{"source_url": "https://collider.com", "url": "https://collider.com/marja-lewis-ryan-interview-the-l-word-generation-q/", "title": "\u2018The L Word: Generation Q\u2019 Showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan on the Series\u2019 Evolution", "top_image": "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-cast.jpg", "meta_img": "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-cast.jpg", "images": ["https://collider.com/wp-content/themes/collider-v3/images/close-circle-512.png", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/premiere-the-l-word-generation-q-marja-lewis-ryan-Image-courtesy-of-Showtime-414x600.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-leo-sheng-02-395x600.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-poster-400x600.jpg", "https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1628636477376373&ev=PageView&noscript=1", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/evil-mike-colter-thumbnail-171x160.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/imagineering-story-thumbnail-171x160.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-rosanny-zayas-02-401x600.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-marja-lewis-ryan-slice.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-leisha-hailey-02-400x600.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/vinland-saga-thumbnail-171x160.jpeg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-cast.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-jennifer-beals-02-403x600.jpg", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/disney-plus-thumbnail-171x160.jpg", "https://collider.com/wp-content/themes/collider-v3/images/Collider_Logo_Light.png", "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/lego-star-wars-all-stars-thumbnail-171x160.jpeg", "https://collider.com/wp-content/themes/collider-v3/images/Collider_Logo_Dark.png"], "movies": [], "text": "0\n\nFrom showrunner/executive producer Marja-Lewis Ryan, the Showtime series The L Word: Generation Q, the sequel to the groundbreaking series that debuted in 2004, continues to follow the lives of Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals), Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Heiley) and Shane McCutcheon (Katherine Moennig), as they experience love and heartbreak in Los Angeles. And picking back up with them, 10 years later, means a chance to get to know new characters, including Dani N\u00f9\u00f1ez (Arienne Mandi), Micah Lee (Leo Sheng), Finley (Jacqueline Toboni), Sophie Suarez (Rosanny Zayas) and Gigi (Sepideh Moafi), all of whom have their own trials and tribulations on their roads of self-discovery.\n\nDuring this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, creator/writer Marja-Lewis Ryan talked about how this continuation of The L Word evolved with her as the showrunner, what it\u2019s like to go from fan of the series to running it, deciding what to keep and what to reinvent with the show, how she approached making sure that people feel represented, both on screen and behind the scenes, what the original cast wanted for their characters now that 10 years have passed, weaving the new characters into the story, exposing viewers to things they don\u2019t typically get to see on TV, and how there\u2019s still so much more story left to tell.\n\nCollider: How did you end up getting this job, as the showrunner of The L Word: Generation Q? Did you go in and pitch your vision of what the series could be?\n\nMARJA-LEWIS RYAN: Yeah, so Ilene [Chaiken], Jennifer [Beals], Kate [Moennig] and Leisha [Hailey] wanted to bring this show back. Ilene had an overall deal over at Fox, so she wasn\u2019t available, and they were looking for somebody to come in with a new take on what the show could be. I think they went out to a few writers, but Ilene and I had met, the year before, working on a movie. We were both hired to write the adaptation of Lean In, and she and I hit it off. A couple months later, her show, The Handmaid\u2019s Tale came on the air, and I loved it. I saw her name in it, and I sent her an email and I was just like, \u201cI love your show. Congratulations!\u201d She wrote back and said, \u201cHi, I was just thinking of you. Do you want to come and pitch on The L Word?\u201d And I was like, \u201cWhat?!\u201d I thought she was going to invite me to come shadow on The Handmaid\u2019s Tale. I was like, \u201cOh, sure! Yeah, no problem.\u201d I was just looking for a set visit. So, I met with Leisha, Kate and Jennifer, and I got to hear about where they wanted their characters to be and things that they never wanted to do again. And then, I got to go pitch the network, all of these new characters and where I thought these three returning character might be, 10 years later. It wasn\u2019t really that terrifying. I just thought it was a fucking blast. I\u2019m not, I don\u2019t know if I really thought I\u2019d get the job. It didn\u2019t really feel like a job. It felt like a fun assignment. It was surreal as hell. I remember getting the call that I got the job. I was living in Brooklyn with my wife and I just collapsed on the kitchen floor. I was sobbing, partially \u2018cause I had to move back to L.A., but also because I was excited that I had the job.\n\nHow strange does it feel, to go from having been a fan of the show and watching the show when it was on, to then walking onto the set of the show and having everyone look at you for all of the answers to everything, as the showrunner?\n\nRYAN: It was bananas. I have these moments of feeling like I\u2019m living in a dream. The first time I really felt it was, when we were shooting the pilot, that scene with [Jennifer, Kate and Leisha] in it was the first time they\u2019d shared a frame, in 10 years. I turned to the director, who\u2019s a 39-year-old lesbian that was also a fan of the show, and I was like, \u201cCan you believe this is what we\u2019re up to today?\u201d And she was like, \u201cNo, I cannot.\u201d So, there were definitely those moments. With each director, especially the directors who really grew up watching the show, they all had moments of, \u201cCan you fucking believe this is what we\u2019re doing today? It\u2019s just insane!\u201d There are definitely moments of that, but the job is pretty all consuming, so those moments are really just moments. And then, I have to go approve a costume. It\u2019s all in a moment that I can feel those feelings. Other than that, I\u2019m just there to do my job.\n\nThis show is interesting because you have the original characters who are still a version of what they were before, plus you have all these new characters that you get to play with. Is it fun to get to weave all that together, and to have it feel like the show that you knew, but also have it be this new thing?\n\nRYAN: Yeah, it was a blast. The way that I went about determining what to keep and what to re-invent was about what I loved about the show. That\u2019s how I approached everything. What I loved about the original show were the friendships. Just watching the show when I was 18, it gave me hope that, one day, I would have my own lesbian click, so I tried to keep that part of the show. I wanted to keep the part that makes queer feel, \u201cI love this! They\u2019re just like us,\u201d or \u201cI wanna be just like them.\u201d We\u2019re walking that line of reality and aspiration. And then, the main thing that I wanted to improve on was who was represented and whose stories we were telling. Ilene has said that the original show really was about white lesbians, so the idea of being able to expand who is seeing themselves in this show, is just such a fucking pleasure.\n\nIt seems like it would be really cool to be able to work on something that you were a fan of, but then also make those changes that people would want to see because they\u2019re changes that you want to see.\n\nRYAN: Yeah, exactly. I know a lot of our peers were scared about it coming back and wondered whether I was gonna break it. But, I am a fan first. I\u2019m not coming to it, as a hater of the show. I\u2019m coming to it like, \u201cThese are the things that I watched it for, so I hope that we were all watching for the same reasons.\u201d I felt like I knew who Shane, Bette and Alice were. When I was 18, I knew who Ilene Chaiken was. She was very front and center, in terms of the PR for the show, and that changed my life. The idea that I could write stories about my gay self and my gay friends had not occurred to me, until this show came on the air. So, the dream is that a few more people, who don\u2019t look exactly like me and Ilene, can see themselves, both in front of the camera and behind it. That was a huge thing that I was working on, too, just making sure that whoever is in front of the camera is also represented behind it. We have this Noah\u2019s arc style to the writers\u2019 rooms, where we have two of everybody, so that no one person was responsible for telling the stories of their people, and I think it worked out pretty well. I hope that fans can see that. It\u2019s not me telling their stories. It\u2019s somebody who looks more like them, telling their stories.\n\nYou hear a lot of talk about how hard it is to diversify a writers\u2019 room, or your line-up of directors, or your department heads because it\u2019s just too hard to find the people to fill those positions. But then, there\u2019s a show like this, where you made that work.\n\nRYAN: In terms of being able to find people, I\u2019ve heard that, too. I think it\u2019s two things. One is drawing a line in the sand and being like, \u201cNo, I will not have an all white producing team. I just will not. So, go find me somebody. Everybody\u2019s job is to go find me somebody.\u201d And you do find them. People are like, \u201cBut I don\u2019t know anybody.\u201d Just because you don\u2019t know anybody, doesn\u2019t mean that they don\u2019t exist. It just means that you don\u2019t know them, so who do you need to call? When I was staffing this room, I emailed Lena Waithe, Tanya Saracho and Abbi Jacobson. I emailed people who I know have been doing this, and who I know have been mentoring people and who have friends that don\u2019t look like me. Just do your job and make those calls. Those people will always email me back, and they will always give me people that I\u2019m looking for, and I do the same for the straight white bros who email me and say, \u201cWe\u2019re staffing this room and we need a lesbian. Who do you have?\u201d I have people. Just email me. We all have people. So, it was really a real pleasure to find these people and let them rise. And it isn\u2019t just department heads. Once you make a space like this, you can have a straight white guy who\u2019s your gaffer, and he\u2019ll go out of his way to find women in the electrical department, and find a trans grip. He knew what we were up to. All of us get to play, and feel seen and heard. It was really cool.\n\nYou\u2019ve talked about how you were inspired by Ilene Chaiken. What\u2019s it like to do something that she created, and to have her to turn to with questions, if you need to, while also finding your own groove with it?\n\nRYAN: I definitely wanted her opinion and her feedback, on lots of things. There were story elements and things that I wanted to do with her former characters, that I really wanted her to sign off on. It\u2019s very funny \u2018cause I don\u2019t think a lot of people will have my experience, where they see somebody doing a job and they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, I can do that, too,\u201d and then they literally have their job. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s normally how it goes down. That\u2019s certainly not what I was imagining would happen to me. But, she\u2019s always there for me. It\u2019s pretty ego-less to be able to pass the torch to somebody, when it is something that she made, but that\u2019s the dream. In 10 years, some 30-year-old punk will tell me that I did it wrong, and I\u2019ll get to let her go do it, too. That\u2019s what we\u2019re all here for. It\u2019s pretty exciting that she\u2019s as involved as she is, but also isn\u2019t in the writers\u2019 room.\n\nWhat have been the biggest challenges in making this world feel like the world that fans of the original series loved, while also making this feel like a new thing for the new viewers who will never have seen an episode of the original series?\n\nRYAN: The way that I went about it was that this is these three characters, 10 years later. You\u2019re not talking about things that happened 10 years ago, every day. Things come up sometimes and people come up sometimes, but they\u2019re just like us. I don\u2019t talk about the woman that I was dating, 10 years ago. Well, I do \u2018cause I actually married her, so that\u2019s a bad example. But mostly, I\u2019m not talking about myself, from 10 years ago. That was a very long time ago. So, for me, what was fun finding the space to talk about who killed Jenny in Episode 2, and just being able to have little moments like that for fans, is such a fucking pleasure. One thing that we talk about in the writers\u2019 room is a trash pass, or a garbage pass, which is to make sure that there\u2019s enough of that soapy feeling, so that, in a group watch scenario, people are screaming at the screen. That\u2019s the dream to me. That\u2019s partially what the show was. It was time for all of us to just yell. We\u2019re here to write this show for us. It\u2019s for us, and by us, which is very exciting. There\u2019s really nothing better than listening to a room full of queers scream. That\u2019s fun.\n\nWould you say that, in the last ten years, Bette, Alice and Shane have actually gotten their lives together as much as they seem to have, or is it just that they think they have?\n\nRYAN: Their socio-economic status has changed, and that\u2019s about it. We all suffer from the same problems we always have. I remember meeting with Leisha, very early on, and she was like, \u201cI want Alice to be successful. I want to see Alice successful.\u201d And I was like, \u201cTotally.\u201d I wanna see all of them as successful because that\u2019s part of the dream. There are so many shows and so many times where we are the victims of our own stories, and that\u2019s not what this show ever was. This has always been the sunniest version of the queer experience. No matter what went wrong in their lives, they always had other. Now, they have each other in really nice houses, and I don\u2019t make any apologies for that. I think it\u2019s super fun to watch.\n\nI love how the original cast each has some connection to a member of your new cast, with Bette and Dani, Shane and Finley, and Alice and Sophie, and that it feels like they\u2019re interacting with a version of themselves, at that age. Was that something that was intentional? Did you want to use those relationships to show the similarities and differences between the characters?\n\nRYAN: Yeah, I was definitely interested in putting people in front of them like that. When I think about who my worst nightmare is, it\u2019s basically me. I am my own worst nightmare. If you put two of me in a room, I don\u2019t think we\u2019d both make it out. I do feel that way about most people. When we see ourselves in other people, that\u2019s the thing we hate most. So, that\u2019s very intentional. It\u2019s also fun to watch how they come apart, and how they are very distinct and different people, and I think we do accomplish that, over time. I really just wanted to put conflict in front of people. I love Shane and Finley. I could watch that sitcom. It\u2019s very joyful.\n\nI also really love how we get to see things on this show that you don\u2019t normally see on TV, even if it\u2019s just seeing a woman with hairy armpits. Did you also think about those visuals?\n\nRYAN: Absolutely! There are a couple of things that I\u2019m up The whole show is really a love letter to my 16-year-old self. With the opening scene, some people think it\u2019s very gratuitous, and I do not feel that way about that scene. For me, that scene is about chipping away at shame and about providing an example of what your partner should do when you get your period. If I had known that at 16, I would have avoided many years of hardship. We have a lot of shame and body issues and body shaming, inside our community, but also with women, in general. I think straight women can relate to that, too. And the idea that Dani reacts the way she does, as a guideline for what all partners should do, is such a joy to put on television for me, and I just wish I had known that. And I never asked Jacqueline Toboni to grow her armpit hair. That\u2019s just what she looks like. I can\u2019t take a ton of credit for that, but I did cast her, partially because she means a lot to our community. She is a new kind of queer actor. I\u2019ve worked with her for years. This is our third project together. We did a play together, last year. I just love her. She\u2019s very special. On screen and off, she\u2019s a very important person, in our community. I always tell her that armpit hair is doing a lot for us, as a group. She\u2019s great. She\u2019s really special. So, of course, I thought about that. And I thought about Jose and Micah, too. What they look like matters. The fact that a lot of Twitter was like, \u201cThose boys are cute,\u201d was the point. It\u2019s just that simple. That was our whole statement. That gentle change, that he\u2019s not some outcast character in the show and that they\u2019re just really cute boys is very much by design. I\u2019m excited that people have responded to it, the way that I had hoped they would.\n\nThis season is only eight episodes. Do you feel like there\u2019s still a lot of story to tell with these characters? Have you thought about what a second season and beyond would look like?\n\nRYAN: Oh, my god, there\u2019s so much more. Our cast is fucking huge. It\u2019s gigantic. I love Gigi. I wanna go home with her, and see where she lives and what her family is like. I wanna know what she\u2019s up to. I love her, and we don\u2019t get to see enough of her. We don\u2019t get to see enough of any of them, really. I hope that we get another season and that I can dive more into where they are in their lives and what their lives are like. I also think that we\u2019re missing some people. Not just as a diversity representation that\u2019s checking boxes, but I am dying to see a hot Butch woman on this show. I cannot wait. That\u2019s a whole reason to have a second season.\n\nHow much have you thought about who these characters are and where they could go? Do you know what all of these characters would be doing, if you get more seasons?\n\nRYAN: No, I definitely don\u2019t think like that. The way that I write, and the way that I approach story, is all character first. I step into their shoes and walk around in them for awhile. That\u2019s how story is born, for me. I also think that a lot of the younger characters are me, at various stages of my life, so with some of them, I have a better idea of their trajectory because it\u2019s closer to mine. Once you see Episode 8, there are some real questions that are asked that people are gonna want the answers to, in the next season. So, I hope that I get another season, and that I\u2019m around to tell those stories.\n\nThe L Word: Generation Q airs on Sunday nights on Showtime.", "keywords": [], "meta_keywords": [""], "tags": ["Interview", "Marja-Lewis Ryan", "The L Word", "Showtime", "The L Word: Generation Q"], "authors": ["Christina Radish"], "publish_date": "Wed Jan  1 16:00:27 2020", "summary": "", "article_html": "", "meta_description": "'The L Word: Generation Q' creator/writer Marja-Lewis Ryan talked about how the continuation evolved with her as the showrunner and what it\u2019s like to go from fan of the series to running it", "meta_lang": "en", "meta_favicon": "/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png", "meta_data": {"msapplication-square70x70logo": "/smalltile.png", "msapplication-square150x150logo": "/mediumtile.png", "msapplication-wide310x150logo": "/widetile.png", "msapplication-square310x310logo": "/largetile.png", "description": "'The L Word: Generation Q' creator/writer Marja-Lewis Ryan talked about how the continuation evolved with her as the showrunner and what it\u2019s like to go from fan of the series to running it", "robots": "max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1", "og": {"locale": "en_US", "type": "article", "title": "'The L Word: Generation Q' Showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan on the Series' Evolution", "description": "'The L Word: Generation Q' creator/writer Marja-Lewis Ryan talked about how the continuation evolved with her as the showrunner and what it\u2019s like to go from fan of the series to running it", "url": "https://collider.com/marja-lewis-ryan-interview-the-l-word-generation-q/", "site_name": "Collider", "updated_time": "2020-01-01T16:44:22+00:00", "image": {"identifier": "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-cast.jpg", "secure_url": "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-cast.jpg", "width": 1800, "height": 1242}}, "article": {"publisher": "https://www.facebook.com/colliderdotcom", "author": "https://www.facebook.com/christinaradish", "tag": "The L Word: Generation Q", "section": "Interviews", "published_time": "2020-01-01T16:00:27+00:00", "modified_time": "2020-01-01T16:44:22+00:00"}, "fb": {"app_id": 190932086012, "pages": 160246414365}, "twitter": {"card": "summary_large_image", "description": "'The L Word: Generation Q' creator/writer Marja-Lewis Ryan talked about how the continuation evolved with her as the showrunner and what it\u2019s like to go from fan of the series to running it", "title": "Marja-Lewis Ryan on The L Word: Generation Q and Evolving the Series", "site": "@collidernews", "image": "https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-l-word-generation-q-cast.jpg", "creator": "@christinaradish"}, "generator": "WordPress 5.3.1", "msvalidate.01": "F97A06145E9767C313B356E7E5B833F3", "viewport": "width=device-width", "google-site-verification": "rtgRWlKYqmg2IwU4e9PBjtt31jXoTjotyW6iJbyqdyc", "verify-v1": "ag44RccQF3Xr4VqGQnxB+TOx8+rCP4SHaCwwGAtuWzc="}, "canonical_link": "https://collider.com/marja-lewis-ryan-interview-the-l-word-generation-q/"}