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I think that from what I’ve learned it seems to be a really pressing issue in so many partnerships, and that’s what happens when you have children because the roles are not so set. They are not black and white anymore, and because both are trying to work and juggle this other responsibility, does one person say, “Ok I’m staying home,” How do you make that work, and what happens if the money is running out?
You know what is really interesting is that it looks like on the surface that the one that has the job and does this is the stronger person, but actually when you look at a relationship, the person that is willing to be in the background, the person that’s willing to be the more quiet and lets the other person be flashier the person, that’s who is the stronger person and that’s the strength and the heart of the relationship is the stronger person. |
And you see that in season 2 when all of a sudden Bette can’t exist without it, but Tina can. She slowly becomes, “Hey I’m ok, and I’ve got all these friends” to see that Tina isn’t falling apart. It was interesting to see. I think maybe Tina needed that freedom to find out who she was because she was so buried in the relationship. That happens so often--people leave a relationship and you think there’s no way they will survive without their partner, but then they get out and rediscover who they are.
And I don’t think Bette would have been attracted to Tina if she hadn’t rediscovered herself in some way and had gained that strength to say I don’t want it like this. It needs to be different. I need to have a voice in this. And I don’t think if that hadn’t happened that Bette would have been interested in her. I think Jennifer did a wonderful job when she played the pain of what it’s like to be alone she really went there. It is just wonderful acting, it’s like some of her best work ever. Everyone has been heartbroken, and so I think a lot of the fans really connected to that. I don’t think you really grow until you have had your heart broken.
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“What about new characters?”
Alan Cummings. He is just so good, and he’s so funny, and Daniela Sea whose eyes are amazing. I can remember when she first walked in, I just thought, “Whoa…this is going to be good!” I think she is a breath of fresh air for the show. |
Laurel on New Characters
I think that’s the one good thing that Ilene keeps doing. I think at first the original cast thought, “Oh my God, they are adding all these new people!” You know I think actors are all overly sensitive, so we were thinking, “What’s wrong with us?!” But that’s what an ensemble drama is.
You need to keep adding all these people. You needed Helena to counteract what was going on with Bette and Tina, and Carmen came in to really test Shane. Characters need to grow and that’s what happens in real life--you start to get a larger group. I have had people say that there are so many story lines, but I think in order to go somewhere in four or five years then you need to add people like Alan Cummings. He is just so good, and he’s so funny, and Daniela Sea whose eyes are amazing. I can remember when she first walked in, I just thought, “Whoa…this is going to be good!” I think she is a breath of fresh air for the show.
Laurel on Pregnancy
L-word.com: You have done something no one else has done, either on TV or in film, which is to incorporate your pregnancy into the role.
“There's something gentle about Helena's character”
Eespecially in the beginning. Then Tina begins to uncover some of Helena's dysfunctions, and I think that is when she begins to appreciate the relationship she was in. She also has to forgive Bette for her cheating which is a really big deal, but this was not processed! |
That’s why I did it! I did it because I thought that if ever there is a place to do it, this is the show. And I know it’s going to be nurtured. I don’t know if I would have done it with a male executive producer. I don’t know if they would have understood it. Ilene has children and one of the other producers has kids.
The only hard thing is that the day before my waters broke I think I worked 15 hours! That I wouldn’t recommend! That was really quite hard, and I think that up to that point the pregnancy had been pretty easy. I think, even myself included because I had never been pregnant before, everyone was really in slight denial over what was really going on. I even ended up missing the final episode and had to go back and shoot it! So that whole final episode I’m not actually pregnant. I had already given birth, and the first 6 weeks after giving birth is really tough. |
I think other than that being pregnant and acting pregnant added another layer on the acting, and it was important. It was interesting to show a woman single and pregnant, and to show other women being attracted to that, which I thought was important. You see Jane Lynch’s character hitting on my character, and you see the dynamics of that. Jane Lynch’s character was very Alpha and again not paying attention to what Tina’s needs are, but trying to control. Which is where she had just come from (in her relationship with Bette), so it’s interesting to see how Tina makes her choices.
There’s something gentle about Helena’s character, especially in the beginning. Then Tina begins to uncover some of Helena’s dysfunctions, and I think that is when she begins to appreciate the relationship she was in. She also has to forgive Bette for her cheating which is a really big deal, but this was not processed! |
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Laurel on Helena
You know, she came on the show to be the villain in a certain way, to be the femme fatal. Every show needs to have that kind of character. I actually read with other girls before I read with Rachel, and she was “it” straight away.
All credit to Rachel because I think even on paper the character wasn’t credited with layers, and Rachel has played her with such sensitivity. I think even at times when you see she is still kind of a player that Tina touched her and she really did go there, but the bravado of that player is still intact. I think it’s really true of people who come from a lot of wealth and they have trouble with understanding how people can turn them down!
I think Helena’s layers will show slowly. You just have to give a character enough screen time for it to develop. The layers you have to add in as an actor which is what Rachel has done, and I think it’s better to have lots of shades of gray because people are not black and white.
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Ilene does do that because she will have a really complex character and then she will flip it around and show what they are like when they are alone, how vulnerable are they when there is not a group of friends around them. Next season you will see a lot of what Helena is like alone.
She also becomes connected to other people, and actually the Tina and Helena relationship continues but not in a sexual way, but it becomes a very important friendship, which is what happens so often in the gay community. I think what Ilene wants to write about is how ex-lovers turn onto friends, and then you discover that this is a great friend. This person was supposed to be a friend all along, but you have to sleep with them to get it out of your system first.
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