Month: March 2004

Hvem er din favorit?

Jenny har netop taget sin afsluttende eksamen på universitetet i Chicago, og flytter nu til Los Angeles, for at være sammen med sin kæreste Tim og få fart i karrieren som forfatter. Der bliver dog vendt op og ned på hende tilværelse, da hun møder det lesbiske par Bette og Tina. Jenny får nu øjnene op for en helt ny verden med kærlighed og lidenskab, og pludselig ser hendes verden noget anderledes ud. Hun er ikke længere sikker på noget som helst, ikke engang sin egen seksualitet.
Medvirkende: Jennifer Beals (Bette Porter), Erin Daniels (Dana Fairbanks), Pam Grier (Kit Porter), Leisha Hailey (Alice Pieszecki), Laurel Holloman (Tina Kennard), Mia Kirshner (Jenny Schecter) m. fl. (hvordan kan de glemme Katherine Moennig)

Vi giver max. 10 ❤️

Afsnit information
25/8 22:50 Pilot 1 – 01/9 22:55 Pilot 2 Bette og Tina vil gerne starte en familie sammen. Naboen Tim er i færd med at flytte sammen med sin kæreste Jenny, en talentfuld forfatterspire. Der går dog ikke lang tid førend Jenny begynder at tilbringe en del tid sammen med Bette og Tinas mange lesbiske veninder, og hun indser at studietiden i Midtvesten ikke har forberedt hende på det nye liv i Los Angeles.
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

08/9 22.55 ‘1.2.Let’s Do it’ Bette og Tina beslutter sig for at prøve at få Tina gjort gravid. “Holdet” prøver at afgøre om en kvinde på Danas “Club” er lesbisk eller ej. Tim inviterer Marina til middag, lykkeligt uvidende om hendes møde med Jenny.
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

15/9 22:00 ‘1.3 Longing’ Jenny har problemer med sine følelser overfor Marina, mens det endelig lykkes Dana at få en date med Lara. Alice derimod forsøger at få styr på sit selvværd, efter at hun er rendt ind i en ekskæreste.
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

22/9 22:00 ‘1.4 Lies Lies Lies’ Bette har problemer på sin arbejdsplads, mens Jennys affære med Marina bringer Jenny og Tims forhold i fare.
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

29/9 22:00 ‘1.5 Lawfully’ Tim tager Jenny og Marina på fersk gerning. Imens reagerer Bettes far ikke just positivt på at Tina er gravid.
Røvkassen anbefaler: køb rigeligt med G/T til det her afsnit….
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

6/10 22:00 ‘1.6 Losing it’ En kunstner i New York afprøver hvor engageret Bette er, mens spermdonorens kæreste plager Tina. Jenny får et lift af to oprørske teenagere. (the shroom-episode…)
Røvkassen anbefaler: køb EXTRA-rigeligt med G/T til det her afsnit….
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️

13/10 22:00 ‘1.7 L’ennui’ Bette og Tina er chokerede, da deres venner beskylder dem for at være kedelige, blot fordi de snart skal være forældre. Tina giver ikke meget for deres mening, men Bette er bange for at det måske er sandt. Kits forsøg på en forsoning med sin søn David viser med al tydelighed, hvor smertefuldt det kan være at have børn. Jenny vender hjem og prøver at rette op på sine fejl, men Tim er vred og smider hende ud. I desperation vender hun sig i stedet mod Marina, som tager imod hende med åbne arme. Hun gør dog senere opmærksom på, at deres forhold er midlertidigt. Da hun erfarer at Marina har en fast partner – Francesca – bliver Jenny knust, og hun står nu uden tag over hovedet. Dana, som har udsigt til et stort sponsorat, tager sig sammen til at afvise Lara, mens Alice får en moralsk lærestreg, da hun leger med en mands følelser.Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

20/10 22:00 ‘1.8 Listen Up’ Jenny forsøger at forklare sin skolekammerat (Annette) om sit forhold til Marina, og det får pludselig Jenny til at tænke over sin seksuelle identitet. Er hun tiltrukket af kvinder – eller kun Marina? Marina og Francesca har samtidig deres egne problemer at slås med. Bette og Tina deltager i gruppeterapi for at forberede sig på at blive forældre. Her møder de en afro-amerikansk digter, og det tvinger Bette til at overveje, hvordan hun definerer sig selv, og hvordan hendes forhold til Tina har forandret sig gennem de sidste syv år. Jennys gamle veninde fra universitetstiden, Annette, kommer på besøg. Og Dana forbereder sig på at skulle fortælle sine ultra-konservative forældre, at hun er kommet ud af skabet (The BananaDrama) – ovenikøbet med et gevaldigt brag, takket være en ny reklamekampagne!
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

27/10 22:00 ‘1.9 Luck, Next Time’ Bette står overfor nogle alvorlige problemer, både personligt og karrieremæssigt. Dana prøver at “finde sig selv”, mens Shane får både berømmelse og problemer. Alice derimod synes kun at have problemer. Kit øver sig til Slim Daddys video, men der er nogle dansetrin der volder kvaler. Jenny er mere forvirret end nogensinde før i sit forhold til både Marina og Tim. Efter en middag sammen med Marina og Francesca, en middag der vel at mærke er en katastrofe, trøster Jenny sig nemlig hos Tim.
(Guest Stars: Lolita Davidovich (Francesca), Devon Gummersall (Lisa), Snoop Dogg (Slim Daddy), Rosanna Arquette (Sherry), Helen Shaver (Fae Buckley))
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

03/11 22:00 ‘1.10 Liberally’ Bette forsvarer galleriet mod angreb fra højrefløjen. Desuden er hun noget bekymret for Tina, der sørger over sit ufødte barn. Bette foreslår derfor at Tina engagerer sig i noget frivilligt arbejde, for at få tankerne ledet hen på noget andet. Det lykkes Kit at holde sig ædru, og hun forsøger nu at relancere sin karriere, assisteret af musikeren/produceren Slim Daddy. Marina og Francesca kommer op at skændes, Jenny derimod forsøger at hjælpe Tim, og hun bliver samtidig gode venner med Dana.
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

10/11 “1.11 Looking Back” Bette hyrer en tiltrækkende kvinde, Candace, til at hjælpe med galleriets næste projekt. Imens forbereder Tina, Dana, Alice og Shane en tur til Palm Springs. Og da Tina fornemmer at Jenny føler sig ensom, inviterer hun hende med til Palm Springs. Undervejs fortæller de hver især om “deres første kærlighed”. Tina afslører at hun mødte Bette, den eneste kvinde hun nogensinde har været sammen med, til ferniseringen af en Catherine Opie-udstilling. Bette derimod føler sig nu og her tiltrukket af Candace, og der er gengældt….
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

17/11 “1.12 Locked Up” Demonstranter har omringet galleriet, og sammen med vennerne forsøger Bette at beskytte de forskellige udstillingsgenstande der skal fragtes ind i galleriet. Det udvikler sig til et godt gammeldags optøjer, og politiet anholder kvinderne. Bette og Candace havner i den sammen fængselscelle, og det bliver lidt af en prøvelse for Bette, idet hun i forvejen har svært ved at modstå Candace. Marina indrømmer at hun ikke savner Francesca, og imens overvejer Tim og Jenny en skilsmisse. Jenny kæmper fortsat med at finde ud af sin seksualitet.
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

24/11 “1.13 Limb From Limb”
Bette falder endelig for fristelsen; Candace. Situationen bliver imidlertid endnu mere ubehagelig for Bette, da Tina overtaler Candace til at træde til i et bestemt projekt. Senere, da Tina ser Bette sammen med Candace, går det op for hende hvad der er i gære. Jenny er på en date med Gene, da hun bliver konfronteret med Robin og Marina. Da hun kommer hjem sammen med Gene er Robin der nemlig, og Marina har lagt en besked på telefonsvareren. Hendes komplekse liv bliver for meget for Tim, der vil skilles. Dana derimod mister en ven, men bliver forlovet.
Bedømmelse: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Den gamle tråd blev så lang – næsten 500 indlæg, så her er en ny frisk tråd – I kan selvfølgelig finde alle de gamle indlæg her:

L Word debat 1

Her på siden er der links og updates og I er velkomne til at komme med indlæg…

En af de bedste sider med information om the L Word er så absolut The L Word Online –

hvis du vil læse referater fra de enkelte afsnit, anbefales Scribe Grrrl’s Recaps på Afterellen.com

Mistede du en sætning eller mangler du et citat så læs Episode transcripts

Hvem er hvem?

Episode Guide

L Word Links – en rodet samling

Fakta om TLW

The L Word online FAQ ( frequently asked questions) – Uundværlig !!!

L Word Leksikon

BTW – du kan hente tema musikken til Alice’s Kort her: dub-dub-dub theme højreklik og gem som… – Husk derefter at omdøbe filen fra htm til zip (vi må nemlig ikke hotlinke)

Hvem er din favorit? Stem her

Afsnit information sakset fra tv3

cs_lword recaps referater fra de enkelte afsnit

Oversigt over musik som bruges i hver episode.

Se clips fra Sæson 1 DVD’en på Showtime – bl.a. the puppet-show !!!

NY TRÅD til S2: L Word Sæson 2

L Word S1 Download Læs FAQ’en

Alice’s L Word Chart

L word soundtrack download

Gå til den nye tråd: L Word Debat

Men læs gerne de mange indlæg (493) – her er svar på mange spørgsmål omkring The L Word – sæson 1

En af de bedste sider med information om the L Word er så absolut The L Word Online –

hvis du vil læse referater fra de enkelte afsnit, anbefales Scribe Grrrl’s Recaps på Afterellen.com

Mistede du en sætning eller mangler du et citat så læs Episode transcripts

Hvem er hvem?

Episode Guide

L Word Links – en rodet samling

Fakta om TLW

The L Word online FAQ ( frequently asked questions) – Uundværlig !!!

L Word Leksikon

BTW – du kan hente tema musikken til Alice’s Kort her: dub-dub-dub theme højreklik og gem som… – Husk derefter at omdøbe filen fra htm til zip (vi må nemlig ikke hotlinke)

Hvem er din favorit? Stem her

Afsnit information sakset fra tv3

cs_lword recaps referater fra de enkelte afsnit

Oversigt over musik som bruges i hver episode.

Se clips fra Sæson 1 DVD’en på Showtime – bl.a. the puppet-show !!!

NY TRÅD til S2: L Word Sæson 2

From a Murmur to a roar

By Stacy Farrar
Sydney Star Observer
Issue 769
Published 16/06/2005

The L Word’s Leisha Hailey

LEISHA HAILEY IS MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER L WORD LESBIAN.

What is it about Leisha Hailey? Before her latest project: playing bisexual journalist Alice Pieszecki on dyke soap The L Word, Hailey was already a VFL – a Very Famous Lesbian. There was her stint as one half of college favourites The Murmurs, for example, and her onscreen queer turn in 1997 dyke film-fave All Over Me. Not to mention her much talked about long-term relationship with then-world’s-most-famous-lesbian kd lang.

But it’s The L Word that has taken Hailey’s talents to a whole new audience (as well as inspiring a generation of dykes to track down Murmurs records).

As the only out cast member – rumours persist about several of her co-stars – Hailey tells the Star the show is a dream come true.

“It’s pretty awesome for me,” Hailey says.

“I’m on a steady series that’s doing really well, and it’s about something that’s really personal as well. It’s probably one of the most important things I’ve ever done.”

Like her character, Hailey is smart, and sweet. The only time she prickles is when asked what it’s like to have her relationships picked apart by the media (“It’s weird,” she says. “But it doesn’t really happen any more.” For the record, Hailey is currently dating L Word stylist Nina Garduno).

The links between actor and her funny, slightly crazy character almost end there, she says, at least in the first series.

“I’m not so quick-witted,” Hailey says. “I wish I was. We’re pretty different and I kind of live through her in a way, always having a witty thing to say.”

But it’s the flaws in her character that Hailey thinks audiences relate to. In the first series she dates a lesbian-identified man, falls in love with her best friend and stupidly goes back to an evil ex-girlfriend.

“I think when characters are perfect it’s hard to believe because none of us in life are really like that. Alice is not hiding anything, she comes clean about who she is. She’s a good friend to the other characters – sort of a hub, who the other characters come to. And I think people can see their friends in her.”

Despite the slowness of getting the program to Australia (at time of press, Channel Seven had no start date for the second series, which just finished screening in the US), The L Word has developed a wide international audience, and the cast is currently in Vancouver filming a third series.

Which, Hailey says, isn’t bad for the first soap opera based around non-straight women.

“It has never been done before so I was actually surprised at how mainstream it’s become,” she says.

“I guess it’s because the characters are good and I think if you have good characters on a show the whole sexuality thing is kind of nonexistent. The audience just gets interested in the people. But there’s moments, for sure, where you’re like, okay, this is a lesbian show, obviously.”

It’s one thing being an out lesbian in a band, but being out and in a show carrying the weight of expectation of dyke communities all over the world is another thing entirely. While Hailey thinks being open about her sexuality is important, she concedes she didn’t have much say in it.

“The more people are out the easier it is for everyone else,” she says. “I was never in the closet and once I told my parents about it, and they were amazing, I never had anyone to keep it from,” she says.

“So I just lived my life and our band slowly became successful. I never would have wanted to go back in the closet, but it was funny to get put into this ‘out lesbian’ role. I never thought ‘I’m going to go out there and out myself’. I just was who I was and people got to know me.”

One of the best episodes from series one features five characters driving to the Dinah Shore Weekend, a golf tournament in Palm Springs turned mega-lesbian-love-in. For an outsider looking in, the thousands of lesbians sitting around the pool, getting smashed and going to white parties looks like a crazy dyke dream.

Hailey played at a couple of Dinah Shores with The Murmurs and says the episode gets it exactly right.

“It’s wild. It’s definitely something to see. There’s a couple of lesbian things in the States that when you go to them you can’t believe they exist. The Michigan Women’s Festival is like that. It’s so much fun, it’s like 10,000 women taking over the woods. You pitch your tent, and it’s a little town. You have coffee shops, meetings about whatever thing you’re interested in; there’s a baby dyke camp, an S and M camp – I saw it!”

Hailey recognises the pressures The L Word writers are under to try to appeal to the widest audience possible, as well as the pressures coming from the diverse lesbian community.

As the show is the first to include full-time, full-lived lesbian characters, a lot of its queer viewers are looking for their own identity. Impossible, Hailey says.

“I don’t think it’s fair to have the weight and this huge responsibility on the show’s back. It’s the first time it’s ever happened, there’s only eight characters, and there’s just no way we could represent every kind of lesbian. It’s impossible. And I do think there’s been too much pressure put on the show to do that.

“It’s important for the writers to catch themselves and say ‘are we crossing the line here?’ But then I think ‘it’s a TV show, it’s for entertainment and if people are a little overboard then that’s what TV is all about’. We’re supposed to yell at the TV, that’s what makes it fun. If I were a viewer, I’d be yelling sometimes as well.”

MGM will release The L Word Season One box set in Australia on Wednesday 13 July. Advance ordering and online purchasing can be done at www.out.com.au

Planetout

Can Shahi tame Shane? 

by Jenny Stewart

February 25, 2005

Actress Sarah Shahi has just stepped into what could be one of the most enviable acting gigs on cable television. Well, lesbians would certainly think so. 

On Showtime’s hit series “The L Word,” Shahi plays Carmen, a feisty DJ with a heart of gold who may just turn out to be the woman who finally tames commitment-phobic Shane. It’s a solid, well-rounded character, and from the sound of things, Carmen may be around for season three.

The 25-year-old Shahi is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who decided to pursue acting after a chance meeting with director Robert Altman. Encouraged by Altman, Shahi left her native Texas for Los Angeles in 2000 and nabbed a few minor TV roles, but none as high-profile as her “L Word” gig. 

The outspoken and down-to-earth actress chatted with PlanetOut entertainment editor Jenny Stewart about being the new girl on a hit series, lesbian love scenes and what it’s like playing the girl who may get Shane.

You’re new to the show, and your role is actually pretty complex. Your character is a lesbian who’s getting involved in an interesting dynamic between two women who are very good friends, Jenny and Shane. How did you formulate Carmen; how did you research her? 

I think there are a lot of similarities between me and Carmen, just in the sense that she’s a no-nonsense kind of girl, she’s very up-front with her feelings, she’s not wishy-washy and she knows what she wants. Carmen doesn’t play games, and I’m kind of like that myself. 

As far as the lesbian aspect goes, it’s also pretty similar in the fact that I … dabbled in it myself for a while. Also, I live in L.A., I have friends who go to gay bars, I hang out in those places. So that part came very natural to me, because of my own experiences.

In the very first episode, you have to do a pretty explicit love scene with Kate Moennig. You’d never done a lesbian scene like that before, so what was your comfort level during the scene? 

Well, you’re always nervous doing a love scene, because it’s always with a stranger, it’s never with someone you know. And there’s always a bunch of people watching, and even though it’s always a “closed set,” that still means there’s 15 people there, you know? [Laughs.] 

But Kate is a wonderful actress, and she made me feel very comfortable. And just like our characters on-screen, we felt very comfortable with each other off-screen as well. And I’m one of those kind of people where, when the cameras are rolling, I just like to kinda go for it — I don’t want to hold anything back. And Kate is sort of the same way, so it made it really easy, considering it was my first day. …

Wait, did you really have to film that scene on your very first day?

Yeah! I moved to Canada the previous day, and then the very next day, I’m on the set and it was, “Hi Sarah — this is Kate, and she’s going to go down on you today! Kate, meet Sarah.” [Laughs]

[Laughing.] Oh my god! Well, you survived it. Speaking of first days, being the new girl is never fun. Everyone knows the cast members are very close — some of them live with each other during filming. I personally would have been terrified walking into a situation like that, where everyone was already so close and tight. What was it like for you? 

Well, just like you said, they are tight, and they’re a great group of girls, so yeah, I did feel like the new kid on the block. So I just had to sort of let things happen organically, because you can’t just step in and say, “Hey, I’m the new kid, and we’re going to be best friends now!” 

So I would just go to work, I’d do the best job I knew how to do, and then I’d go back home. And then, little by little, I started hanging out with the girls on set, and after a while, they would ask me to do stuff off set, like go out to dinner or things like that. But I think that letting everything unfold naturally made the whole transition seamless.

Lesbians can be very … particular, and some lesbian fans of “The L Word” can be especially particular. They just can’t get enough, and they want details. I guess you’ve seen all the message boards on the Internet — everyone seems to be really curious about your heritage. Do you want to clear that up now? Because if you don’t, all hell is going to break loose.

[Laughs.] OK, well my father is Middle Eastern and my mother is Spanish, so I am more or less a mutt. I grew up in Texas with a bunch of white American kids around me, which is how I wanted to be. I was like, “Mom, I want to go to Catholic school, why can’t I?” “Well, because your dad is Muslim, so NO!” [Laughs.] My dad was a bit of a tyrant back in the day. He was very particular about what language I spoke, which naturally had to be Farsi. They divorced when I was very young.

Did you live with your mother after the divorce?

Yeah, and then my mom became this sort of amazing free spirit. In fact, it’s funny, when I first got the show, she was kind of like, “Whoa! Wait a minute — you’re going to be doing what on camera?” And now, since it’s aired, she thinks it’s hot and sexy, and she’s like [mimics mom] “Oh, I’d like to try lesbianism, I’d like to try!” [Laughs.]

I really love hearing when parents are so accepting of things like that. All the guys from “Queer Eye for the Straight Gal” said the first person each of them called when they found out they got the show was their fathers, and that their fathers were ecstatic. I just love hearing that, because like, would that have happened 20 years ago? Or even 10? Have you learned anything about lesbian life as a result from being on the show?

Just that there is no difference between them and a straight couple. I mean, what is the big fucking deal? They’re just like everybody else, so fucking leave ’em alone, you know? Sex is personal to everyone, so you know, however you want to do it! They have problems, infidelities, they want to get pregnant, they have marriages, they have issues — it’s just like everything else, so just let it go. 

The other answer to your question would be that I feel like I would definitely know how to go down on a woman if I was ever in that situation. [Laughs.]

Good, so it’s been … practical! And on that same topic, last year before the show began, the producers showed lesbian films like “High Art” and “Desert Hearts” to the cast as a way of having them see what scenes do and don’t work on-screen. Did they have you watch them too?

[Surprised.] Hmmm. No, nobody showed me anything. I didn’t know that. 

Well for me, doing the scenes works when you make the sex secondary, you know what I mean? Unless it’s like a raw, hardcore, two people fucking and that’s all it is thing, then fine. But there’s always a lot more stuff going on, and the sex is the last thing that should be played, you know? It’s all about the connection to the other person, be it with their eyes, or the way they touch or the way they feel. It’s just the period where you let yourself go, and the sex is all secondary to that. Unless of course it’s just an animalistic, that’s-all-the-director-wants sort of thing.

You really did get lucky with your character — it’s a juicy role. What do you like most about Carmen?

You know, the thing I really love about Carmen is that she’s such a great spirit. Well, I think all of the characters on the show are, but she so wants to be good, and she believes in having good energy around her. 

Yeah, she’s been through tough times, being a gay Latina — that’s not easy with her religion and everything. But she doesn’t wear it on her sleeve, and she’s not a victim of her society, so to speak. And I think that that’s where she and Shane really connect. Not only is she the love
of Shane’s life, but I think Shane is going to learn some things that impact her personal beliefs from Carmen. What they have is special. I mean, those two girls [pauses], they definitely pine for each other — they definitely are on a ride together.

I think so many viewers will be able to relate to that, even if they haven’t necessarily experienced it themselves. OK, closing with a few personal questions. We’ll be doing a poll with this question on our site, so I wanted to ask you first: If you, Sarah, could be in a long-term relationship with any of the characters on the show, who would you choose, and why?

[Pause.] Boy, that’s a great question. Um … let me think about it. ALICE!

Alice — OK, why?

She’s got great boobs. She’s got great, white, milky boobs. That’s why I’d choose her. 

I love it. OK, and which cast member would you choose to have a one-night stand with, and why?

[No pause] Shane. 

Why?

[Laughing.] It’s obvious why! It’s just completely, completely obvious why!

Word play
Erin Daniels is Jewish and on the hottest lesbian show on television. An oxy-moron? She doesn’t think so.

by Curt Schleier/Jewsweek.com
March 8, 2005

The New York Jewish Week

When the phone call comes in to her Los Angeles home, Erin Daniels was clanking around her kitchen making breakfast and trying to get her two reluctant dogs outside, even though it was raining.

Celebrity interviews have been postponed and canceled for reasons substantially less compelling than two scrambled eggs, an English muffin, and reluctant pooches, but not this one. On the contrary, Daniels is anxious to proceed.
When first approached about this interview, she told the publicist “I’m going to do it for my grandmother.” Erin’s grandmother is very active in the St. Louis Jewish community, so much so that she received “an award from the Conference of Christians and Jews. Religion was very important to both my grandparents. I remember when I was younger going to Friday night Shabbat meals at their house.”

And if that wasn’t sufficient impetus, when her mom heard about it, she insisted that Erin mention the congregation. The “congregation” is the Central Reform synagogue in St. Louis — founded by Erin’s mom and a college friend. It is where Erin was a bat mitzvah — “by a woman rabbi, thank you very much,” Erin notes — and where she attended holiday services (and occasionally others when her parents “guilted me into it.”)

Clearly, there have been a lot of strong women in Erin’s life, which stands her in good stead in her present job. Daniels is a star of The “L” Word — one of the hottest shows on cable, literally and figuratively.

In case you missed the omnipresent ads promoting it, the show (Sundays 10 p.m. on Showtime), which just began its second season, is about a group of very attractive lesbian women in Los Angeles. While it is very graphic at times, it is less about sex (though there is plenty of that) than how a group of young people who just happen to be gay deal with generational issues — dating, marriage, parenthood, faithfulness.

Since they frequently hang around a coffee show, call it Friends on female Viagra.

Daniels, 31, portrays Dana, a top professional tennis player engaged to one woman and attracted to another. It is one of several racy storylines, seemingly unaffected by the decidedly conservative shift in American politics.

Daniels says that since the show is shot in Vancouver and the set is a “kind of microcosm of liberalism,” her working environment hasn’t changed that much. But, she adds that she “senses a different spirit in the whole world.”

“We’ve always been concerned about what we’re doing, because we’re doing something that hasn’t been done before. It’s a little more important now, but it also has been important. I don’t think that’s particularly intensified. Remember, Bush was in office when we started the show.”

Daniels, who is straight, is comfortable doing the intimate scenes. “Usually these things are very awkward, no matter what gender you’re working with or what the sexual proclivity [of your co-star]. But it is easier when you’re working with women who understand women’s issues. If you’re not feeling good about a part of yourself, they’ll work around it.”

Daniels wanted to be an actress from the time she was a child. “I started taking classes when I was little. I always was a clown and a goofball who wanted to be the center of attention when I was a kid,” she recalls.

Her parents did not allow her to pursue a career then, a decision (in retrospect anyway) she agrees with. Daniels attended Vassar, majoring in art and after college settled in New York looking for jobs in the theater. She studied with William Esper, a protege of Sanford Meisner. She landed self roles off-Broadway, and came close to landing a couple on the Great White Way itself. “It was always me and the girl who got the part.”

She went out to Los Angeles and landed a job on Action an ill-fated TV noir-comedy that received critical raves, but was apparently only watched by critics. It was, she feels, ahead of its time. She compares it, correctly, to Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm, two shows similar in tone that enjoyed success in Action’s wake.

From there she went to another critical fave, Boomtown. Again the show, which told its cops and robbers stories from multiple points of view, failed to win the audience it deserved and was cancelled.

Enter The “L” Word. Erin auditioned for several roles in the drama, not landing them, but always being called back. “I knew they wanted to use me, but I didn’t know where. I was really excited, because it is really a well-written show for women, which is rare.”

It’s opened doors to her; casting directors, who probably wouldn’t have seen her before, now take a look. But more important, working regularly on a series has opened her eyes to non-acting opportunities in the business. On Action and Boomtown, both shot in L.A., she was around the set only on days when she was one the call sheet. But L is shot in Vancouver, so away from home and friends, she hangs around the set.

“I really get to see how the whole machine works. Before it was like an enigma. Now I can see myself part of it.”

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