Whatwould The L Word be like without Bette Porter? It’s unthinkable to evencontemplate such a question, and thankfully, we never had to, as Jennifer Bealswas indeed available to star in The L Word: Generation Q. The reboot findsBette running for mayor, which is also to say running away from her grief inthe wake of her sister Kit Porter’s death. Shane (Katherine Moennig) and Alice(Leisha Hailey) round out the original cast, though they’re later joined by aspecial guest: none other than Tina (Laurel Holloman). “She walked in the doorlike part angel, part baller,” Beals recalled of her on-screen reunion withMama T, who turns up on Bette’s doorstep wearing leather pants.
你能想象TLW力没有Bette Porter吗？谢天谢地，幸亏我们从没这么想过。Jennifer Beals确定要参加Q时代的演出了。重启的Q是大力，Bette因为姐姐Kit的死而参加了市长竞选。Shane和Alice这两位元老也继续常驻，然后，一位意想不到的人也加入了，那就是由Laurel Holloman扮演的Tina。回忆起Tina身穿皮裤在Bette家门口登场的那幕时，JB是这样形容她的荧幕搭档的：“她走进门时像是个天使，同时又显得事业有成。”
Bealsis well aware that Tina’s reappearance was all too brief; the actress—who’salso one of the series’s executive producers—is already working on bringing herback for season 2. (“If I have to drag her,” she said with a laugh.) Here,Beals reflects on Sunday night’s season 1 finale, and foreshadows a bit more ofwhat’s next.
JB很清楚Tina登场时间很短，作为主演同时也是执行制片的她很努力地想让LH继续参演第二季（“如果我拽回她。”JB大笑着说道）。第一季已在周日完结，而JB也小小地展望了一下第二季。
I’m very excited to be talking about the finale with you—itwas great. I cried a lot.
Whatmade you cry? Tell me what made you cry.
因为这部剧我哭了很多次。能在季终后和你谈谈真是太棒了
告诉我哪一幕让你哭出来了。
Well, mainly seeing Bette break down like that, and thenseeing Angie comfort her. That really got me.
Yeah,yeah. To have a child comforting a parent in that way is really brutal. Earlyon, I realized, Oh—this whole season is about mourning, about grief. Bettedoesn’t really know how to deal with that, and she’s been working and workingand working. Her way of honoring her sister has been to run for mayor, and totry to right the wrongs that caused her sister’s death. And so when she doesn’tmake it—when she isn’t able to offer her sister that gift—it just takes thewish for the next day away. First there’s the dinner with Tina where she saysshe’s getting married, and then when that’s topped with losing the election.And then she just can’t anymore. There’s got to be a tipping point. Oncesomebody who avoids things by being in movement stops moving, it’s a realsignal of a breakdown. I think in a way, Angie is really the only thing thatkeeps her alive in that moment.
嗯，主要是Bette崩溃而Angie安慰她那里。我非常喜欢那一幕。
是啊。其实让一个孩子那样安慰她的父母是件很残忍的事。早些时候我就意识到，整个第一季充满了悲伤与哀悼。Bette完全不会处理这些，她只能借由工作来摆脱痛苦。她采用竞选市长的方式来纪念姐姐，并想以此方式来纠正造成姐姐死亡的错误。但最后她没能做到，她无法将纠错这项礼物送给死去的姐姐。先后经历过与Tina共进晚餐时听到了Tina将要再婚的消息和竞选失败后，她就再也无法承受了。这些事是她情绪的转折点。在她崩溃的时候，Angie是她唯一活下去的理由。
I thought that was a really smart way to do it—it was somuch more effective than just seeing her cry. Since we haven’t seen Bette getthat low before, how did you decide what it would look like for her to reachthat point?
Wetalked about it a lot. We thought, Okay, what would be the scariest thing forAngie to see? And it’s when her mother wants to do nothing. Her mother, who’salways working and trying to solve problems, is sleeping on the couch, andcan’t really move. That’s probably the most terrifying thing for her child tosee.
我认为这段很棒——比单单看Bette哭泣棒多了。以前我们从没见过Bette这么低落，你是因为什么原因作出这样的决定？
我们谈了很多很多。我们想着到底什么是Angie最怕看到的，那就是她妈妈彻底失去了希望。她妈妈一直在工作，一直在解决问题，然后某天，她突然蜷缩在沙发上什么也不做了，这可能是孩子看到的最可怕的事情。
Did you know at that point that the series was going to berenewed?
Well,I had a feeling. I mean, I’m a hopeful person in general—oddly so. Also, I feellike I’ve been on a lot of shows, and so at a certain point you’re craftingthings. It’s a different relationship than when you’re just starting out.
那时候你知道剧会被续订吗？
嗯，我感觉会。我是说，我总是抱有希望。我参加过很多演出，重点是在演出中我确实在创造些东西。而成品总和预想有些区别。
Have you spoken with Pam Grier [who played Bette’s sisterKit] at all since the original series?
Igave her my number and I haven’t heard from her in a while, but we were talkingwhen the show first started. I know she’s working really hard. She’s working alot.
你和Pam Grier聊过吗？
我给了她我的电话，不过刚开始我们并没联系上。剧集播出后我们聊上了，我知道她工作又多又忙。
How did Bette come to focus on the opioid crisis?
Well,we were trying to figure out what Bette would be motivated by, so we weretalking about the issues at play in Los Angeles. And obviously the homelesscrisis looms large. You can’t avoid thinking about it. Even people who wouldwant to bury their heads in the sand—you’re driving and you see peoplesuffering. And once you start going down the rabbit hole of homelessness, itthen tangentially starts to get to other issues. I think it was an issue thatMarja[-Lewis Ryan, the showrunner] really wanted to work on in detail, and Ithink she did a really good job of doing that.
Bette因为什么关注药物危机的？
因为我们都想知道Bette的参选动机是什么，然后我们聊到了洛杉矶一直存在的问题。很显然，流浪汉危机迫在眉睫，而我们无法逃避。视而不见并不能解决这些问题。然后一旦去了解了，背后的问题也就凸显了。在这个问题上，我认为Marja做的特别细致也特别好。
（这段我没懂，为什么阿片危机和会流浪者危机并存，希望得到指教。）
Have you ever thought about going into politics yourself?
Ohmy god, oh my god, never. [Laughs.] Never in a million years. Like, can I tellyou—when I was six, seven years old, I would have these nightmares that theworld was ending. The apocalypse had come. And there was this building with allthese chairs and old paintings that was sort of bombed out, but was stillclearly Congress. I was being asked to be president, and I ran away. [Laughs.]I was like, I don’t want to be president! I don’t, I don’t, I don’t.
你自己考虑过从政吗？
天啊！天啊！从来没有过。哪怕再过一百万年我也不会考虑去从政。怎么说呢？我可以告诉你，我六七岁的时候就有过世界末日的噩梦。国会大楼的椅子啊，画作啊全都灰飞烟灭，我被迫当了总统。听到这消息后我拔脚就跑，我是说，我绝对，绝对，绝对不要当总统。
You’d rather the apocalypse?
No.I’d rather be an actor, and be able to tell many, many, many stories, than be apolitician. I tip my hat to anybody who wants to become a politician,especially in today’s age.
那你宁愿接受世界末日也不愿当个拯救者？
不，我宁愿当个讲述很多很多很多故事的演员也不愿去从政。我向所有想从政的人致敬，特别是现代从政者。
Did the role make you feel more sympathetic towardpoliticians, especially now that the presidential race is getting underway?
Imean, if you follow politics at all, you have an awareness of what’s at stakefor someone personally, and what’s at stake for their families. What I thinksurprised me—and the writers didn’t catch on to this—is why nobody came afterme for a friend of mine dying at my house. You know what I mean? That nevercame up.
这个角色会不会让你对政客们更有同理心？尤其马上总统竞选就要开始了。
我认为，如果要参政，那么不仅仅是个人，就连参政者的家庭都会面临风险。虽然编剧们并没有完全勾勒出来，但Jenny死在我家这事成为了竞选成功的绊脚石就已经足够让我吃惊了。
Well, you mentioned it to Dani, right?
Yes,I mentioned it to Dani: Here’s these things that are in my past. But the fact thatthe press doesn’t do it is interesting, because it could have been another wayto bring up Jenny’s story.
你和Dani提过这事，对吧？
是的，我和Dani提过这些事。但媒体并没有以此攻击我，这很有趣，因为这可能是提及Jenny的另一种方式。
I’m sure people would have loved that.
Yes,yes.
我觉得观众们会很高兴看到媒体们这么做了。
是的，没错。
Did you raise that point?
Thereare so many things, you know? What’s interesting and really beautiful aboutthis new iteration of the show is you have all these new characters that needto be tended to, like a garden. You really have to tend to those new charactersand make sure they get rooted—in the case of a television series, make surethey have the time on-screen for people to understand who they are. I thinkthat was the big priority for Marjan—to make sure that those characters hadenough time on-screen for people to be able to understand and empathize withthem.
你向编剧提出来了吗？
有太多方面需要照顾了你知道吗？Q时代作为重启剧美丽又有趣的地方就在于有很多新角色，他们就像花园的花朵一样需要被照顾。他们需要足够的剧情来扎根在观众心中。这些正是Marjan的主要任务——让角色们足够立体，让观众们能够理解与同情他们。
That’s part of why I was so happy to hear it was renewed. Itfelt like just as I was getting to know the new people, I wouldn’t be able tospend time with them anymore.
Exactly.You understand the characters from the previous show, because you share ahistory with them. But the newer characters need more time.
这就是为什么我特别高兴TLW能重启的部分原因。它一边让你认识新朋友，但同时也让你无法与旧友再次并肩同行。
是啊。你花了很多时间与原始剧集的角色们交流，但新角色们需要付出更多的时间。
Have you seen all of the original series?
Ihave, but not all of it recently. I rewatched a lot of it to prepare in thewriters room, talking with the writers about the character.
你看完了所有的原剧集吗？
看完了，但不是最近看完的。因为我需要回顾完原始剧集，才能和编剧们讨论如何继续塑造Bette这个角色。
Was there anything that stood out to you, even just on thelevel of what you were wearing? I guess Bette was pretty well-dressed comparedto everyone else.
Youknow what? Everyone was well-dressed for their time—it’s when you go back andlook at things. But I think Bette’s wardrobe was great, and it lasts. It’sclassic. There’s not much I can think of in Bette’s wardrobe that doesn’t passthe 10-year test.
有什么东西让你觉得Bette脱颖而出呢？比如穿着？我记得Bette穿的比任何角色都要出色。
你知道吗？当你回顾剧情的时候，你会发现在剧情的同时代里每个人都穿的很好也很有特色。不过我认为Bette的衣服确实经典耐用。哪怕过了十年，她当年的衣服依旧可以拿出来继续使用。
I noticed that Bette was wearing cufflinks in this series,just like in the original.
Deirdra[Govan, the show’s costume designer] and I were trying to figure out, Okay, in10 years, how has she changed the way she dresses? She’s also running formayor, so perhaps can’t be as fashion-forward as she would normally be. Deirdrawas trying different things and being very adventurous, and at a certain point,I said, I think I just need a power suit and some cufflinks. In the firstgo-round, that was what really grounded me to the character. I had a wholecollection of different cufflinks that were so exquisite. I really loved thistaking on a man’s uniform and making it my own, and having a difference.
我注意到Q时代里Bette依旧和原来一样戴着袖扣。
Deirdra（服装设计师）和我试着找出十年后Bette的穿着应该有哪些变化。她在竞选市长，所以不能再像以往那样赶时髦。Deirdra冒险做了很多尝试，然后有一天我说，我只需要套装和袖扣就够了。这是第一回我真真正正了解了这个角色。我搜集了很多袖扣，偶尔还把它们用在男士身上，这让他们显得与众不同。
（你是说你丈夫吧？）
Do you still have any of those original cufflinks?
Ido, actually.
原始剧集的袖扣你还保留着吗？
当然。
Do you ever wear them?
Idon’t. I don’t really have many shirts that require them. But I get to look atthem every now and again, which makes me happy. And if my husband’s lucky, hecan borrow them.
你会戴它们吗？
没有。我没衣服可以配上它们。但我经常会看看它们，这让我感到开心。我丈夫要是足够幸运的话，也能借用它们。
I have to ask you about Tina. I was ecstatic to see her.
Oh,you and me both.
我想和你谈谈Tina。见到她简直让我欣喜若狂。
我也是。
I was freaking out about it, and then it was so nice to seeinterviews with you saying you wanted her back more than anyone.
Ohmy gosh, yeah. It would have been great to have her back fully, but Laurel[Holloman] has been working [as a full-time painter]. And it was sort of aTetris puzzle for Marjan. She only had eight episodes to figure out how toboard everything in.
我太震惊了。然后看到采访时你说比任何人都希望她回来有太让我高兴了。
我也是，真的。我真希望她能常驻，可她想是个全职画家了。这让Marjan很为难，东西太多可她只有8级剧集。
Do you know if Laurel will be more available next season?
IfI have anything to say about it, yes. [Laughs.] If I have to drag her!
Laurel下一季会不会继续参演呢？
如果非要说什么的话，是的，我想把她拽回来。
Have you started work on season 2 at all?
No,we haven’t started talking about the story too much. But I did talk to Laurel,and she said she would definitely be open to it, if her schedule allows it.
你们现在已经开始准备第二季了吗？
没，我们还没来得及讨论。不过我和Laurel谈过了，她说如果时间允许的话她一定会继续参演。
Ah! That’s so great.
Ithink it’s such an important story to tell, you know? The coparenting, thecontinuation of that relationship—it’s important, and it’s rich with all kindsof nuance and complexity.
哇！那太棒了。
我觉得这个故事很重要。Bette和Tina之间那股微妙的、复杂的、具有延续性的关系非常重要。
What’s it like for you and Laurel to work together now? Isit different?
Notat all. It’s like no time has passed at all. Zero time. It’s just reallysimple, you know? Almost like a shorthand. And I love that Deirdra put her inleather pants. It was so fantastic. She walked in the door like part angel,part baller. It was incredible.
和过去相比，现在和Laurel合作有什么不同吗？
完全没有。时光仿佛从未流逝，我们似乎一直在一起。而且我超爱Deirdra给她准备的皮裤，那太不可思议了。她走进门的样子又像天使，又像成功人士，这太让人难以置信了。
What did you think about how things turned out for the othercharacters in the finale?
Well,I’m dying to see how all the business at the airport works out. That’s a reallyhard one. Maybe it’s because I personify Bette working with Dani, but I have tosay that Dani’s been working really, really hard. She’s drifted away becauseshe’s been working hard, but to judge her for working hard doesn’t quite seemfair. But then again, if she’s pulled away that easily, then maybe it wasn’tmeant to be.
你认为其他角色的结局如何呢？
我渴望知道机场故事的后续，那太让人难受了。也许因为我的Bette分身一直在和Dani共事，所以我知道Dani一直在努力工作。因为太努力了，所以她和恋人渐行渐远，但因此批判她的工作态度是非常不公平的。不过话说回来，如果两人因此分手的话，那就说明Sophie不是Dani命中注定的那个。
You and Shane have some really nice scenes together thisseason.
Yeah,we didn’t really have very many scenes together the first go round, so it was areally nice change. I love working with Kate. We had so much fun, playingtogether. I think our favorite scene, for sure, was pretending to be high. Itwas so weird, because when we left, the crew kept coming up and saying ‘God, Ifeel like I’m high, just watching you guys.’ And both of us felt like we werestoned by the time we left. Even though, obviously, we were not smoking anycannabis at all.
这一季里你和Shane在一起的画面非常舒服。
嗯，其实我们并没有常常在一起的画面，这个改变挺好的。我喜欢和Kate一起工作。我们在一起时玩的很开心。但我们最“嗨”的场面却是演出来的。这可真诡异，当我们离开时工作人员走过来说：“天啊，我觉得你们真的很‘嗨’。”离开的时候我们都觉得晕晕乎乎的，而实际上我们根本就没抽“烟”。
It would be nice to see some of Laurel’s work featured inthe next season.
Well,that would be a little tricky and a little meta, right? I did think about it. Ithought, Okay, if Laurel can’t come back, can we have some of her work? But itgets a little meta. That’s a conversation to be had with the writers, and withLaurel, because I don’t know how she’d feel about it.
如果能看到Laurel的画作出现在下一季的场景里就好了。
嗯……那有些棘手，也有些超出考虑范围了。我没考虑过这事。我是说，如果Laurel无法出演，至少我们还能看到她的作品。但这确实没有考虑过。我需要和编剧们谈谈这事，还有Laurel，因为我不知道她对这事会有什么想法。
（这是不想翻译的分割线）
Did Erin Daniels [who played Dana in the original series]actually join you guys on set? I couldn’t tell if the photo of you all togetherin front of Dana’s was Photoshopped—it seemed too good to be true.
Oh,that’s so funny. No, no, it wasn’t. Kate called and said, you know, Please comeback to set. We have a surprise for you. We wanted to show her Dana’s beforeshe was on TV. And it was amazing. I mean, I’ve seen and spent time with Erinsince then, but it’s always nice to have everybody together.
What did you think of Alice’s storyline?
Ithink Alice is so brave, you know? She’s sort of always been the extremelybrave one, and I think the throuple gives the opportunity to tell a very, verycomplicated story. I really appreciate how she’s so great, so funny with thosekids—trying really hard, but not really wanting to be around them, but wantingto be loved nonetheless. It’s interesting, because it makes you think: Well, ifthey were cuddly with her, and really warm and engaged with her, would she feeldifferently? How would that change?
Bette was the first guest on Alice’s show, and then therewas Megan Rapinoe and Roxane Gay. Who would you like to see make a cameo in thefuture?
Ohgosh, I’d have to think about that. Well, it would be kind of great if Kamala Harrishad shown up.
（Kamala Harris：美国加州联邦参议员，美国国会参议院第二位非裔女性参议员，，积极推动女性和少数族裔的多元化，参加2020美国总统选举后又退出。）
Who’s been your favorite guest on the show in the past?
Imean there’s a lot of people that I want back, frankly. But I cannot stopthinking about Holland Taylor.
（Holland Taylor：Peggy Peabody的扮演者。）
Oh my god, same. Please make that happen.
Yeah,I really want Peggy Peabody back. I was begging the writers; she really sticksin my mind. But there are so many people. I want Marlee Matlin [who playedJodi] back. And I know Pam’s really busy, but I want to figure out if it’swithin her time schedule to do some flashbacks or something like that. It wouldbe great to have Helena back, too—to have Rachel Shelley back.
Do you know about the Instagram account @betteportergallery?
Somebodymentioned it earlier, but I haven’t seen it.
It’s great. It’s like all celesbian content.
See,I remember my fantasy was that it was an Instagram of all the art that Bettehas shown, whether in her gallery or in her house. But the person who mentionedit was like, No, that’s not that. [Laughs.] But that would be great to see.
artamanda.art.blog 