By BetteAndTinaForever

Disclaimer: I tried to write questions and answers as fast as I could but of course I’m only a human. Everything I wrote is not verbatim but the way I remembered it. I had to write so fast that sometimes I couldn’t even understand my own handwriting so I’m trying to do as best as I can here.

WARNING: Contains some spoilers for season 5

At last, just as many fans wished for a long time, the “three musketeers” or as the fans call the trio, AlShaDane, all three came up on stage together for the last Q&A.

After Kate was done, all three of them came back together, three musketeers and it was so much fun, watching them interact with each other. They were laughing a lot, especially when they remembered good times together. They were joking and it was really obvious that they are such good friends.

As soon as they figure out the seating situation, the Q&A session began and, as I said, it was a lot of fun, though it’s hard to write about all the jokes they made. I could hardly concentrate because there was so much joking and laughter that most of the questions and answers might not make any sense at all. Enjoy!!!

You told us to ask all three of you again about your favorite scene from all the seasons.
Leisha: Oh yeah, we talked about that. Personal scene or with each other? I would say that with Erin my favorite scene was when Erin was puking on the boat (laughter from the audience). We were laughing so hard.
Erin: It was a catastrophe but that was fun…for them.

We heard that you guys were planning to open a club together, are there other joint projects that you would like to do together other than The L Word?
Leisha: How in the hell did you know about that? (laughter)
Kate: No, seriously…how did you know about that?
(the fan answered: “I pay attention”)
Leisha: Yeah, Kate and I were talking about that.
Kate: We think it’s a great idea but we realized that we have no idea how to execute it. You can’t open the bar if you don’t know how to run the bar. And when we kinda got distracted by other things.

Any other joint adventures?
Leisha: There are so many things.
Kate: Leisha just bought this really cute scooter, and it was a freaking cute scooter, so when I saw it in the store, I asked her, “Do you mind if I get one?” She said, “Yeah, it’s okay” (Kate was using Leisha’s tone of voice, it was funny). It was reasonably priced, and we were joking that we can use them to drive people around and get really good tips.
Leisha: Yeah, and Kate looks really, really cool on it (now Leisha was imitating Shane’s riding the scooter, it was even funnier. I’m telling you, when those girls get together, it’s a lot of fun to watch them. Kate was laughing hard and then they just began joking with each other about it, about safety school and leather jackets.)

You know how Katie Holmes was a fan of Tom Cruise and now they are married…so, would any of you ever date a fan?
Leisha: Well, first of all, if you met them somewhere before you knew they were fans, and then they would say, “Oh, by the way…I’m in love with you…” (laughter)
Kate: If it was some fans who weren’t watching the show and weren’t crazy because some of them actually manhandles you, and I don’t think there could be the love at first sight…
Erin: It would be love at first touch. For me, yeah, why not, but I would never date Tom Cruise.

Then they were again talking about their favorite scenes to shoot, like the boat scenes, lesbian cruise and some others. More jokes were made and I think I lost the momentum there and forgot to write everything. Erin was talking about some sex scenes and make up, but I honestly can’t remember it anymore. Sorry.

I have another sort of a Bette and Tina question. There was a scene at the Planet in season 1 when you were talking about ‘Ze penis, ze pussy, ze baby’, how did you make it laughing so hard and how did Laurel managed to sit there and not to even to crack a smile?
(They were all answering together): It was all Jennifer…she began laughing from nowhere…and we all began laughing. When they said "Action," we continued laughing, and we had to take a few takes. When they were shooting that scene, we had to repeat that line over and over and over.

What are you going to do now that season 5 is almost done?
Erin: (first she made some jokes) When I’m not working I like to travel a lot.
Kate: I like to stay home and also work on some projects, so yeah, it’s pretty much it, home stuff and constantly working on projects.

So it’s like a vacation and you chill out?
Leisha: If I wanna chill out, I call Kate. I’m really never home. But we like to watch movies.
Kate: Yeah, movies and TV…I just finished all seasons of Sopranos.

If you have stay quiet for 5 minutes, who would lose?
(Kate pointed at Erin)
Erin: (answered, without seeing what Kate was doing) Me…I can’t stay quiet, I can talk to a wall. I leave such long messages on answering machine, Kate doesn’t even listen to them anymore. (And then they began joking again with each other, and all I remember was just laughing).

Now that you all have a great experience in Television series, is it something that you would like to do again after The L Word is over?
Leisha: I’m all about TV and series and I want to do it again, I love it. Erin: it’s fun, it’s really fun. Leisha: I mean movies are great but you don’t know the people you work with. You just show up and go through this thing but on TV you became like a family. I like that everyone is all outgoing. Erin: The cast, the crew, everybody’s so great…it’s like a camp that goes on for years.
Kate: Gay camp…even during the hiatus when we’re not working, there’s always something to do in May or June, it’s like a vacation, only our vacation is flipped in a way.
Erin: And sometimes you come back and school is not there (Erin was referring to her character being killed off and she didn’t have to go back to work)

Next question was about Olivia cruise they did for season 2, if they actually went on that cruise and they talked a little about that they did go and they were filming during. They had their own suites and bodyguards, but everyone was great and they were shooting for hours and working hard, so it wasn’t all partying for them. They were constantly reminded that they weren’t on vacation, but they were working. And than Kate told a little story about a real beer she was drinking during the shooting of the panel scene, and she was told to put it down.

Angela Robinson is a director on the show, how was it working with her?
Leisha: She’s great, I think she really put the heat into the show again, put the fire into it. The stuff that she writes is my favorite.
Kate: Angela is really, really good at keeping things light and fun, they are not depressed and heavy, she has good humor. That’s why her scenes are really good.
Leisha: She’s a producer on the show now. She brings a good balance with fun and serious stuff. You get fun and then you get, you know, Bette and Tina, something serious. It was really great this year and Angela, I think, is responsible for that.

They were also talking next about taking care of each other, giving an example of Erin being sick one day, and they took care of her. It was during the election and everyone was upset. More jokes followed but you had to be there to really appreciate it.

Last season when the Papi storyline was introduced it was said that Papi would give Shane a run for her money, what do you think about this storyline?
Kate: Do you think it’s really possible? I think that the idea was interesting in a theory, but I just think it didn’t work on film. The character was rushed because of time. I don’t know what it was but it didn’t work, it didn’t evolve as they planned. It happens…just like some storylines don’t go, so Papi just disappeared.
Leisha: It’s just like Shane and Carmen’s dog from season 3.
Kate: Yeah, it just went for a walk and never came back.

Any music performances will happen this year?
Leisha: Iit’s over, no music performances.
(At this point I said, “No more Betty” and they all laughed, “Yeah, no more Betty.”)

(To Kate) You starting a new project next year, what kind of character are you playing?
Kate: I start filming in March but it might change. I don’t remember the storyline well, but I’ll be playing a straight girl…really, I don’t really know my role. I’m so wrapped up in finishing The L Word that all I can remember is that she has an unstable boyfriend with mental problems. It’s sort of a thriller.

(To Erin) Was it fun to work on “House of Thousand Corpses”? You were screaming a lot, did it affect your voice?
Erin: It was an open audition. My agent told me to go for it and yes, I lost my voice completely for week and a half.

It was pretty intense movie, did you like being in horror movie, would you do another one?
Erin: It was fun but if I’ll do another horror movie it has to be very different. It was crazy, being chased around by zombies, big guys in bunny suits…it was totally ridiculous, it was crazy but fun too. We had so much fun working with the director, he was so laid back and we improvised a lot.

(To Erin) How was it working with Robin Williams and Michael Vartan on “One Hour Photo”?
Erin: it was so much fun. I shot right after I shot “Thousand Corpses”, and it was fun working with both of them. I just actually worked with Michael again on Big Shots few months ago, he’s a really nice guy. And Robin is one of the most hysterical persons to work with. He’s incredibly professional and he’s like a child in some ways. He’s like this kid who constantly entertains you and he’s a really good guy.

Did you know at a young age that you wanted to be an actress?
Leisha: I knew I wanted to be an actress. Acting was something I always wanted to do, for sure. Kate: No, not at first. I think, I actually wanted to be a violin maker, like my father and when I got into acting, I started to enjoy it and I think after I went to college and finished drama school, it became important. Erin: I think I did to a certain extent when I was a kid, I always wanted to act but was talked out of it. When I got older, I wanted to be an architect, and when I went to college and they had good drama program so I studied drama and then realized that acting was something I wanna do.

After being on the lesbian show for so long, do you afraid of typecasting or stereotyped in a future shows?
Erin: No, I’m not afraid of being stereotyped at all, it could happen that you asked to play certain roles, but no, it didn’t happen at all to me, actually. Of course, they are so eager to type you in general because it’s so easy way to categorize you. They think that Erin can play a detective and they type you that way, because it’s easy for them but if you force yourself and you step outside of the stereotype than you can do anything.
Kate: Well, I get typecast and typecasting would be easy but if you push yourself and it requires more work and it’s good because you won’t be lazy.

Did you ever think that this show will become so popular as it is today?
Leisha: I never thought that, I thought that it’s gonna be a little tiny show. Kate: I thought it would be something big but not as big as it became.

Leisha then talked about how she was involved with a movie All over me. She was buying coffee in the morning and was invited to audition for the movie by a friend, and she thought it was weird and strange, but she auditioned and got a part.

We heard that you always film alternative endings to the finale in case the show doesn’t get pick up, is it true?
Kate: We never filmed an alternative ending. Leisha: we’d never done that, what you see is what we shot. I mean the finale this season is more subtle so if it’s the last season then it will make sense to end it but there are a lot of little cliffhangers to keep going. Kate: The show on a cable rarely goes more than 5 seasons but also the same time, if the show has been on for so long, if it’s their last season, they usually announce that show has been renewed for another and final season, just give an idea to the audience that it will be the last one, but that never happened, so we all speculate about what will happen.

If the show went for another 4 years are you ready for that?
Leisha: I think, if it’s back then only for one more season, you know, due to people’s contracts, money, it would feel like it was time to leave. I think if it was for one more year, I think everyone would be excited to do it but beyond that, I’m not so sure. We often joke about what it would be like in season 19 (they were laughing and joking); Leisha: I can’t stand watching myself age on TV. Kate: Let’s just say that show will go for another year, if that, but let’s say it will, I think creatively it would suck dry, you wanna do something else. You’ve been playing the same thing year after year… Leisha: Yeah, you sort of like to branch off.
Kate: Yes, you want to do something different. Imagine like season 56, they have the whole new production crew and the cast because all old people are passed away (they were making more jokes about season 6 and everyone was laughing).
Erin: And they bring Dana back because they are all so out of it, they are hallucinating and it turns out to be a Jenny’s story. (More jokes from Kate and Leisha).

What changes we might expect in the new season?
Leisha: Some people real estate situations are changing.
Kate: I think some people’s professions are going to change.
Leisha: Mine will change, I like my new profession this year; Kate: my dumb-ass character will never move out of Jenny’s house.
Leisha: Maybe Alice will move next door.

Did you ever think about the idea of The L Word, the movie? Like SpongeBob became a movie after all the seasons?
Leisha: Are comparing our show to SpongeBob? Ilene has mentioned it, but I don’t know, would people want that? (“Oh, yeah…” from the audience)
Kate: Yes, we talked about it, but I think we more curious if there’s season 6, but yes, Ilene talked about the movie.
Leisha: It’s possible.

At the end of season 5 are the majority of the fans of the show will be frustrated or happy?
Kate: It depends on storyline I guess. I think you will be happy because this season is really better. (“No tractors then, right?” some fans said and they laughed)
Leisha: Yeah, I think you’ll be happy.

Another fan asked about Kiki Smith print that Bette sold, and Leisha replied that it wasn’t mentioned in season 5. Then she repeated that we all gonna be very, very, very, very happy this year. Someone said that we want Bette and Tina back together to be happy (and no, it wasn’t me) and
Leisha said: Well, you might want some couple to stay together, but after you watch it you might not want them to stay together. (And they made more jokes about all the fans here being Bette and Tina fans).

Is Shay’s coming back?
Kate: No, Shay’s gone, he may come back, but there’s no reason why.
Erin: He’s walking the dog.
Kate: Yes, he’s walking the dog with Papi and Carmen.

Is Max back from San Francisco?
Kate: I don’t know, we can’t say…Max is around.
Leisha: He went there, yes.
Kate: But he comes back, absolutely but we can’t say what else. In the beginning of the season a lot happens.

~~~~~~
After the Q&A’s were over, we all lined up to get our autographs and I think the cast was happy it wasn’t so many of us. Everyone took a break until 8 pm when the Meet&Greet was supposed to happen at La Cantina restaurant. I was planning to go there but since I had a Matthew Shepard Foundation event to attend as well, I wasn’t able to make it. From what I heard from others, it was great because there were not so many people and Kate, Leisha and Erin had a very good, relaxing time, talking to the fans.