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AE:
How do you think Dana fits into the group?
ED: Dana’s entertaining, that’s for
sure. On the subconscious level, she’s the sort of schadenfreude
character of the group, she makes the others feel good about themselves
because she has so many problems. But at the same time she’s
a really good person, a really good friend. She’s very open
about questions she has with her friends, especially Alice and Shane.
I give Alice a hard time because she’s bisexual and I want
her to pick a side, so I know where to put her, and I give Shane
a hard time because she has everything that I don’t, everything
that I think I want.
AE:
Also, Shane being so out is a direct threat to Dana...
ED: Exactly, but at the same time I think there’s
a lot to be learned from Shane because she’s so comfortable
being out, and Alice is so comfortable being bi, she knows who she
is, too. I think they’re a really good influence on Dana.
But I also think Dana’s a really good influence on them, because
she asks them questions and forces them to question who they are.
Dana’s one of those friends you just love because she is who
she is, she can’t pretend to be anyone else when she’s
around you.
AE:
Do you have a favorite scene?
ED: Definitely. I’d hate to spoil anything,
but there’s a scene with Dana and Mia [Kirshner]’s character
Jenny that is one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever done.
AE:
How soon beforehand do you know what’s going to happen on
the show?
ED: You know, it depends. Sometimes when we were shooting the season
we would get scripts weeks in advance, and then they would change
the night before. It really depended on the episode, and the writers
and the network, of course. It’s television, so things change
real fast.
AE:
What was it like working with such a strong group of writers, actors
and directors?
ED: It was amazing, the creativity and energy on
the set was incredible. It was really inspiring. The cast is a group
of smart, sophisticated, but very laid back women, who can just
hang out and watch a movie, order pizza, whatever, and just step
outside the whole Hollywood bubble.
Kate
[Moennig], Leisha [Hailey]
and I work together all the time because our three characters are
together all the time, and the three of us are super close and support
one another.
AE:
Any guest stars in particular that you enjoyed working with?
ED: Honestly, I have no complaints about anyone
I worked with. But I loved working with Lolita Davidovitch and Kelly
Lynch. Loved Kelly, she’s a cool woman. And of course, I loved
working with Lauren Lee Smith [who plays Dana's love interest Lara,
the sous-chef].
AE:
You two have really good chemistry.
ED: (laughing) yeah, that’s what I hear.
We definitely did, we worked really well together.
AE:
Was it weird doing these intimate scenes with someone you just met?
ED: A little, but once you step into your character,
it’s real—or as real as it can be with 150 people standing
around. But you put that out of your mind, because you want to be
true to your character, and Lauren was the same way.
AE:
Anything unexpected you learned about yourself by working on the
show?
ED: Working on this show really forced me to question
myself, because Dana’s always doing that. So I really had
to face a lot of my own issues, and my own insecurities, because
when you step into someone’s shoes who is so insecure, you
start to feel the same way when you’re off-camera. I had emotional
spill-over.
I did
learn to play tennis, too. I played a little bit before, although
they never asked me about that when I auditioned for Dana. You don’t
see a whole lot of Dana playing tennis this season, but you’ll
probably see a lot more next season...(laughing) because I will
have taken a whole lot more lessons by then.
AE:
Are you concerned at all that playing a lesbian on The L Word
will negatively impact your ability to get future roles?
ED: No, not even remotely.
AE:
Because you think people don’t care?
ED: Because I don’t care. Anybody
who did care about that I probably wouldn’t want to work with.
I don’t pick roles based on how famous they’re going
to make me, I pick roles based on how they’re going to inspire
me intellectually.
I've
played a lesbian before, on [the Fox TV series] Action—well,
she was really more bi-opportunistic (laughing). We all know people
like that. It was so much fun—I played Ileana Douglas’
girlfriend. It was a great show, but I don’t think the network
really knew what to do with it, so it got canceled.
AE:
Have you started getting recognized yet from being on the show?
ED: No, not yet. As an actor, I change from role
to role, I don’t look the same ever. After I finished shooting
the show, for example, I died my hair back to its natural dark-brown
color because I just can’t keep it up.
Kate
and I have talked about it a bit, though, because she gets recognized
occasionally, which I’m sure will be more than occasionally
in the near future.
AE:
What are you doing between seasons, assuming there’s a second
one?
ED: I’m going to auditions, working on my
writing, hoping to direct a short I just wrote. Fixing up my house,
just being a sort-of normal person.
AE:
Do you think The L Word is going to be successful?
ED: I do. I think the beautiful thing about this
show is how well it blends humor and drama. You really do see humanness
going on. I think the show is amazing. I’ve heard some people
say we don’t represent enough of a cross-section of women,
but if I look at my group of friends, for example, they don’t
represent a cross-section. You gravitate towards people you have
things in common with, so that’s one thing I’ll certainly
argue for. Of course I’m biased, but I think I can honestly
say it’s a really good show. It’s really well-written,
very smart and very honest.
That’s
another reason I wanted to do this show: it’s very rare in
this business that you get to do something that’s socially
important. I’m really proud of us.
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