For
most people, the name "Mia Kirshner" doesn't
ring a bell. But in the last two years, Kirshner has played
more bisexual characters on film and television than just about
any other Hollywood actress.
The Canadian actress first broke into Hollywood through a part in
1993's Love and Human Remains, in a memorable turn as a
dominatrix. Kirshner's real breakout role, however, came at seventeen
as the star of 1994's Exotica--the first of her bisexual
roles--as teen stripper Christina. Smaller parts in larger movies
began to beckon shortly thereafter, including The Crow: City
of Angels, Anna Karenina, and Murder in the First
with Christian Slater and Kevin Bacon.
Along
the way, however, Kirshner majored in Russian Literature at McGill
University - and by the late 90's began her professional major in
dysfunctional, oversexed characters by taking on a series of "bad
girl" roles in movies that flopped or were barely noticed (like
Dark Summer, Saturn, and Century Hotel).
In
most of these films, her characters were overly sexual teenagers
who could politely be called "opportunistic." Since that
is pretty much the definition of bisexuality in Hollywood, it was
inevitable that Kirshner would end up playing bisexual roles.
The
first of Kirshner's bisexual roles was in 2001's gross-out,
satirical comedy Not Another Teen Movie, in which
Kirshner's virgin-whore Catholic school girl character attempts
to seduce both her brother and an elderly woman (in a spoof on Sarah
Michelle Gellar's character in Cruel Intentions.)
Then
in 2002's critically reviled teen thriller New Best Friend,
Kirshner starred as Alicia, an evil
bisexual girl who uses sex to manipulate everyone around her
- including Dominique Swain's bisexual character. In true Hollywood
fashion, Kirshner's character does not come to a very good end.
Finally,
in the 2001-2002 television season, Kirshner appeared in the first
season of the Fox television series 24 as secret assassin
Mandy, who is yet another manipulative bisexual woman (but at least
this time she's not a teenager).
Although
she has also played several heterosexual characters, as well, Kirshner
obviously has the manipulative-bisexual role down to a science -
and if she just continued along this vein she would not garner much
praise from lesbian and bisexual viewers.
But
now Kirshner is set to star in the upcoming Showtime
series The L Word, about
a group of lesbian friends in LA, and although it is unclear whether
her character is bisexual or a lesbian, we can at least be assured
that no one will end up dead or in jail this time (at least not
right away).
The pilot premise follows Kirshner's character Jenny, who moves
to L. A. with her boyfriend, goes to a dinner party hosted by her
new lesbian neighbors, and is inducted in "the life" by
Karina Lombard's character, Marina.
How
Kirshner adjusts to playing a lesbian/bisexual character who isn't
evil remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: if The L
Word enjoys even a fraction of the success Queer as Folk
has achieved, by this time next year Mia Kirshner will be a household
name. Well, in gay households, at least. And Kirshner's days of
playing deviant, murderous bisexuals may finally be behind her.
Read
more about Kirshner on The L Word,
including photos, episode recaps, and character analysis
