The groundbreaking drama series The L Word: Generation Q is concluding its second season on Showtime, as everyone is making decisions about their lives, careers, and relationships. Whether it’s Shane (Katherine Moennig) and Tess (Jamie Clayton), Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Tina (Laurel Holloman), Sophie (Rosanny Zayas) and Finley (Jacqueline Toboni), or even Alice (Leisha Hailey), Dani (Arienne Mandi) and the teenaged Angie (Jordan Hull), they’re all at a crossroads that could create a ripple effect on their lives.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Moennig talked about how she sees the original series and this new iteration as separate entities, how involved she gets with the collaborative process as an executive producer, the Shane-Tess dynamic, what Clayton has brought to the series, and whether she’d be interested in directing an episode in the future.
Collider: It seems like there’s all manner of shenanigans going on this season, and it would be The L Word if there weren’t shenanigans. The first season of a TV show is generally about figuring out what the actors’ strengths are, how the cast works together, and all of the relationship dynamics, but you already did that with this show, the first time around. How did the first season of this show feel different, overall, from the original first season you did, so many years earlier?
KATHERINE MOENNIG: I see them as two separate entities, to be honest, although we’re playing the same characters in both. If I tried to compare the two, I wouldn’t be appreciating the present because I’d always be comparing it to the past. So, for me, I just compartmentalize it as that was then, this is now, and let’s make this work.
That feels like a very tricky thing to pull off because you’re taking characters that people know, but they are in very different places now.
MOENNIG: They are, yeah. And I can understand the level of expectation the fans would have to see where the three of us, because we’re the ones with all that history behind us, would wind up 10 years later. I’m always trying to find the truth of the character, as opposed to fulfilling the fan wishes because there always has to be a level of honesty and authenticity. In terms of a character like Shane, for instance, I’m very interested in seeing her grow up. She’s just someone that really takes a while to learn a lesson, but this year, she’s starting to take a beat and slow down.
As a producer on the series, how deep into the nuts and bolts do you get? Do you stay very involved with it?
MOENNIG: Being an EP is a broad term and anyone can translate that as they want, when they’re in that position. I find it most conducive, if I just stick with Shane, her story, the truth of her character, and the authenticity of it. I don’t stick my nose into other characters’ story beats or issues they may have because it’s not my business and I don’t know why anyone would want my opinion. I stay in my lane. I think we all do, actually — the three of us. We stick to what’s important, which is keeping the writers on track because the writers weren’t here for the first iteration, so they don’t know what we know. That has been a fortunate blessing, to be in an EP position, under the circumstances, because then you can have this dialogue with them constantly and find a solution together because that’s the creative process.
Do you feel like you’re also given more information about where her story is headed? Are you made aware of the full arc going into the season because you’re more involved, or are you still a bit in the dark about that, since it evolves while the season goes on?
MOENNIG: My first question, at the start of every season, when we’re in the prep and I’m talking with the writers to hear what they’ve come up with, is what’s the arc? That’s my number one question. I don’t always get that answer, to be honest, because they’re trying to suss it out. I remember on the old show, they would give you an arc and they would leave room, in mid-season, to tweak that because maybe the storyline they conjured up isn’t working, or maybe the actor isn’t what they wanted, or whatever it may be. You have to have that leniency to bend, to make whatever story unfold. This year, I wanted to know the arc, and I got a broad stroke of it. Then, it was just a matter of trying to fine tune it, with every episode, so it would track because it’s a very slow progression.
It seems as though Shane has been shedding her past and trying to figure out what her future is. Does she feel more centered or that she has a better handle on that in Season 2, or is she still in the middle of figuring things out?
MOENNIG: I think she desperately wants to figure it out. I saw it as the reason why she’s stepping back and not being as impulsive. She was impulsive in the first episode, but that seemed to be a big lesson. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing, over and over again, and expecting a different result. I think that was the catalyst for her to say, “Okay, I’m gonna just heal myself from whatever happened last season. I have a focus and I’m gonna simplify everything.” But nothing’s ever simple on The L Word.
It seems like you had some fun with Lena Waithe on the show.
MOENNIG: It was a very brief day. It was very, very brief, but yeah, we all had a good time.
What was it like to have her come in and do those scenes and get to play that banter?
MOENNIG: It was fun. It was effective stunt casting. It was a really, really great choice. She’s a super cool girl. She’s a writer and she does her own thing, so she came in and, of course, she tweaked things and made things up on the spot. With every take that we did, it would get more and more fluid and more fun. We would throw little things at each other, just to keep the energy going. It was a super fun day at work.
This season, we’ve been getting to see the evolving dynamic between Shane and Tess. What can you say about their relationship and what Jamie Clayton has brought to the show and added to that dynamic?
MOENNIG: It’s The L Word. What can I say about those two? I would say, for the first time in The L Word history, Shane has found her match. Who knows where that’s gonna evolve, but there’s a beauty to Tess because Tess doesn’t drink Shane’s Kool-Aid, and Shane sees that. Shane respects that. It’s not like she was expecting her to anyway, but it’s refreshing. Tess is of her own agency, which is always an attractive quality, much like Shane is. They’re very equal, in that regard. I really, really enjoyed that storyline. I think it’s actually my favorite Shane storyline of the entire show, old and new. I just love how they’re these two adults who still make mistakes and are trying to figure it out. They miscommunicate and they misunderstand one another, although they are speaking the same subtext.
And the fun of it, for me, was Jamie Clayton, herself. She is a force, and I’m a very lucky girl that I got to work with her, every single day. Jamie and I were pretty isolated, for the most part, from the rest of the cast. We had our own storyline going on while everyone else was doing their thing. And so, every day, it was Jamie and I, and we had the greatest time. She’s dear friend, but we have an incredible collaborative relationship with a lot of trust behind it. Whatever I put down, she picked up, and vice versa. It was this unspoken communication we had, that just came out on day one.
I particularly loved when Tess called Shane “a sweet feral cat” because that just felt like a perfect description for who Shane is.
MOENNIG: It takes one to know one, right? I always saw Tess and Shane as two alley cats that were sussing each other out. They have a bit of a complicated history with the ex-girlfriend of last year, but maybe that wasn’t Tess’ true love.
It was interesting to see them get deeper into the world of poker. Was that a world that you knew anything about, or is that something you’ve had to learn about for the show?
MOENNIG: The poker storyline was more of a backdrop to the relationship that these two characters are having, instead of it being a main character. But I don’t how to play poker. I’ve learned it once or twice. I’m not terribly good at it. I have seen Molly’s Game a number of times. When that idea got tossed at me in the writers’ room, before production, I said, “Oh, it’s Molly’s Game. That’s a great movie. Let’s steal from it.” So, I watched Molly’s Game and I sat there and wrote down words I didn’t know, and then Googled them and wrote down the meaning of them, and I would sit there and memorize the shorthand for the terminology. I feel like Jamie had a harder time of it because she’s the one who splays out the cards. She’s the one who announces what the game is and whose turn it is, whereas I get to kick back and play. So, Jamie had more of that than I did, but neither one of us knows how to play, to save our life.
When I spoke to you about the return of this series, before the first season started, you had said that you’d be interested in directing an episode in the next season or two. Now that you’ve done two seasons of the show, is that something that you still want to do?
MOENNIG: If the opportunity presents itself to me, I’ll certainly grab it. It’s not so easy as saying, “I wanna direct,” and then suddenly you’re given an episode. There’s a whole process one has to go through, to be given that position, and it can take awhile. I’m hoping the show has enough life in it to where I have the time to accomplish that... The reason why it would be fun to try it out on the show is because I know the show. I know this show’s DNA, inside and out, and I love the crew. They’re so amazing and supportive and talented that, hopefully, I wouldn’t make such a fool of myself. But time will tell. We’ll see.
Have you started to have conversations about what Season 3 could look like? Do you have a sense of where things would be headed next for Shane?
MOENNIG: I’ve had preliminary conversations. I know what I want, and I’ll go to the mat for it. So far, there’s mutual agreement. If there was an issue, I would throw down for it.
What has it meant to you to get to form this relationship with your previous co-stars, Leisha Hailey and Jennifer Beals, and then have this reunion? That’s a pretty rare opportunity, getting to reunite with the same actors to play the same characters again.
MOENNIG: It’s a real trip, I’ll tell you. It’s a pinch-me moment. There are pinch-me moments that hit me sometimes and I can’t believe we’re doing what we set out to do, for so many years. As I said earlier, I can’t compare the two shows. When Showtime announced that they were gonna bring the show back, I believe in 2017, I was on Ray Donovan and I was working with Kim Raver, and she had been on 24, the original and also the reboot of it. She said to me, “It’s not the same. I’m telling you right now, it’s not gonna be the same. That’s gonna be the biggest aha moment. You can have the same cast, even the same crew, but time does something. You’re not gonna just pick up where you left off, and that’s a real head trip. That’s just an expectation you should know because it’s not what you think it is.” At the time, I thought, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But she was a thousand percent right and her voice always rang in my head. I realized this is totally different, and that’s great because things have to change.
Do you feel like you’ve learned anything new about them, as actors, working with them again?
MOENNIG: Everyone just fell back into these roles. I was very excited to approach this again, but I was a little apprehensive. Leisha and Jennifer were very clear on where their roles should pick up, 10 years later, and I was the opposite. I didn’t know where Shane should be, and that gave me a little fear and apprehension because I wanted to do it tight since you can only do it once. What surprised me was that everyone just fell back into these characters with such ease, and all of those nerves and all of that anticipation we had faded away and we were just playing off one another, the way we always had. It felt like you were home. It was great.
The L Word: Generation Q airs on Monday nights on Showtime.