By BetteAndTinaForever

Disclaimer: I tried to write questions and answers as fast as I could but of course I’m only a human. Everything I wrote is not verbatim but the way I remembered it. I had to write so fast that sometimes I couldn’t even understand my own handwriting so I’m trying to do as best as I can here.

WARNING: Contains some spoilers for season 5

Some of you might be wondering why I don’t have a Q&A session with Anne Ramsey, who was present during the third day of the LA Convention. Here’s your answer. While Anne was on stage, Kate and Leisha were doing individual interviews that Sean Harry arranged for a few representatives of TLW related websites and news stations.

So, right before the both of them came back for another Q&A session, I had a chance to sit down with Kate and Leisha and asked them a few questions that came from me and some other fans of the show.

B&TF: How do you feel about filming seasons 4 and 5 without Erin Daniels, how was the whole atmosphere on the set, and how it affected the cast?
Leisha: At first it was very sad and it felt like something was missing. Our friend was gone and our routine was gone, it was like a giant loss. I mean, at this point it has been two years and we got used to it.
Kate: We got over the hump.
Leisha: But that day when she came back to work it was really exciting.
Kate: Yes, it was, and everyone cried because we were so happy but you know, even on the show, you always miss her.

B&F: Were you surprised when she appeared in season 4 because you don’t read all scripts right at the beginning?
Leisha: Well, we knew a little bit before she was coming.
Kate: Yes, we knew there would be something special in the finale last year but we didn’t know what it was and I guess the cat was let out of the bag and it was the greatest surprise.

B&TF: Name an actor or actress who you haven't worked with so far but with whom you'd love to star opposite in a TV show or movie.
Kate: Edward Norton, I think he’s good and wickedly talented.
Leisha: I’d love to work with Tina Fey or Lisa Kudrow.

B&TF: Because they are funny?
Leisha: Yeah, and they are brilliant.
Kate: Edie Falco, she’s also wickedly talented.
Leisha: Sarah Silverman.

B&TF: If you could change one thing about yourself as a person, what would it be?
Leisha: I’d like to carry less guilt around constantly. I always feel guilty for no reason.
Kate: I’d like to not think so much sometimes.

B&TF: Can you tell me anything about you personally that the fans don’t already know?
Leisha: It’s hard to answer because I don’t know what you already know and what you don’t know.

B&TF: Okay, what can you tell us about your personality then that no one knows or you rarely talk about?
Leisha: I don’t really have a personality before I drink a cup of coffee in the morning, I know that. I’m not sure that anybody knows that, but I’m no fun.

B&TF: It’s kind of like Shane in season 1 when you couldn’t talk to her before she had her espresso on the morning.
Leisha: Yes, that’s exactly what I’m like.
Kate: When I’m ready to go, I’m kind of notorious for just leaving when I wanna leave from some place.

B&TF: Who is your most favorite character you have played so far and why?
Kate: I don’t think my roster’s that big.
Leisha: Yeah, mine’s not big enough too.

B&TF: Well, if did you have to choose from what you have?
Leisha: Then I think it’s Alice for me.
Kate: For me it’s Shane.

B&TF: What has been the craziest, funniest and the most interesting thing that has happened during the filming of season 5?
Leisha: I don’t know, there are different situations that happened. Just when you think you had a great day and then another one comes along, funnier than the last. Just off the top of my head, it seems like the funniest thing I remember. We did a fan fiction scene, the winner of the fan fiction thing and we filmed it as a teaser and it was so funny.
Kate: Yes, it was Leisha and myself and Rachel and we were dressed up as a…
Leisha (interrupting): No, you can’t say it.
Kate: I’m not going to.

B&TF: I already know, I read the winning episode because they posted the winner on their site so everybody could read it. One thing people were asking, if Dana was going to be on it because Dana was the major character in that scene. They were teaching her about the gaydar or something. That’s the winning episode, right?
Kate and Leisha (together): No.

B&TF: Did they change it then?
Leisha: Maybe it changed after Dana, I don’t know.

B&TF: But it’s about Charlie’s Angels, right?
Leisha: Oh, yeah.

B&TF: They just probably cut it and only chose one little scene, because the winner wrote this huge piece and seems like they just chose part of it.
Leisha: Oh, okay.
Kate: That was fun.

B&TF: And you said before that it was Alice’s dream.
Leisha: Yes.

B&TF: Can you describe The L Word in one word, what does the show mean for you personally?
Kate: I’d say ‘Friendship’, that’s what I think of the show, personally.
Leisha: I was gonna say it.
Kate: You can steal it.
Leisha: Yeah, it’s ‘Friendship’ for me too, it’s perfect.

B&TF: Now I have some separate questions. Can you describe Alice in one sentence and then Kate can do the same about Shane?
Leisha: In one sentence? I think Alice is very open-minded, open-hearted, accepting, funny person.
Kate: Okay, I feel like I should do haiku or something (laughing).

B&TF: That would be fun.
Kate: Yeah, I know. I see Shane as someone who’s very difficult and a bit tormented but very sensitive and kind.

B&TF: Many times on the show it was mentioned that they see Shane as Yoda, why do you think that is?
Kate: I think she has good insight, she’s perceptive. People who are like that tend to listen to because they are usually right.

B&TF: But she does keep it to herself sometimes.
Kate: Yes, exactly.

B&TF: If you were a writer or producer, what kind of a storyline would you envision for your characters? You know, sometimes you hear from the cast members that they don’t like where their story’s going or don’t agree with that, so if you were the writer for Alice or Shane, where would the story go?
Leisha: Actually, it’s going exactly where the end of the season takes my character. I like what happens to her and all the changes in her love life. I think I would write exactly the way they did it.
Kate: Well, it’s kind of a shitty answer but there’re a lot of seeds planted for a sixth season if and when there is a sixth season. There’s a little seed planned in the finale that could provoke things for the following year and those seeds are the things that I’m actually very excited to play of. They are different and not obvious. I’m sorry I can’t be more specific…

B&TF: No, it’s okay.
Kate: We can’t really talk about it so I won’t.

B&TF: Another question about Shane. I was at the Ribbon of Hope event last year and you were saying that Shane is not a long-term commitment kind of person. Do you think it’s ever gonna happen? It didn’t work with Carmen, didn’t work with Paige.
Kate: I don’t know if it’s gonna happen. I don’t know if it’s gonna work for her and if it does, like I said, I think it will be something really special if it does, and this is something I can’t really discuss right now.

B&TF: Oh, you know how many speculations will come about this statement?
Kate: Right, but I think it will come from a very random place. This is when that will happen.

B&TF: After playing a character, some cast members were sort of becoming their characters and some were changing their characters to fit their personalities? What do you think about it?
Kate: I think we all kind of blended into the roles we played after so many years, don’t you agree? (asking Leisha) I mean, I don’t know the difference between me and who I play and I don’t think you do either. I don’t think anyone really does at this point.
Leisha: As an actor anyway, you always want to bring quite a bit of yourself into it because this is when you can play the truth.
Kate: And you want to keep it fresh every year.

B&TF: So it’s like you’re bringing your personality more into the character?
Kate: Yeah, but actually really defining the differences between who we are and who we play, I don’t know. The lines are pretty blurry at this point. That’s the best answer I can give you.
Leisha: I agree.

B&TF: Kate, you were talking about your new movie project in March, anything else you would like to do? The filming is almost over, you have one more week to shoot the finale and then what are your plans after that?
Leisha: I’m gonna focus on music, for sure, but I don’t know, if the time comes that I need to start new auditions as well. There’re no plans for anything like that for me right now.
Kate: Well, and it’s also the holidays.
Leisha: Yeah, we all need a big break.
Kate: I need to chill out before the New Year.

B&TF: This is sort of a multiple answer question. After 5 years of filming TLW, what is the most important thing that you had learned about acting, cast members, fans of the show and yourself? Let’s start with acting.
Leisha: I feel like this show’s really given me a very rare opportunity that you don’t get on a lot of shows when you have a giant range of what you’re given as far as what you play. Like, we had to play love, separations, and death, career trauma and we’ve really been given an opportunity to play out different story lines. Usually, you’re stuck on a show where you’re just playing a cop and you stay the same, and I think we’re lucky that way and as an actor I learned to act different things.
Kate: And we also are given a lot of freedom from our bosses to collaborate.
Leisha: And improvise.
Kate: Yes, this is very, very rare, especially on television. So, I think we all really learned a lot, and I will speak for myself, learned a lot with trials and errors on this show and it’s a really safe place to do it because everyone’s really trustworthy.

B&TF: Since we’re talking about others, what did you learn about other cast members?
Kate: It’s kind of like anything. It’s like having a roommate for many years or being in a high school for four years. You spend your time with the same person or the same group of people year after year after year and you begin to know each other very, very well and there’s not much you can hide and there’s this unspoken language that we all share.
Leisha: It sounds cliché but we really are like a family at this point, even with the crew.
Kate: Not to repeat myself but again, it is a very safe environment to feel safe to take risks and be open to one another.
Leisha: And also, I think, we’ve learned from each other. Not just about each other but from each other.
Kate: Absolutely, because we’re all very different and we all picked up things that someone else has that we should probably practice more. It’s always give and take with all the cast members.

B&TF: What did you learn about the fans of the show?
Leisha: That they are amazing, supportive and they blow my mind every day, and how beautiful and lovely they are.
Kate: And their respect and their patience is just great.
Leisha: And their loyalty.
Kate: Yes, their loyalty and their opinions, they are priceless.

I didn’t have more time to finish all the questions but there’s still Blackpool Convention, where I’m going this week and I will try to bring more news and answers form the lovely ladies of The L Word.