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Home » Blogs » Trish Bendix's blog » Anna Torv talks loves scenes with Shelley Conn and the return of "Fringe"

Anna Torv talks loves scenes with Shelley Conn and the return of "Fringe"

by
Trish Bendix

British readers know Anna Torv makes a great lesbian. In the States, we're just beginning to discover that Sapphic side of her, as Mistresses is now airing on BBC America.

On the English show, Torv played Alex, a woman who becomes involved with Shelley Conn's character, Jessica, who, up until meeting Alex, was straight.

Clips of Jessica and Alex on Mistresses:

In a phone conference yesterday, Torv talked about her work on Mistresses as well as the continuation of the first season of Fringe, which begins next week right after American Idol. Torv said she "loved Alex," especially in the first episode she appeared in.

"She was just so hard in the beginning," Torv told reporters. "I loved that. I loved the beginning of that. I loved that she was just so self-righteous, so harsh, like 'I don’t want you' and then inevitably ending up having her heart kind of broken."

On her love scenes with co-star Shelley Conn, Torv acted blase, saying " It was like any romance scenes you film with anybody. I was blessed with Shelley, who is a beautiful actress and a beautiful woman, and we kind of had fun. We just went about our business like you would shooting any other scene, really."

Kissing a beautiful woman: all in a day's work.

Now Torv has moved on to the Fox sci-fi thriller Fringe, which has enjoyed a successful first season so far and is poised to capitalize on that success with even more disturbing scientific cases that Torv's character Olivia and her colleagues must work on uncovering.

Torv said her favorite scenes on the show are those that include physicality.

"I love it when I’m in motion," she said. " I love doing sort of the rough and tumble, running and gunning. I know that when we’re in the Lab, I just get to be the question machine."

**spoiler alert**

Without giving too much away, Torv did give out some hints on what viewers can expect from Olivia and the rest of the characters in the finale episodes of the season, including a developed relationship with Nina (played by Blair Brown).

"We actually had Blair in the FBI for an entire day, which was such a treat because usually we just shoot these scenes on top of these buildings, you know," Torv said. "She does all her stuff in one day and then we say good-bye, but she was hanging about a bit, and she’s a joy to have on set. But, yes, things sort of start to — things are starting to fray, and Nina’s got a lot of answers."

Olivia's life is distorted and also a focus of many storylines on the show. This season, Torv said, there will be some light shed on her past.

We slowly start to discover some &mdash I never know what I can and what I can’t say — but we start to discover some things that sort of happened to her when she was really little that she doesn’t really remember, but they start to kind of — you start to see the stories or the lives of Peter and Walter and Olivia kind of begin to interlace a little bit, and you sort of see how their paths have crossed before," Torv said.

Though Fringe might sound a little confusing to those who haven't caught any of the first season, Torv said she thinks it would be easy to pick up on for those who might be interested in getting in on the action now.

"I think we’re kind of lucky in that if you are following it, there are things to follow, but if you are just dropping in, I still think that you’re going to be able to get your head around it," Torv said. "You’ll be able to grasp where we’re at ... I’m really hopeful that people, you know, tune back in and go on the journey with us."

Will you be watching Fringe when it comes back to television on Tuesday, April 7?

Please don't give away spoilers in the subject headings of your comments. Thanks!

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    • Submitted by
    Trish Bendix
    on April 3, 2009 - 4:00pm.
    TAGS :: 
    sibo's picture

    I'll definately come back for it...

    Submitted by
    sibo (32 posts)
    on April 3, 2009 - 5:16pm.

    I love this show.. it's like the new X-file! w/ awasome actions n' ideas... Loved the first season. can't wait till next wk...

    but I alway look @ "Olivia" and sometiems wonder.. where's her eyebrows? they seems to disappear from time to time.. hahah

    I love the show!!

    evolve's picture

    I love this show

    Submitted by
    evolve (61 posts)
    on April 3, 2009 - 6:16pm.

    I haven't commented in awhile, but as soon as I saw this blog post, I knew I had to.  I love Fringe, it is by far the best show I've seen in awhile.  My partner knows that I cannot miss an episode, or else!
    I'm also really impressed with Anna Torv on Mistresses, only make me appreciate her more!

    h3llb1tch's picture

    Mistresses makes me...

    Submitted by
    h3llb1tch (389 posts)
    on April 3, 2009 - 7:29pm.

    angry.

    Americans shouldn't get too attached to the gay relationship in Mistresses. Shelley Conn's character, Jessica, is straight again by season 2...

    eve_jig_it's picture

    I felt bummed

    Submitted by
    eve_jig_it (591 posts)
    on April 4, 2009 - 4:59am.

    I felt bummed when Torv didn't return to the 2nd Series of Mistresses as the lovely Alex, but regarless of that sad-ity, I've really enjoyed the follow up more than I thought I would. And I am now not as upset about Jess returning to a man because I don't think it signifies that she was straight all along, but see it more that she was just someone of a very open, explorative nature which led her to a woman at one stage and then bumped in to a man at another.   

     

    Michie87's picture

    Fringe, I never caught it

    Submitted by
    Michie87 (619 posts)
    on April 3, 2009 - 9:30pm.

    Fringe, I never caught it on time XD. I will definetely tune in for the secod season though! :) hopefully I can catch on this time, after missing a few days of the show in the 1st season I was completely lost. 

    --------------------

     

    Let it Rock,Let it roll

    Katie's picture

    Fringe is amazing! one of

    Submitted by
    Katie (218 posts)
    on April 3, 2009 - 10:13pm.

    Fringe is amazing! one of the best new shows, if not the best.

     

    "Sometimes when i get homesick i hum the mr softee song"

    "I’m not saying we’re not...I’m not saying we’re not in love."

    themaxima's picture

    I don't care for Fringe. I

    Submitted by
    themaxima (23 posts)
    on April 3, 2009 - 11:46pm.

    I don't care for Fringe. I find it the worst of Abrams work, a monster of the week kind of show with very little payoff. When you remember that this man did Alias, Lost and Cloverfield...Fringe just pales. Not to knock Torv, it's not so much the performance, but the writing is thin, and this is coming from someone who was pushed to watch every single episode of last season.

    Since I will be forced to watch the next season, I certainly hope it moves to the general complexity Abrams seems to have when putting together show plots.

    Hopeless_Savage's picture

    I have been watching fringe

    Submitted by
    Hopeless_Savage (386 posts)
    on April 4, 2009 - 5:01am.
    I have been watching fringe from the start and i'm still enjoying it. Great bunch of characters in my opinion :) Not sure what to make of what you said about the relationship with Nina. o.O as in RELATIONship o.O Not exactly who i'd put Olivia with given the choice, lol.
    imthey's picture

    Thanks...

    Submitted by
    imthey (562 posts)
    on April 4, 2009 - 8:19am.

    Thanks for the interview. At first I wasn't sure I liked "Fringe", it reminded me a bit too much of "X-Files", (which I did love as a sidenote) but the more I watched, the more I got sucked into the show. I think that the actors are all doing great work and I enjoy watching to see what's next! 

    I was surprised to learn that Anna married costar Mark Valley recently after having met and fallen in love with him on the set of "Fringe". 

    I haven't watched "Mistresses" yet, but am now looking forward to catching up with that show. BBC America does a great job of bringing interesting shows into the living rooms of America viewers.

    Thanks for the interview with Anna Torv! 

    "I have a simple philosophy. Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches." -Alice Roosevelt Longworth

    aberracja's picture

    <3

    Submitted by
    aberracja (67 posts)
    on April 4, 2009 - 10:35am.
    Anna Torv is awesome.
    Arajntos's picture

    for sure!

    Submitted by
    Arajntos (431 posts)
    on April 4, 2009 - 12:55pm.
    i love fringe, it's like the best thing that has been on Television ever and Anna torv is hot, so that just makes it even better!
    Zleznjiyh's picture

    Still season one...

    Submitted by
    Zleznjiyh (26 posts)
    on April 4, 2009 - 5:32pm.
    Just to clarify, it's not actually the second season, they just had a hiatus for a couple of weeks(Edit: Two months). It's still the first season. Can't wait for it to start up again! Walter always makes me laugh and yay for... OH now I feel like Walter, forgetting her name... ASTRID! Great stuff.
    Hopeless_Savage's picture

    Indeedy :) I hope it gets a

    Submitted by
    Hopeless_Savage (386 posts)
    on April 5, 2009 - 7:35am.

    Indeedy :)

    I hope it gets a second season...
    I love Asteroid too :P :P

    krscat77's picture

    fringe

    Submitted by
    krscat77 (16 posts)
    on April 4, 2009 - 9:48pm.
    krscat77  i like it and now after reading ur blog,i love it ,zen.Krscat
    luna81de's picture

    I loved Fringe from the

    Submitted by
    luna81de (74 posts)
    on April 5, 2009 - 11:21am.

    I loved Fringe from the very first episode and can't wait for it to continue. :) Anna Torv is great (of course I've seen her in Mistresses before), as well as the rest of the cast.

    Thanks for the article! :)

    Rosie's picture

    Anna Torv!

    Submitted by
    Rosie (15 posts)
    on April 5, 2009 - 10:39pm.
    I love her character on Fringe. She is so tough and yet towards the end of the episodes I just want her to come home to me so I can take care of her and give her a safe space and a home-cooked meal. :-) It's a tough life for a sci-fi action heroine!
    Ries's picture

    Love Her

    Submitted by
    Ries (3 posts)
    on April 6, 2009 - 12:11am.

    I really only watch Fringe for Torv. Well, I started watching it for her, but I've come to enjoy the old guy Walter's off the wall comments. Still can't stand Joshua Jackson. And I always think it's cute when I catch a morsel of her accent. Anyway, it's worth sitting through the psuedo-suspenseful unfulfilling crap to see me some Torv. Now where can I watch Mistresses?

     Spring is in the Hair.

    Dara's picture

    I love...

    Submitted by
    Dara (40 posts)
    on April 7, 2009 - 7:05pm.

    Blonde Australians. :)

     

    twitter.com/peacecharade

    Zav's picture

    Fringe -Olivia kissed a girl (kinda)

    Submitted by
    Zav (3 posts)
    on April 22, 2009 - 12:18am.

    Did you see tonights episode of Fringe "Bad Dreams"? 

    I think they're picking up some chatter about Olivia, and played to that tonight. I say played because her character is dreaming and experiencing what someone else is seeing/doing.  Sum it up to say, the scene goes to her walking into a strip joint and she begins to intently watch the girl on stage, who ends up bending down and kissing Olivia and leaving with her.

    Of course we all know its too good to be true and then we see that they've got Olivia back in her dream state in the lab. But get this they're all watching her and she begins to make sounds and they realize she's having uhem... an "experience" with this stripper.

    It's still hot tho, but of course I have a thing for smart sexy nerdy girls. The funny thing is tho when the episode started I kept telling my girlfriend, that Olivia needed to go find a girlfriend.... hehe... maybe I've got paranormal experiences going on too.

     

    Zav's picture

    Fringe -Olivia kissed a girl (kinda)

    Submitted by
    Zav (3 posts)
    on April 22, 2009 - 12:18am.

    Did you see tonights episode of Fringe "Bad Dreams"? 

    I think they're picking up some chatter about Olivia, and played to that tonight. I say played because her character is dreaming and experiencing what someone else is seeing/doing.  Sum it up to say, the scene goes to her walking into a strip joint and she begins to intently watch the girl on stage, who ends up bending down and kissing Olivia and leaving with her.

    Of course we all know its too good to be true and then we see that they've got Olivia back in her dream state in the lab. But get this they're all watching her and she begins to make sounds and they realize she's having uhem... an "experience" with this stripper.

    It's still hot tho, but of course I have a thing for smart sexy nerdy girls. The funny thing is tho when the episode started I kept telling my girlfriend, that Olivia needed to go find a girlfriend.... hehe... maybe I've got paranormal experiences going on too.

     

    ohhthoselips's picture

    Bad dreams

    Submitted by
    ohhthoselips (48 posts)
    on April 22, 2009 - 5:48am.
    Omg yesterdays episode was amaizing

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