By claricestarling

Hey everyone,

So here is a rundown of what happened at the PLanet BabyLon Convention in Paris (October 30th – November 1st).

First of all, let me just say that Laurel Holloman & Rachel Shelley have been truly wonderful guests and I don’t think they could have given us more than they did (nor could we have asked for better guests). They’ve been incredibly sweet and kind to the fans throughout the 3 days, they’d always have a smile on their face everytime you would look at them, they answered every question in the smartest way during the Q&A’s and they would always have a nice word for the fans at the photoshoots, and obviously the autograph sessions.

And though, you could tell they were exhausted (especially Laurel who was completely  jetlagged, but was trying the best she could not to seem like she was, and remained a real trouper the whole time), you can tell they both have such great respect for their fans!!

Anyway, so, the Q&As were working like this: during the three days of the con, every actor (there were three: Laurel, Rachel and the adorable Randy Harrison from Queer As Folk) had one Q&A’s session by themselves and two with another actor, which means every actor had one Q&A’s  session a day.

The Q&A’s with the actor alone would take place in the morning and the questions, which were asked by the two hosts, David & Yaele, would go rather deeply in the analysis of their character in the show, whereas the afternoon Q&A’s sessions, with two actors, were supposed to be much funnier and lighter and were asked by the fans of the audience. In fact, the actors had 3 wild cards they could play (the 1st one being a joker: the actor could choose not to answer the question, the 2^nd one: the question was returned to sender, which means the fan would have to answer it, and the last one was: you would “pass” the question to the person seated next to you (in this case, to the other actor). But, to be honest, they never had to use those wild cards for the questions remained very “decent”, except for a little game that was suggested by one of the hosts on the last day.

Anyway, so here is what I remember ( remember, I’m paraphrasing here, these are not the exact words of the actors ):

Saturday morning Oct. 30th: 1st Q&A’s with Rachel Shelley

What happened to Helena between Season 1 and Season 2 (When season 2 ends Helena was still this arrogant “bitch”, very confident, very alpha, control freak… And 6 months after, when season 3 begins, she’s this very nice woman, much softer, much more sensitive and altruistic person…)?

Rachel Shelley: We (the actors of the show) had this joke that there was actually a whole Off Camera show (the OC) and that in that show, everything was explained and that’s where all the characters of TLW that would mysteriously disappear (Mark, Helena’s kids, Billy Blaikie, Papi) were actually living their lives. More seriously, near the end of season 2 I’ve actually tried to make Helena a little softer, and a little more sensitive, because a one-dimensional character would not have remained interesting much longer and Helena could not have stayed just Bette’s nemesis. They (the writers) had to make her change (even though, the way it turned out, she changed dramatically). In fact, at some point, Helena was also supposed to become Bette’s boss, but for some reason, someone eventually decided that that was not a good idea.

What was the very first scene you shot in the show?

Rachel Shelley: The first time Helena meets Tina, at the center/shelter.

And it’s funny because in season 2 Helena really is a bitch, she is the villain (we, British, tend to always play the vilains in American films or TV shows, I don’t know if it has something to do with the accent…), but in my case it’s funny because in England, I had always been playing good girls, sweet girls, Mary Poppins kinda characters, and my agent had told me about this audition for TLW and he told they would never cast me because I could never play a bitch like Helena, but at the same time, he wanted me to go to the audition, because he thought that maybe they wanted to go the opposite direction of what one would expect. Anyway, perhaps I changed into a bitch on the flight to the US because I got the part, but this kind of part really was a first for me.

How has it been to play opposite Jennifer Beals for the first time?

Rachel Shelley: I actually played my very first scene with her on same first day that we shot Helena’s arrival at the center since Bette shows up at the center as well, and I was very impressed and intimidated by Jennifer, who was the star of the show. But this drove me on. Helena actually comes between Bette and Tina right away since Bette is so blind that she can’t see Tina is very pregnant. (Rachel did a little impression of Bette saying “what condition is that?!” and Rachel said it was so funny and they (the three actresses) were making jokes about that line since Laurel was already “huuuge” then. How on earth could she not see that Tina was pregnant ?!). And that day, I believe we worked 16 hours. We shot like 12 script pages.

You were not part the show right from the very beginning, like Laurel Holloman, for instance, so how did you react when you first found out that Dana was going to die in season 3?

Rachel Shelley: I’m going to tell you, but first, since I believe Erin was here in 2008, did she tell you the story of how Ilene told her about Dana’s death before shooting season 3? (at that point, the hosts and audience said no). Well, Ilene Chaiken took her to this very very fancy restaurant and she tells her that Dana is going to have breast cancer. And right away Erin goes: “WOW!!! That’s fantastic!!” because indeed, for an actor, that’s a geat storyline to play. And then, almost immediately, Ilene adds: “… and Dana is going to die”.  And Erin remains like paralized and goes: “Whaaaat?”. (Well, Rachel was mimicking her here, which was actrually  very funny). But getting back to the question: I had not been in the show as long as everybody else, but you’ve met Erin, she’s the funniest and nicest person ever, how can you not love her? Of course it was sad that she would leave the show and we were all upset. Especially, since, if you look at the statistics, Dana shouldn’t have died. Dana’s cancer story could really have been an uplifting one considering she was young and fit.

I think it was a bad idea to let her die.

What do you think happens to the characters that disappear (Helena’s kids, Winnie Mann – her ex, Papi – even though she was supposed to be Tasha’s best and closest friend -, Mark, Billie, …)?

Rachel Shelley: They live in the OC show!!! Actually, this is a soap opera and I believe the main problem is, as in me many soap operas,  there are just way too many characters, and it’s also a matter of logistics. The show was shot in Vancouver, and some actors were also working on other projects, and actors such as Lauren Lee Smith, for instance, had to be in LA.

Actually, after every season, one very important character disappears. At some point, did you and the other actors start to be scared that it was going to be your character that would die or disappear?

Rachel Shelley: Well, I guess, if they can kill off one of the most popular characters of the show, like Dana, anything can happen, so yes…

Was the Charlie’s angels opening scene, during season 5,  as funny to shoot as it was fun to watch?

Rachel Shelley: Yes, it was very funny to shoot. Leisha, in particular, was absolutely hilarious. She was saying that she was jealous of my long hair, so, since she had this wig, she couldn’t stop waggling her hair from one side to the other (Rachel does an impression of Leisha, and it really looks like a L’Oreal commercial. It’s hilarious) until, of course, at some point the wig falls down and Leisha looks like a little girl who just broke her toy and is about to cry, and Rachel says everyone on set was laughing like crazy).

Would you have watched Leisha in the spin-off if the show had been picked up?

Rachel Shelley: I would have loved to see Leisha’s spin off. She could have done a gréât job had she been given the chance.

Saturday afternoon October, 30th: Q&As with Laurel Holloman & Randy Harrison (of course I’ll only be focusing on Laurel’s answers).

So, as I said before, these are the fans’ questions…

What was the hardest scene for you to shoot in the entire show?

Laurel Holloman: The fight scene between Bette and Tina in season 1 finale in their bedroom. Laurel explained again that she had to “flip” Jennifer over since she was supposed to take control of her and of the whole situation at some point, but she couln’t because Jennifer is so strong and so much more muscular than Laurel is (and Laurel showed us her arms and shoulders just to give us an idea of what she meant. That was funny!) and the director was keeping on telling her to “flip her” and she ended up asking Jennifer to let her.

Did you stay in touch with Jennifer Beals?

Laurel : Yes. We did. Actually, I called her over the summer for advice. She really is like a big sister to me.

Right before Laurel & Randy came on stage, Tina’s interrogation tape was shown on the big screen of the auditorium… Which led me to ask Laurel the following question:

We just saw interrogation’s tape, which was quite shocking for the fans, even though we had all been waiting to finally learn something about Tina’s family and background story/past for years. Was this story something you knew for a long time and had had time to work on, or was this something that Ilene Chaiken told you when you started shooting season 6.

Laurel Holloman: I didn’t know about the incest story, but we had been talking a little about Tina’s parents. I kinda knew her father was very conservative. But yeah, the incest story was decided in the end. And though, when you put it in perspective, it actually makes a lot of sense. Her story with her sister helps explain Tina’s co-dependance of the first two seasons. And it made all the more sense to me that it’s happened to a friend of mine and his brother. And I think this is something you should be able to talk with children. It happens more often than we’d think, and I believe it’s important not to be afraid to talk about these things with kids.

What do you think of the finale of The L Word:

This whole murder mystery reminded me of Dallas. “Who shot JR?” became “Who shot Jenny?”. It’s a pity to end the show on such a sad note. Many of the cast members were disappointed by the way the show ends.

Would you like to work on The L Word movie if there was one?

Sure, why not? I think the whole cast would be on board if there was a movie, but in this economy, it might be quite complicated… Though, if there was a movie, it would probably take place in New York since Bette and Tina leave LA for NYC at the end of the show. Though, yes, I think most of the cast members would like to make a movie. It could be great if they could do something as good as Sex and the city – the movie.

Then both actors started to play a little game of mimes and Laurel did that hilarious impression of Shane that you saw on video.

Laurel’s impression of Shane

Report from Day 2 is coming shortly