what did she say?” (That question got a lot of applause and laughter). The fan gave a short version of what LH said, including the part about sitting on Jennifer's face. JB laughed and said that Laurel is a wicked gal (at least that’s what I think she said because it was hard to hear as everyone was laughing, including Jennifer. Someone else mentioned that Jennifer said “witty gal”). Jennifer also added that she’s always the last to know about anything and Mia is the first to know. Then Ilene said that she’s the last to know, right after Jennifer.
Q. Another question about the sex scenes.
A. (Jennifer) In the beginning of the first season they got together to watch a tape with various sex scenes (both gay and straight) that Rose Troche gave them, She wanted them to look at the scenes and see which ones worked and which ones didn’t work and why. They watched that tape as a cast and they realized that they could feel when an actor was fearful and all of a sudden the story was broken. They all vowed in that room, that day to be fully committed because they didn’t want to break the story, they didn’t want to appear fearful.
Then Jennifer told the story about filming a scene in “Lie to me” when Jennifer’s character was walking across the room in her bra, putting on her shirt and the camera was following her moves, and traveling up to her face. The camera man said to her, “Don’t worry, we’re not lingering on your…,” and Jennifer replied, “Honey, I’ve done The L Word, you can linger where you want to linger.” She also said that she doesn’t feel shy about sexuality anymore. “Sexuality is sexuality and it’s all good.”
Q. A woman, who is also a runner, talked about the story that Jennifer told previously and then asked her about future marathons and triathlons.
A. (Jennifer) She mentioned the triathlon in Vancouver and then said that she would like to do a New York City marathon and a Half Iron Man. Her family is very supportive so that’s a possibility but it also depends on her work schedule. She added that she doesn’t have to be fast, she just wants to finish.
Q. A fan wanted to know about the evolution of Bette Porter. After Bette’s interrogation tape she felt that Alpha Bette was gone, so what about the future for Bette Porter, where is she going?
A. (Ilene) It’s not that Bette had gone from a career-driven to a family-oriented person but she became someone who accommodated all the things in her life that are now important to her and have value. Bette is more rounded but at the same time she is still flawed. Ilene said, “We couldn’t just say, ‘Okay, now she’s perfect’, because then the story would be over.” Bette still has stuff to work on.
(Jennifer) She agreed with what Ilene said in terms of Bette valuing family. Bette realized that she didn’t have to be so work-driven and family and love is so incredibly important. So Bette’s more into the family now and is driven by love. It can help you to get away from fear, from anger and that’s what important.
At the end Jennifer said, “I want to thank all our fans so much. You, guys, inspire us and motivate us and have been so incredibly generous that I do want you to know that it meant a tremendous amount to everyone in the cast.”
