Quinn Marcus is a recent graduate of Emerson College, but she’s got a gig a lot of women would die for. Quinn is one of the talking heads on Girl Code, now in its second season on MTV. The out lesbian is one of several young women asked for their opinions on dating, sex, and general life issues.
Outside of Girl Code, Quinn also has an MTVU series called Quinnterviews where she has one-on-ones with stars like Tina Fey, Kat Dennings and Snooki, as well as some women-on-the-street chats with random passerby. The results: Awkward yet lovable, which is why Quinn has become MTV’s go-to-lesbian as of late.
Quinn chatted with us about the new season of Girl Code, her one-woman show and what she knows about lesbian dating.
AfterEllen.com: How did you get involved with Girl Code? I know you have a series on MTVU so which came first?
Quinn Marcus: I pitched a show to MTVU called Quinnterviews and I was doing that during my senior year of college. And in January of my senior year I had an audition for Girl Code, and I think it was like through people through MTVU. So MTVU definitely helped me get Girl Code, which was cool.
AE: Do you get to pick who you interview on Quinnterviews?
QM: Yeah they ask me what television shows I like or musicians I like but then they give me better ones than I can think of.
AE: That’s a pretty awesome gig. Anyone can say “I want to do interviews with people.” What do you think it is about you that MTVU liked?
QM: [Laughs] I think that I am awkward to a funny extent. I think that sometimes I will say something which I don’t even realize is weird to say something that, until I’m watching the Quinnterview later, my boss will say, “You’re so awkward and weird that’s great!” And I’ll say, “Wow I didn’t even realize I was being weird.”AE: What do you think that you bring to Girl Code?
QM: I think I have a few things. I think I’m young, I think I’m the most recent, close to college, the one that’s most close to college because I graduated in May. And I’m gay, so there’s that too.
AE: I feel like the show needs a little bit more gayness and I’m hoping it’ll come this season. Will there be any more gay topics as the season continues?
QM: Well there is a lesbian topic. It was really exciting to shoot. But the funny thing is I think that topic confused me the most because it made me realize that I don’t know so much. They kept asking me things about lesbians and I’m like, “I don’t know, I gotta learn more!”
AE: Like what kind of question? Can you give me an example?QM: We talked about lesbians dating and, you know, how to pick up girls and everything and I’m just thinking, “I need to ask someone else these questions. I need to learn these things!” It was a good inner-monologue, I had some time to think to myself.
AE: They probably thought you were the expert, out of all of the women!
QM: Right, that’s what I realized. They were like trying to get me to answer some questions for them and I had more questions, I think, at the end of it than answers.
AE: A lot of the topics on the show have to do with dating guys. Are there ever times they ask you how to deal with “your man” and you’re like, “I don’t know how to answer that.”
QM: Well I think we’ve gotten into a cool rhythm where if it’s about your boyfriend or your friend’s boyfriend I can kind of answer, sometimes, on both sides of the spectrum-like as the girl and sometimes as the guy, because I kind of see it both ways. I think that was a cool thing we figured out.
AE: Yeah, that’s interesting. Is there something you see yourself as a real expert in?
QM: Maybe like dealing with awkward situations, but then I ask more questions. That’s what I find during shooting. Sometimes the director will ask me questions, and I’ll start realizing so many things in my head and then I start asking more questions.AE: So it’s just a constant self-discovery process on Girl Code!
QM: Right! Girl Code is a big discovery process of how much I don’t know.
AE: How often do you shoot? What’s your schedule like for the show?
QM: Sometimes we’re shooting two to three episodes a week. The more episodes we shoot, the more fun it is. It’s really a day of pampering. You go in and get your hair and make-up done, you sit in a chair, someone asks you what you think about something, and then you talk. It’s the best day ever.
AE: Yeah, sounds awesome! Do you get any chance to see the topics and think about them ahead of time?
QM: Yeah, they let you look at the topics but I think most of us know, a lot of us are improvisers and it’s more fun to get in there and have a conversation rather than plan it out. Some girls plan it out, everyone’s different. I kind of improvise. When I’m sitting there I’ll probably think of something I wouldn’t have if I were writing it down.
AE: Do you ever get to come up with any of the topics?
QM: No, they have [producers] on the show who are great and I think that’s a hard job. I don’t think they need our help. I think we’re supposed to be there to say the topics really loud with a huge personality.
AE: How do you think it would be different if it were a show like “Lesbian Code”? Do you think it’d be a completely different show, or is Girl Code universal?
QM: I don’t really feel like I’m necessarily the lesbian on the show. I just feel like we’re all a bunch of girls and I just happen to be a lesbian because it doesn’t really come up that often. I think if you had a “Lesbian Code,” I think maybe at the beginning it might be a little different but I think it’d just morph into Girl Code. We’re all girls, at the end of the day. I just happen to be a girl who likes girls.
Walked into a lesbian bar tonight, Left right away and got BBQ. At least I know what kind of gay I am.– Quinn Marcus (@QuinnMarcus) October 24, 2013
AE: Is there anything else you’re working on right now?
QM: I just wrote and a shot a movie, a short film that we’re going to be touring at colleges. I do a one-woman show and show the movie. I’m doing it at Tulane, actually, in January. It’s called Alone With People and the one-woman show is about my story coming out in the South, because I grew up in Georgia and I wasn’t out. It’s about me seeing a therapist and coming out to my family and dealing with that in my own head and I wrote a short film about that one-woman show. It’s funny. It’s a mix, a good mix.
AE: Is there anything else you’d want people to know about you?
QM: I think something really cool about Girl Code-since we don’t really harp on the fact that I am a lesbian- is that now a 15-year-old girl who may be in the closet, or isn’t in the closet, but is in high school, can turn on the TV, turn on MTV, and see a lesbian comedian and she’s just one of the girls. I think it’s really cool that Girl Code is doing that for those girls.
AE: Definitely, I think it’s cool to have a lesbian, even if she doesn’t know all the lesbian answers! Nobody does. Nobody’s a perfect lesbian!
QM: Right. [Laughs]
Follow Quinn on Twitter to keep up with where you can see her short film this winter. Girl Code airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. CT on MTV.
