AfterEllen.com: Curve magazine called you "The Most Likely to Turn You Into An Obsessed Fan." That’s so true. Internet message boards explode with women loving you, then hating you, then loving you again! What do you do to these women to make them so crazy?
Danielle Egnew: (laughs) I have no idea! I was sort of stupid a few years back, and answered some questions that were hypothetically posed to me on [an internet] gossip forum. I answered as myself, and that was a really bad idea. I was green with this whole PR thing, and didn’t realize how mean people were, or that no one really wants to hear from you. As a celebrity, you’re supposed to stay hidden, I guess, which still makes no sense to me. I mean, after all, you’re a public personality. If someone’s talking to you, shouldn’t you answer? So there I was, chatting it up, and it was like covering your arm in honey and sticking it in a hornet’s nest!

AE: Well, internet gossip forums are known for being vicious because of the anonymity. What possessed you to answer questions about yourself on a public gossip forum?
DE: Like I said, I was really naïve, there was a bunch of information going around the web about me that wasn’t true, so I was trying to set the record straight—which is a very bad idea. No one wants to hear the truth about anything. It just makes them think that the thing you were trying to clarify is something you are trying to cover up--the whole thing was completely blown out of proportion, and these women just freaked out!

AE: So I ask you again, what do you do to these women to make them so crazy?
DE: (laughs) I honest to God don’t know! I still don’t! Talk to them, maybe? I guess you’re not supposed to talk to people like they’re your equal. They think that’s weird, somehow. People expect something different from public figures, like a bogus aloof attitude, or something that makes them feel untouchable. I tend to be accessible, and I think that just freaks people right out, for whatever reason.

AE: After all the craziness, and how obsessed we’ve all seen these women become over you, are you less accessible now?
DE: Well, unfortunately, yeah. I mean, I’ve had to be, a little. It really bums me out. I’m from Montana, and that’s a very social culture. I love people, meeting new people. I’m a huge dork, and I like to hang out with folks! (laughs) But you’d be amazed at how many people get uncomfortable if you just walk up and say “Hi!” People look at you all shocked, like you have a big, oozing sore right on your forehead, and they back away, or freeze up. It’s bizarre. I thought it was just me for awhile, but I have some other friends who are also in the public eye, and they said the same thing. Most people just can’t handle you saying hello, if they recognize you. I honestly don’t get it.

AE: Being an out lesbian entertainer, do you think your lesbian fans act differently toward you than say, straight male fans that might find you attractive?
DE: (laughs) Oh, well…(laughs) yeah. I mean, women tend to be more intense anyway when it comes to something we’re attached to. I’m not saying men aren’t intense, but in the scope of fans, men are a lot more laid back. The women, regardless of whether they’re gay or straight, tend to be a lot more in-your-face. I think that’s just a general difference in the sexes, though. I don’t mind either way. I just like to talk to people. I’m happy they want to talk to me!

AE: Since your sexuality isn’t a secret, do you find that it limits the offers you get in terms of working film roles?
DE: No, I haven’t found that, but most of the roles I’ve been being offered are playing lesbians, or musicians! (big laugh) Apparently, lesbians are the hot character to play right now, thanks to The L Word. We’re very “in,” you know! (laughs).

AE: So you’re saying that the dreaded Hollywood Closet isn’t real?
DE: The Hollywood Closet is a ridiculous idea, because technically, almost everyone is in it! It would have to be enormous! (laughs) There are so many bisexual and gay media personalities, and it’s just the norm in the industry, but there’s still this old school fear that if anyone finds out you’re gay, you’ll lose work. That’s such a myth. This isn’t 1965. I really don’t think it [sexuality] is as big a deal as people want to make it out to be. I think we, as a society, have much bigger fish to fry in the 21st century. The more we stop splitting hairs on personal sexuality, the more we can bring some actual human issues up to the forefront of entertainment and make a difference. How about world hunger? How about world peace? You know, anything other than “Who is so-and so-sleeping with?”

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