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Interview with Mia Kirshner

Who killed Jenny Schecter? A mere five months ago, that was the burning question on lesbian lips in living rooms and local bars from Los Angeles to Little Falls, New Jersey.

Mia Kirshner (Miss Conception, The Black Dahlia, 24) – the astonishing actor who played Jenny, and managed to find the humanity in a character known for uttering, “Adele, the appliqué on the back of your jeans was declared an abomination by the Geneva Convention,” and other psychotic bon mots – is in fact a thoughtful woman who’d rather spend time with her friends than bask in the spotlight of Hollywood.

After a record six years as Showtime’s longest running original series, The L Word finally ended in March, putting our love-to-hate relationship with Jenny Schecter to rest, not to mention relieving us of those annoying alliterations.

What many people don’t know is, all that time, Mia was also focused on humanitarian issues, and in October, 2008, she published her first book, I Live Here, a collection of “visually stunning” narratives told through journals, stories and images, by refugees and displaced people from around the world.

The normally press-shy actress talked to AfterEllen.com and opened up about working on The L Word, her reaction when she found out Jenny was dead, and furthering her efforts for I Live Here with an upcoming fundraiser that will include L Word cast members Jennifer Beals, Laurel Holloman and Rose Rollins.

AfterEllen.com: Now that The L Word is over, can you tell us what your overall experience was like?

Mia Kirshner: It’s hard to talk about an overall experience, because each year was so different. But looking back now that a few months have passed since it ended, I miss seeing the girls. They were really fun to work with. I miss that dorm atmosphere that happened on the set. I miss giggling with them. I think in retrospect, in spite of some of the weirdness with the storylines, particularly with my character, it was wonderful. Showtime gave us a lot of freedom, and I realize how rare that is, and how lucky we were to have those jobs.

AE: How was it to work with so many women and so few men? That’s a rare thing.

MK:It is a rare thing. When I first started the show, I was worried about it because in high school, there were packs of girls that reminded me of packs of wolves. I always felt like a group dynamics [can get] nasty. I remember in the pilot, I kept to myself. But now, I can only say it was a really wonderful experience — on the social side of it and the creative freedom that we had.

Working with all women is a great thing. Women talk more about how they’re feeling, what they’d like from each other, and what they don’t like. It can be a more sympathetic environment, if that makes any sense.

AE: You were all doing something groundbreaking, a show about lesbians, and going through it together. Did that help?

MK: We never thought of it like that. I didn’t at the time. And we had all had our own experiences in the gay community, with women, whatever. Not all of us, but some of us. It wasn’t a big deal. And we were shooting in Vancouver, so we were in a little bubble.

AE: So, being cut off from Hollywood fostered a little esprit de corp?

MK: Yeah, it was nice. We had dinner in each other’s homes. Leisha [Hailey] and I lived together the first year. It was a special, special time.

AE: Who were you closest to in the cast? Who do you miss the most?

MK: I would say I was close to Leisha. Kate [Moennig] and I hung out a lot. But it was always group stuff. Leisha, certainly, because I lived with her the first year and the second year. We got to know each other very well.

Rose Rollins is definitely one of my best friends. I speak to her every single day. I love her very, very much. And I would say Jennifer [Beals], as well.

AE: So, that notion that women don’t support each other, or try to keep each other down – you didn’t see any of that?

MK: No, absolutely not. I didn’t. Also, I was working on I Live Here, the whole time I was in Vancouver, so I had other things I was thinking about. I was focusing my energy on the book. I wasn’t that involved in the politics.

AE: Did you like the way the series ended?

MK: No. No. No, I didn’t. But what can I say? We had so much freedom on The L Word, I think we became used to being able to have our say, and being heard on the show. But that’s not normal. That’s definitely a privilege that [creator and executive producer,] Ilene [Chaiken] and [executive producer,] Rose Lam gave to the cast.

Therefore, when things went down the way they did, it was surprising not to be asked, “Are you OK with this? What do you think of this?”

But they don’t have to do that. We were lucky to have jobs.

AE: What did you think when you got the script and found out Jenny was dead?

MK:I remember so clearly being so shocked at my own reaction. We were shooting the scene where Niki [played by Kate French] is trying to seduce [laughs] — I call everyone by their real name — Alexandra Hedison‘s character at the club. We had just come back from lunch and finally, I had heard. There was all this speculation about what was happening, and it was really toward the end of the show. I remember being really upset by it, and being surprised by how upset I was.

There was the logical mind, where I was like: “This is just a character. You’re lucky that you worked so long, and it gave you opportunity to do so much.” But there was another part of me that was so sad because I tried to find the best in Jenny, in order to play her.

I agree with most of what people say about her, but here was a girl, if I can defend Jenny, who at the end of the day, seemed bi-polar to me. And an artist in search of herself. I never wanted Jenny to be a hero. I admired Ilene for making her a complicated, often unlikable character, but perhaps a truthful character that pushed people’s button.

But especially [during] Prop 8, what does this say about a show that was supposed to be about friendship? I guess I was just sad that there was no redemption on that end.

AE: Did any of the writers or producers tell you they knew who killed Jenny?

MK: No. I’m not sure who did it, or why. Well, “why” is clear, but it’s still remains murky to me and I’m OK with that.

AE: Who do you think did it? Some people speculated Jenny killed herself.

MK: I don’t know. When you see this character you’ve worked so hard on, for so long, just become a stereotype of a lunatic, I was very sad about that. I haven’t done a lot of press for the show because I don’t want it to be misinterpreted that I’m trashing the show. These are my own feelings about someone in search of herself, becoming something I thought she wasn’t. The work that had been valuable to me and my experience.

And I said to the girls as I was leaving on my last shot, that I had never known a greater group of people since I was in grade school.

AE: Were you comfortable doing all those nude scenes and sex scenes?

MK: [laughs] Really? Are you asking me that?

AE: Yeah. Sorry.

MK: Uh, I don’t know. For me, it’s a job.

AE: Fair enough. OK, moving on. Did you ever get confronted by angry fans that couldn’t separate you from your character?

MK: It happened once at a club. We were at a gay club in Vancouver and one girl came up to me and said, “I hope you die.”

AE: Whoa.

MK: Yeah. I asked her to come outside with me, and I was like, “Listen, why are you at this club tonight?” And she said, “I’m here to have a good time.” And I said, “So am I. Do you have a job?” And she said, “Yeah.” And I said, “Why do you work?” And she said, “To make money.” And I said, “That’s why I work, and that’s why I have a job and I need to make money. And that’s what I do. So when you say, ‘I hope you die,’ I assume you’re talking about my character, and not me. And it’s not nice. It’s not me, it’s my job and it’s what I do to pay my bills. And I just ask you to have a little kindness.”

AE: What did she say to that?

MK: She seemed kind of shocked and taken aback. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable but I really wanted to make the distinction it’s a job; a lucky job to have. But she was pretty rude and unkind.

AE: Did you experience a lot of that?

MK: No, I think out of all the cast members on the show, I keep an extremely low profile and I don’t go out that much. So, I’m not really exposed to that kind of stuff. I know it’s a boring answer.

AE: Hey, if I were playing a character everyone hated, I’d keep a low profile, too.

MK: You’d keep a low profile? No, it wasn’t that. I keep a low profile because when I’m not at work, I just want to hang out with my family and friends. I guess I’m not ambitious about what actors are supposed to do.

AE: You’re not missing anything. Which was your favorite Sounder?

MK: Sounder. Oh, I hated that stuff. I really just don’t know what to say.

AE: What stuff? You mean like the storyline about putting a dog down just to get back at someone?

MK: Yeah. I just didn’t understand why. I didn’t see what that said about the character. Not that Jenny wasn’t mean — she was — but there was a point where I was like, “Whoa. This is not something I’m [personally] comfortable with.” But it’s what [Ilene] needed to express and that was my job.

AE: Have you heard anything about an L Word movie?

MK: I have no idea. No idea.

AE: If they do one, I can’t see how to make Jenny undead. Maybe a prequel?

MK: I don’t know. And it wasn’t a long time ago, but the show feels like a long time ago. A lot of stuff has happened.

AE: Well, your book came out and now you’re really concentrating on the I Live Here project.

MK: After I came back from Malawi, my writing partner, James MacKinnon, and I decided that we wanted to start a program in the juvenile prison there. So we spent a couple of years doing research and that’s really what my spare time is devoted to.

If you think of the book as the right hand – the education part of it – then the project is the left hand. You see what some problems are around the world, and then you do things in a concrete way and you fix them.

AE: What crime could a young child commit that would send them to prison?

MK: I would say over half of them are there because of crimes related to poverty, such as stealing food. Many are being held without a proper trial, many of the kids are orphans. Their parents died from AIDS-related illnesses. They’re locked in their cells, they’re overcrowded. There’s one bucket to use the bathroom.

I’ve been asked, “Why Malawi?” and my answer is, “Why not?” When you see human rights being violated, you have to say something and do something about it. Period.

I don’t want to pretend to be an expert on the subject and have the ultimate answers, but there’s an attitude that because they live in another country and we live here, they don’t affect us. I think it’s important to look at the world as a body. And if one part of the body is sick, and not treated, than disease will spread to the rest of the body. It’s preventative. That’s what I Live Here is trying to do, in its small, humble way.

AE: Your book, I Live Here, uses storytelling as a powerful tool to raise awareness.

MK: Yeah, it’s their stories. That’s the premise of the book: that stories can change the world. And you give people who often wouldn’t be given a chance to speak for themselves, to write about their lives. So I think having people speak for themselves is very powerful.

AE: I read that your father was a displaced person.

MK: My dad was born in a refugee camp after World War II and went through a series of camps. My grandmother on my father’s side lost her husband and her son. They were killed, I think. We don’t know what happened to them. And that’s why I think it’s important to archive what happens to people who survive violence and trauma.

AE: Without a record or anyone bearing witness, crimes are lost to time.

MK: I think so. I also think, on a very personal level, if you’re asked what or how you feel, and what you want, it makes you feel valued. And if you feel valued, it makes you stronger.

AE: Have you met anyone during the making of the book that really inspired you?

MK: The kids in the Malawi prison. Certainly, at first glance, these kids didn’t seem to be hardened criminals. These kids wanted to write and draw. And what came out of their writing was their hope and their humility, and their lack of anger. Many others would be very anger at the fact that their parents had passed away, that they were extremely poor, and that they were in jail and hadn’t been charged. It was an inspiring thing. So, I realize how f—ing lucky I was to have a job. I have nothing to complain about.

AE: Well, we’re spoiled Americans.

MK: I’m Canadian!

AE: Oops, I forgot. Well, there’s a certain cynicism when it comes to going out into the Third World and looking around. It even gets parodied.

MK: I think if you’re trying to do a something, then that’s a good, great start. It shouldn’t be mocked. There’s value in everything. It’s better than doing nothing, I think. At the end of the day, before someone mocks anything, look at the work, get the facts before anyone forms a judgment.

AE: What’s the next phase for I Live Here?

MK: Well, there’s the fundraiser on August 22 in Santa Monica. I really really hope people come out for this one. Jennifer Beals, Laurel Holloman and Rose Rollins are all scheduled to be there with me.

AE: An L Word mini-reunion sounds like reason enough to me. Especially for a good cause.

MK: And we’re going to debut a huge multi-media installation about the journey in making I Live Here. Then, I go to Malawi at the end of the month to set up the program. We’re also doing something called the Ambassador Program, a student curriculum based on issues covered in the book.

AE: It’s very ambitious, for a grassroots campaign.

MK: And people are responding. There’s a woman named Debra Latourette who wrote to us and held her own backyard fundraiser. She raised over $1,000. How cool is that? Just a total stranger, doing that.

AE: Now I feel bad about asking you about those sex scenes and why Jenny is dead.

MK:And I don’t want to seem like I was complaining. Who cares what I felt? I was a f—ing actor with a job.

AE: You don’t sound like a complainer at all. But I get it. In Hollywood, it’s safer to be nice to everyone.

MK:I’d rather tell the truth.

AE: I think it’s OK if we raise awareness for good causes and care about what you ate for breakfast, because you’re a celesbian.

MK:[laughs] I know. But at the end of the day, that’s really what the bottom line is for me: the real world.

AE: So, what did you eat for breakfast?

MK:[laughs] You know what I’m saying.

You can purchase tickets to the August 22 event in Santa Monica, or make a donation to I Live Here. You can also buy her book at most bookstores, including Amazon.com and the Logo store. You can also follow Mia on Twitter at @MiaK_ILiveHere.

Mia played Jenny Schecter for six years, for our entertainment. We owe her one.

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