Archive

Sofia Black D’Elia and Elizabeth McLaughlin talk about their lesbian romance on “Betrayal”

Count on the lesbian characters to bring the healthiest relationship to the Betrayal table. If you haven’t caught up with the first three episodes of ABC’s new series yet, I suggest you tune in to Sunday night’s next episode-in which characters Jules and Valerie, played by Sofia Black D’Elia and Elizabeth McLaughlin, go out on a date-further solidifying a blossoming relationship the two say is sweet, subtle and relatable to anyone, gay or straight.

I had the chance to chat up the Betrayal stars about their roles as Jules and Valerie, the double standard of lesbian characters on network TV who receive a pedestal of attention when other characters don’t-and Betrayal‘s efforts to normalize these onscreen romance dynamics. What’s certain is Sofia and Elizabeth are their characters’ biggest fans, and they promise there’s a lot more Julerie (yes, I just gave them a shipper) to come in the first season.

AfterEllen: So maybe for our readers who haven’t tuned in to Betrayal yet, you both can tell us a little bit about your characters on the show.

Elizabeth McLaughlin: Valerie is the granddaughter of Thatcher Karsten, who is kind of the real estate mogul of Chicago and definitely has that undercurrent of crime. He’s definitely perceived to be a bad guy. A lot of stuff gets covered up by my dad [Jack McAllister played by Stuart Townsend]-his in-house attorney. And my character, she’s really grounded in this family and is incredibly loving and caring for her family. She has a deep sense of loyalty, all while trying to hold onto her conscious, which, as the show will go on, she gets tested in that. And then she sees a wonderful young teenager who’s discovering herself-she meets Jules, who I think is probably the first serious relationship that she’s ever had in her life.

Sofia Black D’Elia: I play Jules and she is an IT super nerd at Val’s dad’s firm and she is wise beyond her years, very smart, very sassy, quick-witted, a bit sarcastic! And I think that Val is also her first serious relationship because I think Jules kind of has a bit of fun and maybe doesn’t take a lot of girls very seriously and plays around. And then I think when she meets Val there’s something in her that makes her want to take it a bit more seriously, and it kind of becomes a legitimate relationship for her.

AE: So Elizabeth, I have a confession to make. I’ve probably watched your film The Clique 10 times or more. It’s the ultimate guilty pleasure and I didn’t care if it was for younger girls.

EM: [Laughs] That is great!

AE: With that said, I was excited to see you taking on this role of Valerie in Betrayal because it’s a much more mature role. What drew you to this character?

EM: Well, it was a bit of a transition for me because The Clique definitely did get me some recognition as this character-Massie is a very specific character. I have little girls who are still scared to talk to me who think I’m actually her. So, the last few years of my career have really been focusing on transition roles-roles that are more grounded in human relationships and mean more to me as a person. The thing that initially drew me to Betrayal was the fact that these are incredibly, realistically painted human beings and its their relationships-the show is centered around how these people are interacting with each other and how the force of nature makes these two people collide and the consequences after that. And for me and Valerie, originally, they didn’t have the information about where the character of Valerie was going to go at the audition stage.

When we were shooting the pilot our creator, David Zabel, was kind enough to sit down with me for about an hour and tell me where the skeleton of my storyline was going, should the show get picked up for its first season. Then in May when we got the order for our first season, I was brought in the writers’ room and I was told that there was going to be a character change, and Valerie was going to be a lesbian. I was just so excited by that because it just added that extra layer of her and what attracted me so much about how David and Lisa [Zwerling] were handling it was that its not a big deal, it’s not Valerie discovering her sexuality, it’s not her parents making a big deal out of it, its not, you know-there’s no external force making a big deal out of it. Which I thought has never really been done before…It wasn’t a big deal that this 16-year-old girl is dating another girl. The problems that arise from Jules and Valerie’s relationship are the kinds of problems that every young relationship encounters. So, I thought it was a really fresh and modern view on that character development.

AE: That brings up a good point. Sofia, you previously played a lesbian character on MTV’s Skins, and there are a lot of narrow-minded people who see things like “lesbian characters” as controversial. There’s a double standard with LGBT characters-they’re given a dose of attention that straight characters aren’t. Yet, look at Betrayal aiming to normalize these stereotypes. What are your feelings on this?

SBD: I think there’s definitely a double standard. And I do think it is getting better just in my own experience from Skins to this-it’s changed a bit. We had a lot of press for Skins when it first happened; the UK explosion forced that onto us. I was amazed at the majority of the questions directed towards their being a lesbian on this show as opposed to there being a gay man on the show. Even that’s taken differently… And what I think is cool about Jules and Val is there is no room for those questions, like Elizabeth said, there is no coming out scene, there is no, “OK lets explain to the audience these people’s sexuality.” It’s just a part of the storyline as soon as you meet them. So, hopefully that will help people watching it kind of take it for what it is-which is a really sweet, interesting, layered teenage romance. And hopefully, moving forward, that’s the way that all lesbian and gay storylines will be considered.

AE: What else can we expect from Jules and Valerie? Will their storyline continue in upcoming episodes?

SBD: Well I go away for a little bit, but I do come back and our relationship is kind of an undercurrent of the show. We recently filmed some really great scenes together that will be coming later in the first season.

EM: We were just talking yesterday, and its kind of ironic that people make such a big deal about the fact that it’s a lesbian relationship and yet, if you pay attention throughout the first season, Jules and Valerie’s relationship is the most healthy, communicative relationship out of all of them! So there are about three or four episode where Valerie kind of luckily has Jules and that relationship to get away from some of the stress that comes up between the families. And the show kind of waxes it focus to the family dynamic for a bit, but in the scenes we shot yesterday, it’s blatantly obvious that these characters care so deeply about each other, and they’re willing to work for each other.

SBD: And I can promise AfterEllen fans that I do not sleep with a guy this time!

AE: Yeah, there will be no Tony this time!

SBD: [Laughs] Yeah, there is no Tony on Betrayal. So don’t worry about that.

AE: It’s true though, it seems like with all the other adult drama going on in the show, it would be so appropriate and fitting for these two girls to band together.

SBD: And I think it’s so cool as a big fan of network television-I so often see these relationships just so overwritten in a way and kind of dramatized in a way that I could never relate to. I think that Jules and Val’s relationship is so real and very subtle and sweet, and its really nice for a show like this that’s on ABC to be doing something like that. I’m really glad to be apart of it.

AE: It’s true that sometimes, relationship arcs between women on television go unresolved or aren’t’ realistic, and Jules and Valerie absolutely have that potential to go above and beyond that. What would be your hopes for these two characters then?

EM: For Valerie, with the kind of relationship that she has with Jules, Jules is very different in her world than anything she has ever experienced before-just Jules as a person, like Sofia said-she’s very smart and kind of a rebel, and I’d love to see Valerie embrace that more. There’s a part of her that keeps herself very grounded in her family and I hope that as the show goes on, Valerie comes more into her own and is willing to step back from her family and say, “Listen, I’m not going to be supportive of what you’re doing and contribute to the family.” She knows she has this strength and foundation in her relationship with Jules. I’d love to see her just using the relationship with Jules to really grow and flourish as a more individualistic person. I hope that Jules and Valerie stick together, ’cause I’m sure the writers are going to throw us some loopholes! [Both laugh]

SBD: I agree with you completely. I think that it would be really cool if Val rubbed off on Jules as well, because she’s her sweet counterpart. I think Jules is a little bit hard around the edges, maybe grew up too fast or something, and I think it would be nice to see her soften, because I think she does soften in her scenes with Val, just instinctively. And also for my character, I’d love to see some more stuff with Stuart Townsend’s character, Jack. He’s such a great actor and a lovely guy-so much fun to work with. We have comedic moments together. It’s a cool little side father-daughter relationship in addition to the ones he has with his own kids. I too hope that Jules and Val stick it out and I think it would be charming and funny if they were the only relationship on this show that pulled through in the end.

AE: A lot of people seem really blown away by Jules just outing herself and telling a girl, “Hey I think you’re cute.” A lot of people wouldn’t do that-gay or straight. It takes balls! Gay or straight, that’s some initiative.

EM: Absolutely! When I was first reading the script and saw how Jules asks Valerie out, I thought-there’s something so lost about taking initiative in romantic relationships these days. And I felt like, gay straight, whatever, someone taking that initiative is so charming and just lovely, and its one of those things where its so attractive. And for [Jules] to go out of her way to be overtly romantic….I tweeted about this during cast live-tweets, I said: “How could you say no?” And it was so nice, there was no dancing around it, like you said, blatant, straightforward, “I like you, let’s do this…”

SBD: I think Jules is definitely ballsy. [Laughs] That move takes a lot of guts. I certainly wouldn’t have, and I know a lot of girls who wouldn’t It’s cool to look at that and be like, maybe I can do that to and be that gutsy.

Tune into Betrayal on ABC at 10 p.m. EST on Sunday nights.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button