by Jennifer Matos

*** UPDATED ***

Daniela Sea Chats with L-Word.Com PART 1

L-word.com recently had the great opportunity to spend some time chatting with Daniela Sea (“Moira”/”Max”). The 45-minute conversation revealed interesting information not only about Daniela, but also shed some insight into the character of “Max”. If you thought you knew everything you wanted to know about Daniela and “Max”, think again. If you are a viewer who doesn’t understand what makes “Max” tick, doors will be opened and insights revealed. Over the next two weeks, l-word.com will be sharing tidbits from the discussion that we had that will surprise you.

If you are a frequent reader of l-word.com and participate in the message boards and other interactive venues, you might be among those who don’t have a favorable view of “Max” and have made those sentiments known. After listening to what Daniela Sea has to say about “Max”, you’ll soon be wondering if you have judged too hastily.

The mild-mannered, soft spoken Sea thinks very highly of “Max”, and she should. No one knows the intimacies of “Max” better than his portrayer, musician, film and television actor Daniela Sea. Not only does Sea have complimenting and intuitive things to say about “Max”, a tone of enthusiasm, admiration and respect can be heard in her voice when she says them.

As you might already know, Sea spent some time in India, living as a woman, but then eventually living as man. Sea was asked about that experience and the other experiences she has had as “Max’s” portrayer.

TLW: So that experience in India, how did that help you—if it helped at all—to develop the character of “Max” for the L Word?

DS: I think it definitely helped, you know, because I’ve always been a tomboy and stuff since I was young, that’s always been one of the things that people teased me about me in school, just kind of rebellion. I was really young, feeling pretty androgynous, and always resisted following scripted things for women which is pretty limiting in this society, anyway, but as far as an actor, as far as having some kind of understanding as where “Max” is coming from, definitely. And then the feeling of passing and then like living your life day to day passing and “Max” goes through that and yeah, it’s a good way for me to have emotional access to that.

TLW: Right. And “Max” has definitely gone through a lot of changes, because we saw “Max” come on the scene as “Moira” and then kind of go through the trans thing and taking the shots and dealing with “Jenny” on kind of how that would change and then evolving into “Max”.

DS: Yeah.

TLW: So then can we assume, then, that “Moira” is gone? That she’s gone, that L Word won’t do a reversal on “Max” is no longer? Or are we sticking with “Max” and seeing what he goes through for the next season?

DS: Well, I mean, he hasn’t so far decided to change his name back to “Moira”, if that’s what you mean. I mean, I think he is still himself. He had some violent episodes and all that, he is the same person, becoming a man makes it possible for the world to see him for who he is, in the society or whatever. At home, I think you will definitely get to see how home life differs from his outside life, at work and in public, you know? And that’s something that I think about a lot. And I thought a lot about in my travels, which is like, “What’s the difference between what people see out here on the outside, like thinking that I’m a guy and all that, and who I really am?”, you know? And then it just shows how funny gender really is. It’s way more fluid than we’re willing to admit, I think.

TLW: Right. You mentioned that “Max” had some violent episodes and I know that not just as an l-word fan site writer but as a viewer, it kind of disturbed me because I saw this mild-mannered character have these violent episodes that were kind of unexpected. What was it like to film those?

DS: It was a challenge, you know, I mean, I definitely like to talk with the writers and the creators in order to understand where he is in the scope of things. I do take issue sometimes with how things are written, and I questioned that, too, “Why just because he’s taking testosterone does it mean that he going to get violent? Because nobody I know has had that reaction to taking testosterone. They might get emotional and change in some way. But what I have come to understand about “Max” is that he was always mild-mannered and really gentle and sweet and maybe there were sides of him that he was maybe repressing and maybe not just the gender thing. In fact, when you’re always the nice guy, at some point you know, you might just freak out when you’re always just acquiescing. You know, “Jenny” definitely pushed his buttons and I think he was feeling vulnerable, you know she was trying to write about him and his transition, and do all of this covert stuff and kind of use him for the story. At the same time, not a lot of the other people took him in as a friend, I mean they tolerated him, but there he was feeling all alone out there in L.A., and I think that’s what just started to happen and what he was going through during the hormonal shift which could be pretty cathartic, but for him, it ended up just being the violent thing. And yeah, it was pretty hard shooting that stuff because I, myself, am…I mean, I you know, can be a jerk, too, but I like to think of myself as pretty mild-mannered. But you have to access this side of yourself that’s not just defending yourself-enraging but actually being an aggressor—that was hard.

TLW: Right, because all the accounts and everything I’ve
heard of you so far is you know, “She’s so sweet, so nice, so mild-mannered. Fans who have met you have said the same thing. So I can imagine that would be hard to go from who you are and then accessing that kind of darker side of a character.

DS: But it’s a lot of fun, too. And it’s more than just fun, it’s satisfying for an artist to go through challenges like that. And one of the main episodes was for a benefit party and in that, I was working with Moises Kaufman, who’s this great renowned theatre director and also film director, and you know, in that respect it was great to have the challenge and feel that I could learn something new about myself. As an actor, that’s always exciting, you know.

TLW: As an actor, I have to say that you do a really good job of accessing “Max’s” feelings, especially the “Lobster” episode where you went to the overlook of the city and you were crying.

DS: Yeah, yeah.

TLW: I think people really felt a bond there, a connection, especially the restaurant scene, where I think that everyone’s kind of been there, where you’re out with some friends, and money is an issue and you don’t want to say anything, and it gets uncomfortable.

DS: Yeah, and we’ve all felt that and it’s rarely shown on TV.

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