L6 Interview with Pam Grier: Part 1 – The L Word
Interview with Pam Grier: Part 1 – The L Word
By B&TF
Every time I go to L Conventions in England I don’t always know what to expect, who I will interview, or how much time I will have for that. At L6 Convention all the guests were extremely busy with many events but I did have a great opportunity to talk to legen … wait for it … dary Pam Grier!
As if we were having just a regular conversation, Pam began talking before I even had a chance to ask any questions or turn on my recorder. She was amazing and so without further ado, here’s our little interview.
Pam Grier: This Convention is so successful. There are people from Poland, Germany, France, Spain, Russia…oh my God, did I tell you I went to St. Petersburg?
B&TF: No, when did you go?
PG: This summer to see The Kirov Ballet. Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, Voloshin…
B&TF: I used to live there for about two years…
PG: Get out…
B&TF: Yeah, and I used to go and watch ballet all the time.
PG: I like The Kirov much more than the Moscow Ballet company.
B&TF: The Bolshoi?
PG: Yes, the Bolshoi in Moscow but I like The Kirov in St. Petersburg. I could go there every night but it was booked. And I said, “You know what, I’m going to come back with the girls. We got to go and see this.”
B&TF: Do you mean the cast?
PG: Anybody who can afford to go because it’s like 4,000 a trip to go there. I always book three months in advance. Oh my God, the classics. Girl, it was awesome. I even got all the DVD’s of the ballets from Don Quixote to Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake. I’ve seen I don’t know how many times.
B&TF: Have you ever seen any of the famous ones, like Baryshnikov?
PG: No, I’ve got them on DVD’s, I didn’t get to see Baryshnikov unfortunately.
B&TF: So, let’s talk about The L Word first because this show is still important to so many people and they are still talking about it.
PG: They will talk about The L Word until I’m a hundred.
B&TF: Yes, it’s like you said before. There are some shows that come and go and when they over, nobody cares. The L Word forums are still active.
PG: It’s still going, yes.
B&TF: Let’s talk about the finale and the final season. I think it was the biggest disappointment to many fans because I think they expected it to be happier…
PG: Is that an Ilene question?
B&TF: Not, it’s not Ilene’s question and I already asked her that.
PG: All right (laughing).
B&TF: I guess we expected it to be a beautiful celebration of love, friendship but instead we got ‘Who killed Jenny’.
PG: Angelica, the baby killed Jenny (laughing). They bumped heads at the top of the stairs, Jenny lost her balance and fell over, hit the concrete and went into the pool. The baby killed her (laughing). That’s Kit’s version of the ending.
B&TF: What are your thoughts about the finale, why did it end this way?
PG: I don’t know. We were told that this is what it is and my reaction was, “Well, okay.” You really don’t have one, you just say, “Well, okay. Learn the lines and do what you have to do.” So my reaction really was, “Hmm, it’s an interesting choice.”
B&TF: About the whole last season or the finale?
PG: The finale…the season I thought was great, it was fabulous but not the finale. We asked questions but we are just the actors. We are hired guns to come on and do the work. We all have our opinions, which are private but we all wanted it to be the best. The question that all of us had was, “What will the audience think? The blogs are going to blow up their computers.” I had encounters on the streets when people come to me and ask, “Why did it go this way?” And I tell them, “I don’t know. Ask Ilene, call Ilene because I don’t know.” But we all talked about what the audience would say. Is the audience gonna like it or they are not gonna like it? We all would speculate.
B&TF: I guess some people just didn’t understand why the whole season revolved around Jenny’s death but in the end we didn’t even find out who did it.
PG: Well, maybe if it had gone into another season or into the movie. You know, a little mystery in the end, a little intrigue, if it’s done right. I can’t make that judgment if it was done right or wrong but it wasn’t my call. I’m not the creator, I’m not the writer. I’m just the actor. That’s an Ilene question. I know you want more, you’re gonna ply me with vodka so that I can tell all the secrets and the truth. You want to hear what went on, what the arguments were but I don’t have any vodka so I can’t tell you (laughing).
B&TF: I wish someone’s give me vodka (laughing).
PG: I can’t tell you what went on, darling, I can’t tell you.
B&TF: Okay, then I have a question about the movie. Ilene tweeted about it a few months back that she’s writing the movie. Were you approached about it yet?
PG: Ilene doesn’t say anything so that it doesn’t create any jealousy or animosity or anything with anyone. She’s putting it together. I may not even be in it, you know. They might not be able to afford me. I don’t know (laughing). But if I am in it, that will be great. I know they want the box office to be successful for it, so there may not be enough for me to be in it. Will it be in LA and in the Planet? I don’t know. I don’t know anything about it. If the do ask me, I would do it.
B&TF: Is it going to be like a Showtime movie?
PG: Showtime doesn’t do movies, it has to play in the theater first and then Showtime will likely to pick it up.
B&TF: And if you are asked you will do it?
PG: Sure. I’m an artist. There’re a lot of movies I’ve done because there wasn’t enough money in it but I did it.
B&TF: How do you feel about where and with whom Kit ended up after all the unsuccessful relationships?
PG: He turns up to being a real man. He was a drag queen because he wanted to make some money but he wasn’t a real drag queen.
B&TF: Why do you think Kit fall for this man?
PG: Because he was good in bed (laughing). People are lovers because they have a sexual and emotional connection. If they break up or the relationship is severed then they are just friends, and you know that’s boring. So if he’s good in bed, hey, you’re hanging in there. Do you want to know if we got that far? (laughing)
B&TF: Not really (laughing).
PG: Yes, we did, we did. We did get that far and he was good in bed. How long it will last, I don’t know.
B&TF: I did like Sunset, though. He was a really nice guy and he seemed to treat Kit right.
PG: Yes, he was nice. And he liked the community that I lived in, which was great.
B&TF: Remember that scene where Roger and you were in Bette’s house and Angelica called him daddy. I read some comments from fans who were amused by that comment because he wasn’t in their lives for that long…
PG: She probably felt that he was a very strong daddy image.
B&TF: And he probably was a really good image if Angelica liked him because children sense those things.
PG: Yes, they are the truth serum, they are very truthful.
B&TF: Tell me a little about Olivia who played Angelica. Both Laurel and Jennifer told a few stories before about Olivia on the set. Can you share any stories? What were your favorite moments with Olivia?
PG: Oh, there’re so many. I could sing her to sleep with the lullaby that I wrote for her. (Starts singing) “Angelica, you are my baby, you are my candy girl, you are my precious girl. My Angelica, you are my baby and I love you, you’re my angel.”
B&TF: It was beautiful.
PG: I wrote that. It was one of the top songs and we didn’t even write a full song. They asked me if we could continue and Ezgirl said we got to write a full song. I just did four bars of it. And Olivia went right to sleep. I was just singing it and she just loved it. She was cute, she was cute. And to see her grow on the show it was something. What a beautiful baby.
B&TF: Yes, it was amazing to see her in season two as a baby and then in season six when she was four.
PG: Yes.
B&TF: So, now we are six years later and if you look back to season one, what do you think about your presence on the show? Do you miss it?
PG: You always miss something that’s good and you’re grateful that you were able to do it. I am mystified as to why it stopped. People can tell me what their reasons are but there are still other stories about other people that I think could’ve kept the momentum even more intriguing. Because each year you get to say more, you can be more involved, you can show more, people are accepting it more. Would’ve been interesting to see a lot of the more political stories with the humor and satire in them, you know. Those are the past, the present and the future and I think that we are reaching 23 countries, it’s brilliant. In some countries it’s second and third seasons, going on fourth and some. It’s great. There’s dialog, there’s connection and inclusion in this community. There’s a lot that this show did. It was a catalyst, if you will, for the world, for women and their families, and the communities. There’re lawyers out there, there’re doctors, there’re students, there’s every walk of life getting out there who will go back and talk about issues that we are all about, reminding them to make a difference. It’s been phenomenal. The dialog from it is just exceptional.
B&TF: It’s also great that not only the LGBT community was watching the show but a lot of straight women, some of whom are not straight anymore (laughing).
PG: I’m still straight (laughing). I’m boring because they all like, “She’s not gay? She’s not a lesbian? Oh wow…” I tell them, “Yeah, I’m so boring,” and they just say, “We know you’re straight, we know.” They won’t even waste time with me.
B&TF: It’s funny but I heard some women saying that they have a crush on you, even if they are straight and married.
PG: Oh, there are so many women have crushes on me, it’s so sweet…it’s great.
B&TF: What do you think about when women come to you and say that?
PG: I think, “My skin is good. I love looking good.” But they are looking for someone who is gay and I can’t fulfill that. There’s an emotional aspect, it’s not just an external pacifying of feelings and the external quickness of it. It’s deeper than that. I thought, “I wonder if I’m gay?” but then I know I’m not. I’m really straight and I like men. The girls would ask, “Pam, are there any women that you are attracted to?” And I’d go, “Not really, I mean I like your shoes, Mia, but that’s about as far as it go.” I think I would’ve known. When you’re a child, I think you know when you’re seven or eight or ten, somewhere there…you kinda know who you’re attracted to. And it’s always been men for me. You just know, it’s something internal but being able to play a lesbian would be outstanding. I’ve got such research from Daniela to Bette to Leisha to all of them. They are all so different in their own personas. I just think it’s an honor when people find you attractive, when they tell you, “Your makeup looks perfect, your skin looks divine.” It’s great, it means I’m doing something right. I don’t mind and I don’t care who is attracted to me. It’s great, it’s an honor.
B&TF: I know it’s been probably asked a lot but in all of the six years do you have one most memorable moment…on set, off set…one moment that you always think about when you look back?
PG: There were all kinds of moments. There’re scenes with Alan Cumming. We worked very well together, I loved working with him. He was fabulous. The scenes with Ivan in the first season and working with Kelly Lynch was fabulous. The exploration of the story about this woman who is a man, treating me better than most men had. She was exceptional and warm and I felt safe and secure with this woman who is a man. I thought that was a very interesting thing to do. And it was interesting to hear other people’s comments because there’s this straight heirloom that is still fearful because of the unknown. They don’t understand why God would present a community like this. Duh, this has nothing to do with God. This is the part of the human race. This is the part of the message and the fabric. It’s like there are so many different races and cultures, it’s a part of the fabric of mankind. Nothing to question. It’s there and every time I do something it reaches the people who are questioning and doubting and are fearful and don’t understand. Who are intelligent enough to understand or too religious but yet intelligent to understand or don’t want to for whatever reason. So whenever I can be a beacon of light, of comprehension, I’m going to do that. I want to be a part of that and hopefully with the show we sent accurate profound thinking messages for people.
I really love Pam in interviews. She’s witty, relaxed, and down-to-earth. She’s wonderful…and very intelligent.