By BetteAndTinaForever

B&TF: There are a lot of fans of Helena who are really upset that she’s gone. Remember when I talked to you in LA and you said we were going to see a lot of you in the first three episodes and I never bothered to ask about the rest of the season.
RS: I didn’t want to tell people what was going to happen.

B&TF: Well, you knew that the fans will be disappointed.
RS: Yes and also because it was part of the storyline. I don’t ever purposely ever give away the storyline before it’s over. When I said before that people would be shocked what happens with Helena in season 5, that’s what I meant.

B&TF: You said during Q&A session that you were supposed to be in 6 episodes but then you only appeared in 3. Did they explain to you why?
RS: I don’t know why. The short answer is – I don’t know.

B&TF: And the long answer is?
RS: It came out of the blue for me. It was a shock. Not a nice shock, obviously. Ilene rang me personally and told me about it nicely; as nice as one can be when you tell someone that. She told me it wasn’t her decision and it wasn’t what she wanted. So that…

B&TF: She explained in “Secret Ingredient” that airs after each episode, that Helena’s storyline wasn’t going anywhere and she wanted to make something really great for Helena so they took you away, put you on a deserted Island somewhere and then brought you back in the end for the great finale.
RS: The decision was made before anything was shot. We didn’t start shooting...the decision was made about the same time last year right before the writing was beginning in March. So, you know, the decision was made already. I hear whispers that maybe it was a financial decision but actually I don’t know. It’s never been fully explained to me. I’m just very happy. Initially they asked me to come back and do six episodes. I was just about to fly back and start filming the last three episodes – 10, 11 and 12. They called up to just say that they could not make the storyline fit.

B&TF: So you were supposed to be on the bike ride? That was in episode 10.
RS: I don’t know. Right. So maybe they couldn’t fit it in. Whatever. I ended up going back for episode 12. Like I said, I had dinner with Ilene just before Christmas and she told me...

B&TF: Was it a nice dinner?
RS: Yeah. Really nice. We went to this really nice Japanese in Vancouver, we had a lovely dinner and she told me then that if they got a Season 6 she’d want me to do it. And then I spoke to her a week ago and she told me they got Season 6 and she told me again that she wants me to do it.

B&TF: Did you say yes?
RS: Yes, of course. All the way through, all the way through I said that I wanted to come back and do this. Cause I didn’t feel like Helena Peabody had been finalized. I mean sometimes you don’t get a choice but I felt like at the end of Season 5 her story isn’t wrapped up, things aren’t final for her yet. I would have been very sad to have not come back, not to have come back and finished that on a professional level but also, obviously, I wanted to be doing it! Because it’s fun and we all have a great time. So I was very glad when I spoke to Ilene last week and she said she wanted me to do it all and the contract is being dealt with now.

B&TF: Well, at least she didn’t call you and say you’re going to be dead after the bike ride and you won’t be able to come back.
RS: Yeah.

B&TF: So let’s talk about some of your relationships. I’ll start with the latest one, Dusty. What do you think about this storyline?
RS: I like that, I like the fact that it was interesting to Helena to be involved with someone in prison. When you’re in prison it’s about nothing - all you have is your personality and your body, yourself. You have nothing else; you don’t have the accessories that Helena is used to. And nobody else does...the luxuries and all the trappings that kind of made her who she was. I think it was a very beautiful relationship – I’m not sure it was very practical and was going to exist in the outside world that’s very open. We shall see and maybe that’s something that we’ll deal with in Season 6. I don’t know. Having not seen it, I think it worked well and I think it probably had some chemistry there. And I think it was interesting to see Helena change and adapt within those three episodes.

B&TF: I also liked it because it was funny. It was interesting because you were in a prison and dealing with all that stuff but it was also funny like with, “Don’t drop the soap”...
RS: Yes! Yes! Exactly...don’t drop the soap and then that scene in the shower where I get attacked, you know what? It really was quite intimidating and something that Helena hadn’t done before. You’re standing there and you’re naked and you’re vulnerable and you have all these women…

B&TF: Staring at you, waving knives at you…
RS: Exactly, it really was intimidating. That’s what I mean about stripping Helena right down literally and metaphorically.

B&TF: Well you know the scene when that woman came to you with that knife? You looked really, really scared. It was so believable.
RS: It was the right thing to shoot. All the women in it were amazing and really good to work with and you know, Helena was at her most vulnerable moment and it was good for Helena to have that. And that’s what I think gave her the ability to then, when Peggy Peabody, her mother, comes in and says, “No I’m gonna get you out of this like I always do,” Helena turns around and says, “No, because you’re always doing that to me. Let me deal with it like I want to deal with it. And I’m not having you do this again. It’s just ridiculous.”

B&TF: It’s kind of nice to have someone come and save you at the last moment but…
RS: Yes, but it is but the whole idea of strength of character and to grow as a character and a person you need to fight your own battles. I mean Helena didn’t completely fight her own battles because Dusty stepped in but at the same time, you know, she saw what it was like. And that stuck with her because they were developing a relationship and they develop that relationship for no other reason than they liked each other; which is what it should be.

B&TF: You mentioned during Meet&Greet to me that Dylan was your best dramatic relationship and you would like her to come back, so let’s talk about Dylan. Why do you think she was best for Helena?
RS: I think if you put aside the end of that relationship where obviously Dylan was trying to get money from Helena. I think that was a beautiful scene and beautifully shot. Rose Troche shot that.

B&TF: Are you talking about the one where she turns the check?
RS: No, no. The one in the lawyer’s. And it was a very interesting scene for Alex because neither of us says much, it’s all about looks. And I thought that was really strong. As I say, I think Rose Troche directed it beautifully. She’s very good. It’s the most equal relationship, I think, that Helena’s had and the most seemingly equal but on an emotional level, the most equal. They have similarly strong feelings for each other. It wasn’t about what one could get from the other. No one was manipulating anyone; no one was sort of using anyone in any way.

B&TF: Well, it started like that but it changed…
RS: Well, yeah, but I think even from the beginning, Helena had nothing but admiration for Dylan and her work, the film that she was doing – you know, her social justice. I think there was a real admiration for her. That’s why I think it was the perfect, it was the most perfect of the relationships we’ve seen her have. It was a meeting of minds and physically obviously there was a lot going on, the chemistry was amazing. I think it worked well on camera; I think it looked good. I love Alexandra the actress, we’re great friends. I’d love to work with her again. She just left London today actually.

B&TF: Had you met her before you began shooting?
RS: No.

B&TF: So you met on the set. Ok. Do you think it’s easier when you know people to work with them, especially if it’s intimate scene or when you don’t know them?
RS: I think it’s probably easier if you don’t know them and then you work with them. I can’t imagine having to suddenly do a scene with Mia for example. That would be hard if we had to suddenly make out. You know that scene that we shot with Jennifer Beals…when we were shooting it everyone was laughing; it was really hard to keep a straight face.

B&TF: Actually, there are a couple of moments where you can see everybody’s laughing.
RS: Yes! It’s so funny especially because if you had Laurel and Kate doing the make out scene on the floor as well…it was just hysterical

B&TF: Were you all there? Were you doing it at the same time?
RS: Yes, we were all there just hanging out and just having a bit of a laugh. It was fun.

B&TF: Do you think they did it because there are so many people who want all these different couples to be together?
RS: Oh, yeah. Yeah. People are like – “Oh, they should be together. They should be together...” So they got a little taste of it and I think that’s great. And they put it within the context of the storyline. I thought it was a very smart little peek. I really liked that one. It was fun. But, yeah, we all laughed all the way through that one.

B&TF: What about Charlie’s Angels?
RS: It was the same. It was hilarious. It was really good fun. At the time we looked at old footage of Charlie’s Angels.

B&TF: Who were you supposed to be? I haven’t seen the old version yet.
RS: She had quite a deep voice. Jaclyn Smith, that’s it. That’s the one. That was so much fun. I’m wearing that ridiculous denim jumpsuit.

B&TF: It was really funny, when you did the hair and then you shot Alice instead…
RS: Yes, with the gaydar. Leisha’s wig flew off at one moment when we were doing the shoot. This huge hair thing and it just flew off and it was hysterical. We were just rolling in fits of giggles and Kate just looked incredible when she came out in hair and make-up.

B&TF: People couldn’t even recognize her at first.
RS: Exactly! It was amazing. It was the same on set. Everyone was amazed.

B&TF: What about Laurel? I thought that it was kind of homage to her character in The Incredible Adventures of Two Girls in Love when she was Bosley. She was this butchy kind of character.
RS: I don’t know…maybe there was a sense of that. Ultimately it was funny and Mia’s shots as well. Mia was like, “I wanted to play a Charlie’s Angel” but for this storyline it didn’t work out. I was very pleased that I was one of the angels.

B&TF: Actually in the original script the fan had used Dana. I think Jennifer Beals said she also wanted to be Jaclyn Smith but she ended up being Charlie.
RS: Yeah, it was fun.

B&TF: When I saw you in Vancouver you told me that sometimes when you play a character you don’t know where you end and the character begins. So now, how do you think about yourself and the Helena character?
RS: You know, it’s weird because in previous years I’ve spent five months with that character, solidly, working. This past year, it’s a long time since I’ve been immersed in Helena. I did an episode in October and then just three that we shot in the beginning of May so I feel like I’m quite removed. On top of that, since I’ve played an American space woman. In the pilot I played a hippie Earth Mother in the film I’ve just done. And I’m about to go do Ghost Whisperer where I play a ghost, you know? So I feel like I’m quite removed from her at the moment. I always used to say that playing Helena would sometimes give me a bit more kind of “balls” in certain situations where I can actually turn on if I need to. But I don’t think it’s usually very helpful to have that arrogance anyway so I try not to. I can feel that I can do it if I need to; I can turn on if I need to.

B&TF: Do you think you brought your own personality to Helena in Seasons like 3 and 4?
RS: Yeah, I think the kind of goofiness.

B&TF: People keep talking about every character pretty much has gone through a personality change, brain transfer – whatever. So, what happened to Helena when she turned from a bitchy character to someone with a heart?
RS: I never really saw Helena as bitchy; I just saw her as strong. And she went for what she wanted. She was never out rightly bitchy. She never did anything; however much the “TiBette people” say that she broke them up, she didn’t. They were already broken up. I just never saw her as that bitchy, I just saw her as someone who was determined and, you know, she would go for what she wanted.

B&TF: What about Bette and Tina, by the way? When you were brought in Season 2, was there an idea that Bette and Tina would never get back together and you were part of that triangle and maybe you would end up with Tina or something?
RS: I don’t know. I don’t know what the idea was. I think Helena was brought in as a tool with which to break them up and to add drama, you know, the love triangle – classic drama. The long term plan changes, I think it changes every season.

B&TF: What do you personally think of Bette and Tina getting back together?
RS: I think they’re so good together. When I watched the moments when they’re together – they’re great together. The chemistry filmed between them is beautiful. It’s really nice and of course it’s been the main thread of the show all these years, you know. And it’s a great love story. They’ve been through so much together – ups and downs and back and forth and betrayals and it’s a great love story. Everyone wants a happy ending.

B&TF: I think it’s kind of the same between you and Dylan because sometimes they only have looks between them and you just see the chemistry.
RS: Right. I see what you’re saying.

B&TF: You don’t know what’s going to be happening for the last season. If you would be writing it, what do you envision for Helena in Season 6? Being with Cindy or someone else?
RS: That’s a possibility. There is a possibility of that. That might be fun. I don’t know her character enough to be honest because I’ve only seen episode 12 and that’s all I really know of her. Cause I haven’t even read the script in between. You know more than I do. I don’t know who she is except that she’s beautiful…

B&TF: She’s sort of a slave for her lover Dawn who can never say anything…
RS: Well, maybe that’s not such a good thing for Helena.

B&TF: Well, she does stand up for herself in the last episode and helps Helena…
RS: I don’t know, maybe she needs someone who’s going to be more of a meeting of equals because if Cindy is this submissive character, maybe it’s not great for Helena to go back there. I don’t know. I really don’t know.

B&TF: Do you want a happy ending for Helena as well?
RS: Yeah but I don’t think it should be too wrapped up because I don’t think ‘happily ever after’ really exist.

B&TF: Except for Bette and Tina.
RS: But even that will be a happy ending but every relationship has arguments and if it doesn’t you’re probably not being honest with yourself. You know a happy place to be but, of course, there’s always going to be problems. Maybe if Helena got back with Dylan, they’re still going to have problems but it would be a nice thing. You’d think – “oh good”.

B&TF: What has being on The L Word meant to you as a person, as a human being – not just an actor?
RS: God, it’s so much…it’s so much. As an actress it’s a great challenge, it’s an amazing job. It opened my eyes to lots of things, I mean I have gay girlfriends before I did the show but now I know a culture inside out and it’s a very warm supportive culture. It’s full of generally very smart women and very educated, vocal women who are strong. I’ve met so many amazing women in LA and I don’t think those circles would have ever been open to me if I hadn’t done The L Word because LA isn’t known for smart, intelligent women especially. There’s many of them there but the image of the people that you meet is very different so I’ve met a lot of amazing women, I’ve learned an awful lot as an actress, I’ve developed as an actress, I’ve just had a wonderful time.

B&TF: I missed your Q&A yesterday because I was doing other interviews but I’ve heard you say it’s also made you think about possibilities as far as your sexuality goes. Did you question your sexuality when you were on the show or as a consequence of the show?
RS: You can’t help but working on a show like that you obviously put questions in your mind. I’ve always said I’ve never been in love with a woman yet but I would never say never.

B&TF: Because it’s not about gender…
RS: No, exactly. It’s about a person. Who knows?