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Ask AfterEllen.com (Jan. 27, 2009)

Want to know the status of a particular movie, TV show, or band? Wondering what a certain actress is up to these days? Send your entertainment-related questions to [email protected] – with your first name, city and country – and we’ll try to answer as many as we can.

Question: I had just finished watching Run Fatboy Run, and I was raving to my friend about how beautiful and talented I think Thandie Newton is. My friend said that Thandie is bisexual…is this true? Is she definitely bisexual?

– Lindsey, New Orleans, Louisiana Answer: Since it’s really up to the individual in question to officially label their sexual orientation, I think it’s safer to say that she’s “potentially” bisexual.

Actress Thandie Newton (W., Crash) is married to director Ol Parker, who made many new lesbian friends when he wrote and directed the romantic comedy Imagine Me & You (2005), starring Piper Perabo and Lena Headey. Together they have two daughters, Ripley (named after Sigourney Weaver’s alien ass-kicking character in the Alien franchise) and Nico (named after the Velvet Underground singer).

However, in a recent interview with The Advocate when she was asked if she’d ever “experimented” with a woman, Newton revealed that she had a lesbian relationship when she was 16. She said, “We’re all potentially bisexual; it all depends on your circle, your upbringing and all kinds of things. Or maybe I’m just talking about myself. I could’ve easily fallen in love with a woman over a man.”

Question: What are the stars of Nicole Conn’s film Claire of the Moon up to these days? I loved Karen Trumbo and Trisha Todd!

– Anonymous Answer: I was able to track down Trisha Todd and asked her what she’s been doing in the last 17 years since Claire of the Moon was released. She wrote:

Its nice to know that people still remember Claire. It was a wonderful experience. I am teaching and directing – a lot of original material. I just returned from a humanitarian mission to Zimbabwe with AIDS Africa Response, a local organization to bring medical supplies, clothing, school supplies, etc to people in need. I also recently took an original musical to The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh Scotland. Last spring I was onstage, acting, for only the third time in about fifteen years. I have two children and have been with my partner for almost ten years! Life is good. Thanks for asking.
Todd didn’t mention this in our correspondence, but she also wrote an “autobiographical, contemporary road novel”, The Drive (1999). The Publishers Weekly review says of the book, “Todd uses the drive to Iowa and back as a time to meditate on her own life and loves, further blurring the line between fiction and memoir as she includes her real-life experience acting the title role in the groundbreaking lesbian movie Claire of the Moon.”

While the book was originally published by the now-defunct lesbian publishing house Naiad Press, you can still find copies of it for sale online.

I didn’t have the same luck in tracking down Karen Trumbo, but I’ll keep trying and let you know what I learn.

NEXT PAGE: A Gillery’s Little Secret feature film?

Question: I heard that they were going to turn [the short film] Gillery’s Little Secret into a feature-length film? Do you know if that’s still happening?

– MS

Answer: I forwarded your question about the short film – which stars Annabeth Gish as a lesbian who returns to her hometown after many years away – to Gillery writer/director Tina Scorzafava and this is what she told me:

It gives energy and great support to know that people are interested in our quest to turn Gillery’s Little Secret into a feature film. Your question arrived at a funny time. Just this morning, I met with a producer to discuss indie financing and the possibilities of shooting the Gillery feature in North Carolina. I’ve also recently had a television network open up a bit and am looking to make a pitch to them in the next couple of months.

Annabeth Gish is still very much interested in remaining as “Gillery,” so I keep her up to date on our progress and I have a few other titillating choices to fill out the cast. We’ve gotten great interest from distributors, but the money just hasn’t fallen into place for the shoot and the economy isn’t helping, but we’re not giving up.

Although I have two other short films in the works and a feature of the vampire short In Twilight’s Shadow being shopped around, I absolutely love the Gillery feature project and am very passionate about it getting made.

I hope the audience sticks around because the final script is awesome, it just takes time to get all the elements working together.

She also gave us the scoop on her next project:
Right now, I’m in pre-production on one of my next film projects looking to shoot in early April. It’s the latina lesbian love story Slip Away, written by and starring Michelle C. Bonilla (ER, CSI: Miami), with the sizzling Wilson Cruz (Rent, My So-Called Life), sultry Thea Gill (Queer as Folk) and we’re currently in talks to cast the other lead. The film’s a no-holds-barred visual buffet detailing life, dreams and love along the lines of the sensual Gia meets the edgy Requiem for a Dream.
Does this mean we’ll be seeing some sort of chain link fence-interlude between Bonilla and Gill? Maybe I should have asked her that too. Either way, we’ll keep you posted as we get more info on Scorzafava’s upcoming projects.

Question: After all the unsafe sex practiced on The L Word, is it possible that any of them don’t have a STD?

– Jordan, Tampa, FL

Answer: Yes, it’s definitely possible. Since we’ve all learned that the plotlines and character arcs on the show are not held to the laws of time, space or reason, we should not assume that statistics of medical risk would apply to Shane, Jenny, Sounder or anyone else on the show.

NEXT PAGE: Jorja Fox on CSI, Nicola Griffith’s books on the big screen

Question: There have been rumors that William Petersen will be appearing in the 200th episode of CSI directed by his friend William Friedkin. Will [former CSI star] Jorja Fox also be appearing with him?

– Carol L.

Question: Has Jorja Fox ever said anything about her sexuality?

– Sandra, Paris, France Answer: While the 200th episode of the CBS crime-procedural will indeed be directed by Oscar-winner William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection), and executive director Carol Mendelsohn has said that Petersen will make a cameo (“Grissom will come back in an organic way, to visit or be on a case with the people that are his family.”), there’s no official word that Fox will be included in the episode. The only stunt-casting I’ve heard about so far will include teen country singer Taylor Swift, who, according to the show’s executive producer, plays “a troubled teenager, the daughter of a couple who run a very seedy Vegas hotel.”

If that’s not enticing enough to make you watch the show (though I personally think the mere presence of Marg Helgenberger should be reason enough), the episode will be set in “the exotic world of Mexican wrestling.”

As to Fox’s sexual orientation, while there is much speculation about her possible lesbianism on the web (including on the AfterEllen.com forum) the actress has never made a statement about it one way or another.

Question: Will any of Nicola Griffith’s novels be made into films?

Amy K. Answer: I wish I could answer your question with an enthusiastic “Yes!” But, alas, I cannot.

I passed your question along to Griffith (Stay, Always) and here’s what she had to say:

Short answer: no. Studios don’t have the guts or smarts to make a movie with a lesbian lead, and independents don’t have the cash.

I’ve had preliminary talks with producers, with a TV network, and with several Big Name screenwriters about three of my novels, but it always comes to nothing. Hollywood doesn’t believe a woman can open a movie. And they’re positively terrified of lesbian characters. I think Aud would make an awesome franchise character–she could kick Bourne and Bond butt–but she’s that frightening beastie, a woman who, to quote a review, has not once said “Yes, sir” to the dominant paradigm. So Aud won’t be appearing at a multiplex anywhere near you (anywhere on the planet) until the studios man up. But, woo, I tell you, whoever takes the plunge will make a mint of money. The world is so very ready to watch a woman, wearing Armani and a Sig Sauer, revel in killing the bad guys and getting the girls.

So it sounds like we won’t be watching Aud seduce Angelina Jolie anytime soon – unless, of course, any of you filthy rich lesbians (paging Ellen DeGeneres!) are willing to pony up the cash.

But Griffith has a few other projects in the works:

I’m working on a massive historical novel set in 7th century Britain, what used to be called The Dark Ages but is now usually referred to as Early Medieval or The Age of Conversion. I’m keeping an occasional blog about it, see for example this post. I’m also, in response to the old-fashioned and short-sighted methods of trade publishing, forming a publishing co-op, Ozymandias. And my partner (novelist and screenwriter Kelley Eskridge) and I have just launched a new business, Humans at Work. She’s the managing partner, I’m the silent beer-providing partner <grin>.
As you would probably guess from her answers, Griffith’s blog, “Ask Nicola,” is also a very entertaining read and a great way to pose your own questions to the author. Check it out here.

NEXT PAGE: Ally McBeal on DVD, Tanita Tikaram

Question: Do you have any details as to if/when [the television series] Ally McBeal will be released on DVD in the United States?

– Beverly, Fresno, CA

Answer: Unless copyright laws undergo some drastic changes, we may not be seeing Ally McBeal released on DVD in the U.S. anytime soon. The show, starring Calista Flockhart, Lucy Liu, and a not-yet-out Portia De Rossi, was known for its memorable soundtrack, but the rights to those great songs were only purchased for the original broadcast of the show, not its subsequent release on DVD. Television shows created today purchase the rights for both broadcast and DVD, but the creators of McBeal obviously didn’t count on the enormous popularity of binge-viewing entire seasons of television series on DVD.

So until someone comes up with the money (paging Ellen DeGeneres!) to buy those rights, you’ll have to get a region-free DVD player and purchase the series from international distributors.

Question: Whatever happened to singer/songwriter Tanita Tikaram, and is she gay?

– Estrella, New York, NY Answer: Wow, just hearing her name takes me back to the good old days of having just come out of the closet and arguing with all of my straight friends (most of whom later turned out to be gay themselves) about which of our favorite celebrities were lesbians. Along with Tracy Chapman and Melissa Etheridge, Tanita Tikaram was a hot topic in those conversations.

Tikaram is a German-born singer/songwriter of Malaysian/Indo-Fijian lineage who found fame with her first album, Ancient Heart (1988), at the tender age of 19. Remember her gorgeously arty video for “Twist In My Sobriety?”

Since then, Tikaram has released an additional seven CDs (one of which is a Best Of compilation), and her most recent release was Sentimental in 2005. She also had a cameo in the film Taboo Parlor (1994) directed by German lesbian filmmaker Monica Treut, and in 2005 produced the film Solace (or Everyday is New) by filmmaker Jared Katsiane.

As to her sexuality, in a 1995 interview with British lesbian magazine Diva, the reporter wrote:

Tanita refuses to be boxed into a single identity, place, or community. When I ask her about her attitudes towards the gay community in particular, she just looks at me shyly and laughs, asking “what is this?” Her sense of belonging is complex and multi-layered, one that draws heavily on her friends and family.
So maybe no news is good news.

For more info about Tikaram, you can check out her official website or her recently launched blog.

NEXT PAGE: Lucy Lawless Los Angeles concert, and married life

Question: I heard that Lucy Lawless will soon be doing a live show in Los Angeles. Can you tell us more?

– Anonymous

Answer: Yes, it’s true, and it looks to be pretty spectacular. The show, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome will be staged at The Roxy in Los Angeles this weekend, January 30-31, and tickets are still available. While Lawless is perhaps best known for her television and film credits (Xena: Warrior Princess, Battlestar Galactica, Bitch Slap, and that priceless Stevie Nicks parody on Saturday Night Live), she’s also an accomplished singer who has received rave reviews for her live shows.

According to the press release for Welcome to the Pleasure Dome, it’s based “on a screenplay set in the time when the music group Frankie Goes to Hollywood ruled the airwaves as well as everyone’s T-shirts.”

Lawless says, “This post-disco period was epitomized by high times in low places. Where disco was a sparkly diversion from the humdrum. The era I grew up in fully acknowledged, even celebrated, its own dark side.”

“The Pleasuredome” brings the audience into a world of sex, drugs, temptation and redemption, about which, Lawless says,”I don’t know why, but I do ‘Bad-Girl’ really well.” She further states, “My fans always enjoy a tale of redemption…with a heapin’ helpin’ of Wickedness along the way.”
Music from the show includes songs by Patti Smith, Eurhythmics, Soft Cell, Cyndi Lauper, Garbage, Marilyn Manson and Jet.

Read Lawless’s recent blogposts and watch video clips of her rehearsals at LucyLawlessFanClub.com, and you can buy tickets to the Pleasure Dome show here.

Bridget McManus and I are hoping to attend, and maybe even interview the divine Ms. Lawless for our show, You Can’t Take Them Anywhere. If you want us to ask her anything in particular (except “Who killed Jenny?”), then let us know in your comments below.

Question: Karman Kregloe what is like to be married to Bridget MacManus? (I’m so jealous, but I always knew you were together…)

– Vale, Santiago, Chile Answer: Being married to Bridget McManus is exactly the E ticket ride that any perceptive woman would imagine it to be. Let’s put it this way: if our life together were a television series, it would be a mixture of 24, I Love Lucy, and The Muppet Show. During sweeps week.

(I just read my answer to Bridget, and she asked if by “E ticket” I meant an electronic airline ticket, which is why I added the explanatory Wikipedia link. She assures me that no one else on the site will know what “E ticket ride” means either. Please prove her wrong, and viva la generation gap!)

A new edition of Ask AfterEllen.com is published every Tuesday. Have a question for us? Email it to [email protected]. For more entertainment news, read previous editions of Ask AfterEllen.com, and check out AfterElton.com’s weekly entertainment Q&A column, Ask The Flying Monkey.

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