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Interview With “Dante’s Cove” Actress Erin Cummings

Erin Cummings joined the Season 2 cast of Dante’s Cove playing Van’s (Nadine Heimann) girlfriend, Michelle. Michelle starts off as a good girl just wanting a monogamous commitment from Van, but after one of Van’s self-taught spells goes awry and wipes Michelle’s memory clean of their relationship, Michelle falls into the arms of scuba instructor and bartender Brit (out actress Michelle Wolff). Saddled with confusing and emotionally distressing flashbacks of her past relationship with Val, Michelle turns to a drug to ease her confusion, but just ends up going out of her mind even more.

While Cummings has worked on television before in single episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, Threshold, Charmed and Passions, her starring role on Dante’s Cove has been her biggest break so far. Cummings recently talked with AfterEllen.com about her commitment to acting (she has even played Lady MacBeth onstage), her positive feelings about aging in Hollywood, and her support for the gay and lesbian community. And when it came to discussing her first lesbian love scene (a sort of ménage-a-trois with Wolff and Heimann in Dante’s Cove) she had no problem sharing all the juicy details.

AfterEllen.com: So Dante’s Cove to Lady Macbeth, what’s that been like? Erin Cummings: I’m thoroughly excited, and I feel like Lady Macbeth is the role that I was born to play. I feel like I just get her [laughs].

AE: You have a little bit of a dark side to you. EC: Absolutely. A couple people have talked to me about how Dante’s Cove is a little bit risky.

AE: You mean risqué or risky? EC: A little bit of both – risqué for sure [laughs].

AE: Risky as a career move? EC: Most people … were like, “This is a good idea, you should do this.” There were just a few little people that were like, “I don’t really know if you should do this,” and I was like, “OK, that’s crazy.” It’s a little more risqué and people [have said], “Oh wow, are you really comfortable doing that and playing a lesbian? And you have this nude scene.” I think that are enough good girls in Hollywood … but we also need a couple bad girls, and I don’t think we have enough. I miss the Bette Davises and the Barbara Stanwycks.

AE: Oh yeah. EC: Barbara Stanwyck is one of my favorite actresses, and one of the great things about her is that she looked sweet and innocent, but she played these women who were dark and had edge. … I really want … to get back to a time when a woman [can] hold onto her femininity and yet at the same time just be so deliciously evil that we can’t [laughs] stop watching.

AE: I’ve seen four of the five episodes of this season’s Dante’s Cove, and from what I saw your character was pretty sweet, except for a little detour with some drugs. Is there a dark turn ahead? EC: I can’t say anything.

AE: I kept wondering if you were going to get inhabited by an evil spirit or something. EC: Well, this season Michelle definitely plays it straight. She’s the “straight girl” of the show as far as the supernatural aspect is concerned, so for sure this season she doesn’t dabble in any of the witchcraft. We will find out probably within the next week if we’re coming back for a Season 3. … Hopefully if my character does come back, then we’ll see Michelle get into some of the supernatural.

But I think as far as this season, even though I didn’t do anything that was out of the realm of reality, I had to go to a lot of dark places. When Michelle gets the spell put on her and she’s sort of losing her mind, she literally is having a nervous breakdown. … As an actor [to] be effective like that, I had to go to some pretty dark places … So that’s what I mean [by] playing things that are a little more dark and visiting emotional places that are a little bit … harder to reach than just playing the girl next door.

AE: I was thinking of a bad girl more like Tracy Scoggins, who plays Grace on Dante’s Cove, just an evil character. EC: You know what, I love that too. I guest-starred on an episode of Charmed where I played the demonic, alter ego version of Rose McGowan’s character, which was really fun. Yeah, I definitely like that; there’s such a wonderful scale of evil [laughs].

AE: I totally applaud any actress or actor who’s able to go to that darker side and be able to do the nudity and sexuality. EC: Thank you.

AE: Actually though, as much as you did on Dante’s Cove, what the guys are doing is way beyond. EC: [Laughs.] It is Boyfest 2006.

AE: The women’s stuff is kind of soft-core compared to the guys. EC: The ladies’ sex scene was very much talked about and gone over. We had actually a meeting the night before … with [here! Vice President of Development] Meredith Kadlec and Nadine Heimann, Michelle [Wolff] and I.

AE: I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall at that meeting. EC: It was really fantastic. It was really funny ’cause Sam [Irvin, the director] said, “I’m not a lesbian. I don’t know what lesbians do. I’m going to turn on the camera and I’ll let you guys do what you want.” [Laughs.] And then I said in the meeting, “Look, I defer to Michelle and Meredith, being lesbians, to dictate what we’re going to do, because the biggest thing for me is that I don’t want this to be a clip out of Girls Gone Wild.

AE: [Laughs.] That was a hot scene; it was great. EC: Yeah, I really am excited about it. I’m so proud of how it turned out. And I said, “If we’re going to do this, I want to do it right. I don’t care if a man gets turned on by this. I want women, lesbians in the audience to be watching going, ‘Yes, that is hot, that is sexy, that’s what I want to see.’ And I said, “All I care about are the lesbians. If they [the men] don’t like it, they can suck it.” [Laughs.]

AE: That’s so great. You and Nadine have really great chemistry on the show, so I thought it was interesting to show this other side, because your dynamic with Michelle was totally different. EC: Right. I think that Nadine and I have a wonderful chemistry of just being girlfriends.

AE: You seem more like an in-love type of thing. They haven’t really shown the passionate side so far. EC: Right, and I think that is important, and that’s one of the things that drew me to Dante’s Cove. I didn’t have any trepidation about doing the show because it was a gay and lesbian show. However, I live with a gay couple, my agent is gay, my friends are gay, I live in West Hollywood — it’s very important for me that the gay and lesbian community that I care about is portrayed in the correct light.

So when I saw that Michelle and Van … go through the same struggles as every relationship does — Michelle wants a relationship, Van kind of wants to be a little more single and do her thing — they still love each other, they still care about each other, which in the end … love is the most important thing on the show.

AE: What are your views about the supernatural aspect of the show? EC: I love it. First of all, I don’t think that you can discount anything. I was raised and grew up Catholic and people talk about how it’s so ridiculous to believe in astrology, and I’m like, “Really, and it’s not ridiculous to believe that at some point the world’s going to end and some guy who died thousands of years ago is going to come back and take us all to some white place above the clouds?”

AE: I like that argument; that’s hysterical. EC: What you choose to believe is in the realm of possibilities. … I am open to believing in past lives. I’ve had experiences where this is so trippy I guarantee I’ve been here before. … I’m into astrology; there’s too many “coincidences.”

AE: Do you say how old you are because of the acting biz? EC: Of course I do. I’m 29 years old, and I don’t care because I look fantastic.

AE: You do! EC: And you know what? Honestly I really feel like — I never believed this when I was in my early 20s, but that whole idea of when you get into your 30s you have a better idea of who you are. … I am so reaching for the finish line of 30. I feel like life is going to begin for me at 30; I really do. And I see these girls who are 19 and 21 and running around Hollywood and I just think, nothing could make me go back to that age.

AE: I saw on your bio that you were a Rangerette; is that some kind of cheerleader? EC: In 1940 there was a small college called Kilgore College, and it’s in East Texas. It’s a two-year school; they developed the first college precision dance team. So it was sort of a cross between the Radio City Rockettes and, I guess now, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. So I was a member of that — the world’s first college dance team.

There’s 70 girls on the team and we wear white cowboy hats and white cowboy boots and red, white and blue [uniforms] — it’s totally Americana. It’s just a really fantastic organization. … And as a Kilgore Rangerette there’s a lot of discipline — it’s a very strict environment — and you need that, especially when you’re young. You need discipline, and you need to be part of a controlled environment to understand a work ethic in order to get to a place of perfection, or at least close to perfection.

I think that’s good for people. Some people totally disagree with me, and that’s fine. But that was my experience, and I really embraced it and I thrived in that environment. People have commented on my work ethic, and part of it is because of my experience with the Rangerettes.

AE: That’s so interesting because on the surface, looking at your being a Rangerette and because you were cast on Dante’s Cove, I wouldn’t think of you as a Shakespearean actress. Do you feel like you have to fight these kinds perceptions of as you as an actress? EC: I think that … any young, attractive woman who comes to Hollywood is going to have to expect it until you get some credits or something on your resume that says, “I’m a serious actress.” There is going to be that struggle. … I don’t blame the industry; I don’t blame men. I’m not upset about it because when I first moved here, I saw women that were more than happy to do special favors for producers in order to get jobs. And I saw women who expected to get a role simply because they were beautiful and not interested in actually doing work as an actor.

And so I understand why that perception is there because that reality is there. There are a lot of women in this town who don’t give two hoots about taking [an] acting class or being a good actor — they want to be on TV. They want to be on the red carpet, they want to have a famous boyfriend, and that’s it. And so to fight that [perception], I think that the biggest thing for me was, I just knew I had to train and train and train. It’s why I’m always in acting class when I’m not working on a production. It’s why I went to London and studied Shakespeare because I did not have a background in Yale School of Drama or Tisch School or Juilliard. I needed something, at least for my own confidence — not necessarily for my resume but for my own confidence — to go, “You know what? I do deserve to be playing Lady Macbeth. I do deserve to be starring on a television show.”

And a lot of times … if you don’t have a strong theater background or you don’t have really strong training or credits, it’s very easy to fall into the categories that people will want to put you in, and bimbo is not one that I’ve ever been interested in being a part of. … I remember [a friend said], “The director saw your picture and he wants to cast you in this movie.” And I said, “Awesome, that’s great,” thinking that he’d see my resume. “What role?” “Oh well, naked girl in shower.”

I was like, “Are you kidding me? You can take that role and shove it up your ass! Don’t even insult me by suggesting that.” And of course if you’re saying Dante’s Cove — we’re not kidding ourselves, nobody’s winning Emmys for this show [laughs], but number one, I think the fact that it’s the very first horror genre show to feature a cast of prominently gay and lesbian characters — that’s groundbreaking as far as gay and lesbian television is concerned. Did you see Season 1?

AE: No, just Season 2. EC: They made leaps and bounds from Season 1 to Season 2. They brought in new writers; they brought in a lot of new actors.

AE: There’s a lot more full frontal male nudity, from what I understand [laughs]. EC: Noooo. Actually, well, Episode 3. Here’s the thing: The second season, there’s actually a story and there’s a lot of sex thrown in as well. Season 1, it really was like the story was just a catalyst to get to the next sex scene, and the sex scenes were really, really long. And I talked to everyone that was involved with it, and it was a good experiment but they learned a lot of lessons from it, and in Season 2 they made a lot of changes. And the thing about the nudity — especially with the guys — is the audience, if you read the stuff that people write on the website, that’s what they want to see.

AE: Sure, they’re awesome. Every guy on the show is unbelievably beautiful. EC: Gorgeous, I know.

AE: Way better looking that what you see on regular TV. EC: Mm-hmm, exactly, which is great. Dante’s Cove is a beautiful island with beautiful people and they’re all gay [laughs] and happy.

AE: And they’ve added more lesbian story lines to Season 2. EC: Exactly. The reason why I brought up Girls Gone Wild was because the sex scenes between the women were basically that: gratuitous lesbian sex for the purpose of having two hot chicks getting it on, and that’s not a story at all. We knew that Van was a lesbian but the only way we knew that was because occasionally she’d hook up with a girl. Well, I knew lots of straight girls who do that when they get drunk [laughs]. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re lesbians; that just means that they like attention and that they have Daddy issues.

I think it was really nice to see Van in a relationship, and also I think that this year because … the introduction of the character Brit was so strong and really interesting and exciting, I’d hopefully think that they’d continue in the third season with more of a lesbian story line. I know that when we finish this season, a lot of people from the network were commenting on how that was so strong and how they wish that they had shot more.

AE: Michelle Wolff should be a huge star; she’s unbelievable. EC: Yeah, she’s great. I really loved working with her, and I have an immense amount of respect for her. That was my first sex scene like ever [laughs], and so again another situation, “Oh you’ve never done a sex scene, why don’t you go in that deep end right there.” So I was really nervous about it … I just want to make sure that we do this right, and I want to make sure that people like what they see. And if we’re going to do it, we’re going to go for it — we’re not going to hold back — and once we got into the room it was really comfortable. The dolly was farting so that was really fun.

Like literally we’re in the scene [laughs], the fans are blowing and we’re kissing and the camera was on a dolly and sort of moving along the side, and it was supposed to pan back and forth and Sam goes, “And action.” And we’re kissing and it was really intense, and the dolly starts moving and all of a sudden he goes [makes fart sound], and we’re laughing and it totally broke the tension of, “OK there’s two naked girls here.”

AE: The crew must have been really happy. EC: They were so respectful. The boom operator was this 22-year-old kid … and he would look away, and whenever we’d break all the guys were staring at the ceiling. It was really cute, and they were incredibly respectful. And then afterwards a couple of the guys came up to me and they gave me a hug and they were like, “You were great; I’m really proud of you,” which was so nice ’cause they knew that I was nervous. They knew that I was a little scared — I mean obviously the first time that you do a sex scene where you’re exposing your body, there’s so much bare — I’m not saying that means you’re a good actress by any means, but it is because we don’t run around naked. When you expose yourself of course you’re going to be like, “Do my boobs look OK? Have I done enough crunches?” Stuff like that, all these stupid things that go through your head which are all about vanity, and you just have to [think], “OK, what’s going on here? Oh, there’s a gorgeous, naked, beautiful woman in front of me. All right, let me get on that.” [Laughs.]

AE: So what’s the difference between kissing Michelle and Nadine? EC: Oh, man [pauses], I don’t know how to answer that! Well, definitely with Nadine — because the nature of our relationship was a lot more loving and sweet — I always felt like after Nadine and I kissed that everybody would just want to go, “Aww.” I felt really sweet with her. I felt very girlie and feminine. I just felt like a girl in love when I was with Nadine. When I’m with Michelle I feel like an animal. When I kiss Nadine it’s very girlie and sweet and loving; when I kiss Michelle, it’s just fireworks and passion.

AE: So any thoughts post doing that sex scene like, “Hmm, I wonder?” EC: [Laughs.] You sound like Meredith [Kadlec]. … I think that women are beautiful, I definitely can look at another woman and get turned on in the sense of, “Wow, she is gorgeous.” I don’t think I would ever be able to have a relationship with a woman, though, because I do love men and I enjoy the male/female dynamic as far my personal relationships go.

AE: So many actors and actresses who have played queer roles have always had to really ream it into the press “but I’m straight, I’m straight,” and you aren’t not like that. You sound really confident and you sound very pro-gay with friends. EC: Absolutely.

AE: I think that’s awesome and I can understand why you’d want to do the Dante’s Cove role. EC: Well, for me I was just thinking about it and somebody was like, “Well what if people think that you’re gay?” And I said, “You know, to me being gay isn’t a bad thing.” Now if people thought that I was a child molester, I’d be upset. There are some labels that I would upset about having — bitch is not one of them and lesbian is not one of them [laughs]. So if people want to say that I’m a lesbian, believe me, I don’t care [laughs]. That’s not a concern of mine at all.

AE: That’s great that you have such a strong connection to the queer community. EC: I feel like the gay and lesbian community has really embraced me, even before the show.

AE: Have you been recognized by any of your lesbian fans yet? EC: No, but I haven’t really been out that much. Like my roommate, back when he was single, we used to be staples at [West Hollywood queer hotspots] Here and the Abbey, but I haven’t really been out that much because now that he’s practically married — speaking of which, I’m getting ordained as minister and I’m marrying my gay roommates. How fantastic is that.

AE: That’s so cool. EC: Yeah, I’m so excited. So no, I haven’t been. I’m wondering where the lesbians fans are [laughs]. The show is a lot more popular on the East Coast than it is here, because in New York you can get it as a 24-hour channel. There’s not as much bureaucratic red tape in those cable companies as there is out here, so I’ve gotten a couple ladies from myspace. I’m also in the top eight for Dante’s Cove in our friends section, so people who go to the Dante’s Cove myspace page [myspace.com/dantescove] and then they can see.

AE: Where are you from originally? You’re an Air Force brat, right? So are you from everywhere? EC: Well, I say that I’m from Texas just because that’s where I spent most of my time growing up. I was born in South Louisiana and then moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and then Seoul, Korea, which was fantastic. When I look back over the events of my life at what shaped me, the Kilgore Rangerettes was huge, and living in Korea at the age of 6 and 7 was also huge as far as just being open and just being like, “Oh, wow, there’s a world outside of my tiny little Texas town. There are people who look different and there are other languages and cultures.” It really just made me open to more things and experiences, and it made me more curious about the world and want to get the hell out of Dodge as soon as I graduated.

AE: Ultimately, what’s your goal as an actor? What roles are you aspiring to and where do you see yourself going? EC: I want everything [laughs]. Realistically, I feel like that is something [that] is always changing. The more doors that are opened for me or the more doors that I kick down myself, there’s more doors … waiting on the horizon and more opportunities.

I would definitely always want to be working in the three mediums. People ask me, “Well what do you want to focus on: television, film or theater?” And I think that to ask an actor that is like asking someone, “Which of your limbs do you want to live without?” And that’s how I really feel about acting.

In a perfect world, I would love to do a really strong television role, something like a West Wing or Weeds, [which] is one of my new favorite TV shows. Just do a well-respected, strong television show and then during the hiatus go off and do films that really captivate people or tell a story. And then every other year or so … go off to London and do a show in the West End or go to Broadway and do a play. I just want to be Jessica Tandy.

I love show business and I love Hollywood, and I just want to keep working and I want to keep telling stories that people want to watch. And I think as members of the film community, we have a great responsibility to hold a mirror up to society and to reflect what’s going on in the world and the viewpoints of people. You know, when The Cosby Show first came on, America had never seen a successful black family where the husband was doctor and the wife was a lawyer. … It sort of changed the perception of the black, suburban household in America, and I think that is in a positive way. As members of the entertainment community, we have a responsibility to the world to tell stories that need to be told and I just want to keep telling stories.

AE: I want to see you with some gray hair like Jessica Tandy. EC: [Laughs.] Exactly. … The fifth female character in Shakespeare is Queen Margaret in Richard III, and I have been wanting to play that for like five years. I’m just waiting [giggles]. Come on 65, ’cause I want to play Queen Margaret [laughs].

For more info on Erin Cummings, visit erincummings.com or myspace.com/akacookieinla.

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