Lesbian content in "Sunshine Cleaning" left on cutting room floor

A funny thing happened in the editing suite of Sunshine Cleaning: Most of the lesbian content was cut.

If you read my review last week, you know that I loved Sunshine Cleaning. Amy Adams and Emily Blunt were fabulous — and Mary Lynn Rajskub played a lesbian, Lynn, who was not insane or pregnant or pathetic, even though her friendship with Blunt’s character Norah seemed a bit underdeveloped.

After reading Rajskub’s interview with The Advocate, I know why. Several scenes that explored Norah and Lynn’s relationship were edited out (pun intended). Rajskub told The Advocate: “Early in the filming there was a scene that was cut where [Lynn and Norah] had another date at her apartment, and when we were shooting I was like, ‘Wow, she’s really into me!’”

The Advocate asked Rajskub if she thought Lynn and Norah reconnected after the credits, and she told of yet another unseen scene:

There was another scene that was cut where Norah comes into the blood bank again after I've said, "Don't call me." She's like, "Can't we just talk? I'm just trying to make things right. I'm sorry. Let’s be friends." But Lynn's like, "Why do you continue to engage me? If you're not into me sexually or intimately, then what are you doing? I was really into you, and now I'm humiliated." Lynn was pretty adamant about not putting herself out there again for another screwed-up person.

For her part, Rajskub thinks the Norah/Lynn relationship needs a happy ending. “Maybe Norah comes back from her road trip and says, ‘You know what? I’m gay.’ And then she has to go kiss Lynn’s ass.”

I like the way she thinks.

Rajskub also explained a comment she made to Adam Carolla on his radio show: “I tried hard being a lesbian, but it didn’t work.” Was she joking?

I was like, "Why am I talking about my personal life so much on a morning show? People are driving to work and I'm telling a titillating anecdote about having sex with a woman? What is happening?" But yes, I have had experiences with women. I mean, believe me, I wish it had worked. I think women are great.

Mary Lynn, I think you’re pretty great, too.

Read the rest of Rajskub’s interview with The Advocate here.

Are you surprised that lesbian content was cut from Sunshine Cleaning? Did Norah and Lynn’s relationship seem believable to you as it appeared in the final film? What do you think happened after the closing credits?