THE ADVOCATE – June 27, 1995
WOMEN IN LOVE
The two stars of Two Girls in Love find romance on the big screen an eye-opening experience
By Chastity Bono
"Before I did the film, I don't ever remember walking down the street, seeing another woman, and thinking, God, she's really beautiful ," says Laurel Holloman, costar of writer-director Maria Maggenti's feature film debut, The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love , which opens in theatres June 13. "Now I'm 100% tuned-in to other women."
Nicole Parker, Holloman's onscreen lover and costar, also found being in a lesbian film a "broadening" experience. "Like Laurel, I have dated only men, but when I started shooting the film, it became easy for me to understand how simple it is to love a woman," recalls Parker, who just finished taping Divas, a television pilot for Fox. "So many of my gay friends have been through a lot of stress and social pressure. That made me really scared to explore my own homosexuality. But during the film it seemed so completely natural that my whole outlook has changed."
Although Holloman and Parker are both romantically involved with men, they agree that being a part of Two Girls in Love was a profound experience that will forever change the boundaries of their own sexuality. "I think what I define as sexy and attractive is not so standard anymore," says Parker. "Now I think women are extremely sexy and so beautiful, especially when they have short hair and are kind of masculine or when they're very feminine."
Holloman, 23, adds, "I felt like there were two parts of me that were starting to become whole. Before I did the movie, I thought of myself as a straight girl and that my only option was a boyfriend. That seems so small now. There are so many options, because for me it's the person who matters, not what sex they are."
Filmed in upstate New York in just 21 days, Two Girls in Love is a romantic comedy about coming of age and falling in love. It's the tale of two high school seniors: Randy Dean (Holloman), an underprivileged lesbian outcast, and Evie Roy (Parker), a beautiful, intelligent, and popular African-American girl. They meet, fall in love, and suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous dyke drama.
Although the film is essentially a lighthearted love story, Maggenti effortlessly interweaves a wide range of potentially heavy subjects, most notably lesbianism in a small town and interracial romance. And it was exactly these issues that made the movie so enticing to Holloman and Parker. "I felt completely grateful just to be able to get the part because it's such an amazing character," recalls Holloman. "I've played enough damn ingenues, daughters, and girlfriends that it was really great to play someone who is gay, completely out, and proud of it."
Parker, also 23, was equally enthusiastic about undertaking the role of Evie, but for a slightly different and more personal reason. "What was more exciting to me – even more than the sexuality issue," she says, "was the fact that I was getting a chance to put someone on-screen that I don't see very often but that I know personally – a young black woman who is both intelligent and educated."
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Besides the opportunity to be able to play great characters, both Holloman and Parker really enjoyed the fact that Two Girls in Love was shot by an almost all-female crew, most of whom are lesbian or bisexual. "Ninety percent of the crew were women, and that was just amazing," remembers Parker. "There was a weird, intense energy on the set at all times that make it a very safe acting environment."
Holloman found her experience on the set to be an almost healing one. "I went to an all-girl prep school in the South where there was a lot of game playing and gossiping, which made me not trust women in general. Being on the set was very positive for me, because the women were so nurturing that it made me able to trust women again."
Maggenti, the woman responsible for creating such a positive working environment, had a very specific reason for wanting a female crew. "I believe having so many wonderful lesbians working on the film made a huge difference in the girls' performances," she says. "It gave them a sense of what it's really like to be gay. There is something very specific about a lesbian or gay experience; it's not something you can simply act because you kiss another woman."
Maggenti should know. Her own personal experience have made her well aware of the complexities of sexuality – a lesson she found harder to learn the second time she came out than the first. "When I can out as a lesbian, I felt great about myself," she says. "My attitude was, If you've got a problem with it, then it's your problem. It's pretty strange that 12 years later I would fall in love with a man, be totally traumatized by it, and have to come out again."
When Maggenti was originally casting the film, she had a very definite idea of the type of people she wanted for the leads. "I held open calls at the gay and lesbian community center," remembers Maggenti. "I was initially very committed to having two young lesbians play the roles of Randy and Evie. I found girls who were physically what I wanted but they had no acting experience, which concerned me." Casting the film turned out to be a tedious process, but Maggenti knew she had finally struck gold when she paired Holloman and Parker at the third set of callbacks. "I finally decided to go with them after they did an improvisation together that was so extraordinary, I ended up writing it into the script," Maggenti recalls. "After they left the room, I turned to everyone and said, ‘Oh my God, that was fantastic. It's them. It's them.'"
Maggenti's instinct to cast Holloman and Parker paid off. Their onscreen chemistry is undeniable. However, their lack of actual lesbian experiences prior to making this film does make one wonder how they pulled off this chemistry. "I think it helped that Laurel was fine and cute," Parker jokes. "My attraction to her came out of wanting to work with someone who was a good actress. I didn't want to take Laurel home, but sometimes when we were filming a scene, it felt like I actually did, which was all that really mattered."
Holloman found that the best way to act out the romantic scenes was to just play off of Parker. "You start to find the things that you would fall in love with if you were really falling in love with that person," says Holloman. "I didn't have to substitute Nicole for anybody else. I just worked off of her. There is something very mysterious and sensual about her, and I found that really attractive."
Although it's hard to imagine – after watching their passionate love scene – that there's nothing romantic between Holloman and Parker, the truth of the matter is that offscreen their relationship is based purely on friendship and mutual admiration. "I trusted Laurel immediately," says Parker. "She's just one of those people that you meet and want to share with. It was almost like I knew her already."
As far as Holloman is concerned, the feeling is very mutual: "I consider Nicole one of my really good friends. She's just one of those people you can be vulnerable around. Unfortunately, we don't get to see much of each other now that the movie is done."
No longer in the safe, lesbian-friendly environment of the set of Two Girls in Love, have Holloman and Parker changed their attitudes on the possibility of ever sharing their romantic lives with
women? "If I met the right woman and she was the one, then she would be the one," states Parker. "But right now I'm just working on learning to be a loving and caring individual."
Holloman, however, seems much more curious about a lesbian relationship in the future. "I would have to say that I would be completely open to being in a relationship with a woman," she says. "Though I have had experiences with women before, they never escalated into a relationship. Now I'm very curious about that. However, whether it's with a man or a woman, you never can plan love. It just sort of falls into your lap."
(kilde: BreathlessM / Media Blvd Forum -> The L Word)