A conversation with Maeve Quinlan

 

Who doesn't enjoy a good 3Way?  If you're looking for a good time I can tell you where you can find a hot 3Way, with little to no effort.  Saturday night you can catch the "hottest lesbian comedy NOT on TV" at Reeling 27's presentation of 3Way at Pipers Alley at 7PM. 

Let me give you a quick rundown of this hilarious comedy that just happens to be about lesbians.   3Way is the story of an out of luck actress who moves in with her childhood friend - who happens to be a lesbian, soon a new girlfriend shows up and moves in and an ex-girlfriend that won't go away.

3Way is much more than just "a show" it's a true pioneer into that new frontier of New Media.  3Way was originally conceived as a two-part web show that grew to a 3 part series and eventually morphed into a full blown Web Series with Episodes, Confessionals and Behind-the-Scene action. 3Way really takes advantage of America's craze with Reality TV by showcasing the funniest parts of reality TV and wrapping it around a perfect story about 3 lesbians and a straight girl.

Recently I had a chance to sit down with one of the stars of this hot show, Maeve Quinlan, and find out exactly what they're up to.

Michael Lehet:  Who came up with the concept of 3Way?
Maeve Quinlan:  When I was on South of Nowhere, the character I was playing was a homophobe and I did something an actress should never do - I went on the message boards to see what the fans were saying.  I was shocked that some people were saying things like “I hate Maeve Quinlan because she’s a homophobe!” And I’m like "NO, I’m not!  The character I play is, but I’m not!"  At the time one of my best friends, who happens to be a lesbian, was living with me and she had met this great girl who moved in with us.  I was sitting there laughing at myself and said "If they could even see my life."   Not to be too dramatic about that but I was really hurt, I have many gay and lesbian friends. 

So I jotted down this idea, and because I had been working on a Soap for 10 years prior to that, I came up with this bigger than life story.  About this really bad Soap Actress who goes through a horrible divorce, gives everything up for the dog which dies the day after they sign the papers, gets fired from her job, her agent saves her job but now she’s in a coma so there’s no lines, no money, no dog.  So she really needs her childhood friend to move in with her, and that's just the beginning.

ML: So a lot of it is based on your personal experience?
MQ: Well I should say that I heighten it and change it.  The idea came from me but the credit really goes to the creators: myself, Nancylee Myatt – who was co-executive producer on South of Nowhere and Paige Bernhardt.  The three of us came up with the idea of doing proper episodes and then the confessionals.

ML: You appear to have a great rapport with the rest of the cast, it comes across on the screen.
MQ: We have such amazing chemistry!  What’s funny is that Maile was the first person that was cast and then Jill Bennett then it took us a while because we didn’t know who we wanted to cast as Roxie.  Our Casting Director and Maile suggested Kathy Shim, when we saw her stuff on MadTV and Reno911 we knew we had to have her.  Each actress brings something special to their character it’s such a great  ensemble.

ML: What is it with the intros/outros that don’t have anything to do with what was on or what’s coming?  Like the outro where everyone yells "Shibohan's Dead" and where Geri loses her finger.
MQ: It’s a little Arrested Development, the full credit goes to Nancylee, she just loves that “Next On” is so silly and has nothing to do with the show.  I was a little concerned that people would be confused and she insisted that it was hilarious.

ML: So what is up with Geri's finger?  Is there a back story to the finger?
MQ: You’ll just have to watch to find out.  It’s a far less interesting than you would imagine.  The finger thing came from a true story, I had an ex-boyfriend with a prosthetic finger.  I will tell you the story of where we got the prosthetic finger though.  They're really expensive, so we looked on eBay, but they were still really expensive.  So Maile went to half.com and bought a used one.  Which just happened to be a guys finger – it’s very long - hence the reason she dates all of these hot models, she’s very popular!

ML: How did Geri lose the finger? 
MQ: Well she won’t ever tell you a straight answer, she’s always got a different story based on the scenario.  She’s never going to tell you.

ML: Are you filming your second season?
MQ: Not yet, it's very expensive when you fund it yourself.  Originally we were only planning on doing the first three episodes. I’m hoping with the success of the show that we’ll get a second season.  We're currently in talks with Logo because we won the New Next Now Award – Audience Choice for Most Guiltiest Pleasure

ML: If you do go with Logo do you want to stay with the web series or go broadcast?
MQ: We’re in talks to move it to broadcast, but there’s a lot of freedom with doing it on line.  There’s also a lot of freedom of being your own boss - in your own studio.  If we can get advertisers we’ll keep it on line.  There are a lot of pluses to offering programming that if we can get the advertisers inboard. 

ML:  And you get to say really dirty words on line.
MQ:  Well yeah that’s the thing, you can see we have a lot of fun with it.  We "go" there.

ML:  I think the funniest episode was the one where Jill is talking about the “way that she likes to have sex.” On AfterEllen it’s beeped, so I had to go over to 3waytv.tv to find out what she was saying.  Then when I found out what she was saying, it was even funnier.  I mean you drop the f bomb and say a few other dirty words, but you don’t use it gratuitously. 
MQ:  No we don’t, sometimes we think it’s funnier when it’s beeped out.  But your point is well taken, you have a lot more freedom on line.  But at the same time one of the reasons that I got into making this was being on the South of Nowhere had such an impact on me.  I really realized how little GLBT content there is and what a difference that show was making in the lives of high school girls struggling with their identity.  MySpace is great because you get absolute immediate reaction and you get to write back to them.  I thought “God wouldn’t it be great if there was just something funny to make them laugh, something goofy."  I’m sick and tired of people labeling each other, it’s like why don’t we just have this great show that just happens to be about lesbians.   I can’t tell you how many straight people love this show, and that’s what I like about it.  It’s sort of got that 3way Will & Grace appeal to it.  I just really hope that people enjoy it, I know that my mom who is 84 just finds it hilarious.

ML:  What was your first acting gig?
MQ:  It was a 6th grade play, Mrs. McThing at St Philip the Apostle school, and that was it, I knew from that I wanted to be on the stage. Then I went to high school and was completely obsessed but I didn't have the time to act because I was a tennis player.

ML:  Yeah, I noticed in the episode when you broke into your ex’s house you were really serving those tennis balls.
MQ:  I played in high school, at Northwestern and then professionally, but the whole time I wanted to be an actress.  But I was playing professionally and at that level I was playing 6 hours a day - not a lot of time for acting.  But then I started doing some Nike and Gatorade commercials, then a play in LA called Four Shorts & a Pair of Pants and eventually into The Bold & The Beautiful for 10 years and acting in films like Totally Blonde and Ken Park

ML: Where you received unsimulated oral sex.
MQ: NO! It was simulated, everyone has it wrong.  I was the only person on that set with a Nudity Rider, because it was such an important role.  I was a fan of Larry Clark and I really wanted to work with him.  Ed Lachman was co-directing and had just finished Erin Brockovich, in the Indie world it was a big deal to work with both of them.  I had a Nudity Rider, so he couldn’t touch certain parts of my body, he had to be 4 inches away from my vah jay jay.  It was a very graphic scene but there was nothing going on. If you see the rest of the movie everything is unsimulated, you really see what is going on.  If there had been something going on, Larry Clark would have been on it. I’m really happy that people think I was really getting it, because I had to fake an orgasm, so I guess I’m convincing.  But this is where it kills me, I play Paula Carlin and people think I’m a homophobe, I do a sex scene and people think I’m getting head.

ML: Whats coming down the pike for 3Way?
MQ: We're working on a DVD of the First Full Season.  We're also going to have a full length episode of Lady Cops with Liz Vassey and Christina Cox, so you'll get a chance to see what that was like. Plus we've got an Easter Egg episode on the DVD called "Keep it tight down there" when the girls invite their mothers over for Mothers Day brunch.

ML: When you first started acting did you ever think that you would be in the position you are now, surrounded by lesbians?
MQ: No, I’m  sort of  an honorary lesbian and I love it, it’s awesome.  I’ve sort of been around Lesbians my whole life, especially on the tennis tour.  I never really thought that I would have such a great sorority/sisterhood that I have, I couldn’t ask for better, more loyal, more protective friends.  These girls are just so wonderful, I swear in my next life I’m going to come back as a lesbian.  I’m very very fortunate and its such a great community, that’s why I’ve been giving my time and money for a long time to the GLBT community in LA and I hope that with the entertainment I’m still giving back.

ML:  Final question for you.  Straight men that hang out with gay men are called Fag Stags. Straight women that hang out with gay men are called Fag Hags.  But what do you call a straight woman that hangs out with lesbians?
MQ:  I have no idea, I've been called everything from: "she’s a lesbian but doesn’t know it," to "a lesbian in training"

ML:  I think we've got a conundrum?  We need to figure out what to call you?
MQ:  Yes you do!

You can catch Maeve Quinlan, Jill Bennett, Cathy Shim and the hilarious Maile Flanagan at this Saturday’s showing of 3Way at Pipers Alley at 7PM.

You can also have a 3Way with The L Word after the movie.At 9:30PM The cast of 3 way, and The L Word’s Dawn Denbo (Elizabeth Keener) will mingle and dance the night away at the Evil Olive - 1551 W Division where there will be live music, tons of cool giveaways and cocktail specials.