Leisha Hailey, who artfully played our favorite messy bisexual Alice Pieszecki on The L Word, recently opened up about all things lesbian- including first crushes, gay bars, and (of course) the show’s iconic six-season run.
In an interview with Coveteur, Hailey posed alongside fashion designer, RHONY star, and friend Jenna Lyons on the bar of NYC’s Cubbyhole – a place Hailey remembers going to with her first girlfriend in college.
During the interview, Hailey revealed the success of the show came as a shock to her. Prior to the series’ popularity, her only knowledge of gay media came from “tiny art house movies.” But she realized that would all change during the first premiere party.
“I thought [The L Word] was going to be an under-the-radar television show that no one was going to hear about,” she said. “Then our first premiere was giant, all the press came, there was a carpet, I think it was at LACMA. That was the first time I realized this was going to be a lot bigger than I anticipated.”
“All the girls on the show took it so seriously. Everyone wanted to get it right. We even had a lesbian sex expert come in and sit around the table where we had our read-throughs. She had dildos across the table and strap-ons, we had this four-hour class on lesbian sex.”
Hailey says it was a combination of the show, being surrounded by other lesbians, and moving from Nebraska to New York City that helped her accept her sexuality and let go of the shame. The friendships and social dynamics between the cast even started to bleed into the script.
“We were just like this massive bubble, and all the writers were doing the same thing,” she said. “It just started to morph, everything you see on screen. So if we had a big party or something, they would write it into the show like that whole pot brownie party.”
Since the show’s premiere in 2004, we’ve been talking, laughing, loving, and breathing for the past 20 years. Hailey says she’s still waiting on another show to take The L Word‘s place (and so are we). The real question is: when will it return to streaming?
While we wait, we have The L Word New York to look forward to. Season one of the reboot is officially on it’s way, but details are hush-hush, so no word yet on whether we’ll see Alice return again.