TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
Jennifer Beals and Marlee Matlin Send Sparks Flying on 'The L Word'
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Feb. 12 -- Who says friendships in Hollywood don't last?
Accomplished actresses Jennifer Beals and Marlee Matlin have been close since the '80s. Now the two are starring opposite each other on the hit Showtime drama, 'The L Word.'
Matlin joined the cast this season, as Jodi Lerner -- an artist-in-residence at the art school where Beals' charcter, Bette, is dean.
Beals and Matlin (through her interpreter Jack) opened up to AOL Television editor Geoff Bennett about their decades-old friendship, the simmering controversies surrounding their show and Matlin's unshakeable Blackberry adddiction.
When I heard you two were longtime friends, I thought it would be cool to interview you together.
Beals: Yeah, it sounded like fun, but I wish we were in the same room.
Matlin: ... and because Jennifer is a lot better to look at than Jack. (Laughs)
Can't argue with that. So how did you two become friends?
Beals: How did we meet? Did we meet at the Paramount thing?
Matlin: We met originally at the airport on the way to Los Angeles. I remember saying to Jack, "I think that's Jennifer Beals." She had a leather coat on and she looked very sort of 'Flashdance.' (Laughs) Sorry Jennifer, I had to put that in. But she looked very smart because she had all her school books from Yale with her. We were introduced to each other, and then we found out we were going to the same event, which was the photoshoot for the 75th anniversary of Paramount. Because we were the new kids on the block, we instantly were attached at the hip.
Beals: Because we were both from Chicago.
Matlin: That's right. And we've been friends ever since. And Jennifer helped me pick out stuff to wear to parties because she was more worldy than me.
Beals: That is so untrue. She's delusional. She has a really good memory about a lot of things, but that's totally delusional.
Beals: No, I never suggest anybody because they don't listen to anything I have to say. (Laughs) No, I just was delighted when they brought her name up. I said she's a really wonderful person and obviously a great actress.
For those who are unacquainted with the show, Marlee, what's the role that you're playing?
Matlin: I don't know how much can I say, but our characters hook up. I'm a visiting artist and she's a dean at a university, and sparks fly. You see that the first moment we meet. I have a drill and sparks are flying. (Laughs) It couldn't be any more literal. Literally sparks are flying. You'll notice I have the drill, so I don't know if that indicates what part of the relationship I am.
Does your friendship make the hook-up scenes easier to shoot?
Beals: Oh, it's horrible. We laugh hysterically the whole time. It's horrible, it's horrible. I try to be professional, and she looks at me and gives me one little look of mischief and we just lose it, and it takes forever to shoot.
Matlin: And the crew is standing there just rolling their eyes, thinking "What are these two doing?"
Beals: And it's 3:30 in the morning and everyone wants to go home.
Matlin: But you know what? I don't think that we care. At the end of the day, the job has to be fun. And this is one fun job.
Since the show shoots in Vancouver, how has it impacted your personal life?
Matlin: They were very accomodating. When I started, the kids were out of school for the summer and were busy with camp and vacation with grandma and grandpa. They almost forgot that I was in Vancouver even though I would come home every weekend, so I think maybe next year I'm going to have to change that schedule. (Laughs) It worked out very smoothly.
Beals: But I remember you missed them very, very much. It was hard sometimes.
Matlin: It helped to work with Jennifer since we had so much fun. And Jennifer is a mom and very private, and that helps a great deal because we can share intimate discussions. We're fine -- we don't need to be entertained or be out partying when we're on location.
Jennifer, a question about Bette's evolution: She started out as a classic type-A and later ends up kidnapping her own daughter and taking her cross-country. Is Bette unraveling?
Beals: I think that when you introduce a child into someone's life, they begin to realize all the things that are really important to them. And that, perhaps, doesn't become as important as the love of a child. And so they are capable of doing all kinds of things to protect that. I think she realizes pretty quickly that she made a mistake and tries to make amends for it.
Marlee, how did tackling this role compare to others you've done?
Matlin: Although some people might think developing a deaf character is difficut, it really isn't. You just write and then incorporate deafness into it. But [the production staff] has been nothing but open and receptive. For example, in our first meeting, I sat with all of the writers and they told me the character's name. I asked if they wouldn't mind changing it to Jodi because I had a friend who was a mom and a lesbian who passed away, and her name was Jodi. I thought it would be nice to honor her, and they were more than open to it. Most television series would never do that.
Matlin: It was clear that it was about a student who wanted to express themselves through art and it had nothing to do with me as Marlee Matlin or the character Jodi Lerner. My character was about free speech. But I draw the line between my viewpoints and the character's viewpoints. But I was OK with it because it made sense for the character. It was about the student's point of view and naturally, I wouldn't want that piece of art in my house. But I think some people might consider it insulting. That's fine. But we're talking about TV. It's entertainment, and entertainement incoprorates a lot of viewpoints. People have a right to their own opinons and as much as they may complain, they have a right to that.
Was that diplomatic enough?
Very dimplomatic, yes.
Matlin: At the end of the day, I don't care. (Laughs) I really don't care. I mean, do those conservative people even watch the Showtime? Have they even seen the show? I mean, it's Showtime!
Beals: I'm just glad they watch the show!
'The L Word' is one of those shows, which even if people haven't seen it, they know about it. What do you think is the biggest misconception?
Matlin: They think it's all about girls under the sheets doing their thing.
Beals: They think it's salacious.
Matlin: But I just think it's a show about relationships and one of the few shows that features a lot of women, and I think that's great.
How has it increased your own sense of awareness?
Beals: There are all kinds of things that I had no idea about. I had no idea that in a same-sex relationship, if a partner -- even if they had been together for 20 years -- if one goes in the hospital, they don't have the same visitation rights as family members. It's inexcusable. And by playing this character, I'm much more aware. And even the way lesbians and gay men are portrayed in pop culture, it's really horrifying. It's so insidious and sometimes it's really subtle, but it's there.
Matlin: Being new on the show, I have learned a great deal, but nothing really surprised me because I grew up with a brother who's gay and understood the isolation he faced. But my parents have always been supportive on his behalf from day one. But it is amazing how people take time out of their lives to demean and denigrate people's choices. I still don't get it.
Beals: It's so fascinating that a group of people would denigrate someone else's love. And who is to say that one person's love is more valuable to another's? And that, I find, is really reprehensible.
Beals: I've only worked on a couple of scenes with her, and when I was working with her, it seemed like she was having a really good time, and I'm sorry she didn't have a good experience.
Matlin: I'm sorry she expressed her feelings to an interviewer, when it was an experience she had on a one-to-one basis with someone. It's a great show, and for me it was a wonderful experience.
Beals: Yeah, I'm not sure what really happened. I just wish she had had a better time. And just for the record, I have never experienced a more supportitve wonderful group in my career whether they be male or female.
Lastly, what are your favorite things to do on set while you're not shooting?
Matlin: Eat.
Beals: Just watch Marlee -- it's endlessly entertaining.
Matlin: And look at my "Crackberry." Blackberry, excuse me. Don't put Crackberry because I think the folks at Blackberry wouldn't be happy.
And then it would end up on a conservative Web site.
Matlin: Exactly. "Marlee Matlin uses crack."
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