So there was an article in yesterday's New York Times about one of the actresses on this show, Mia Kirshner - a nice article, very complimentary to her and to "The L-Word." Good TV shows are rare, I hope this one's as good as everyone's saying - maybe one day I'll see some of it
As some other people have said, I can't think of any reason why it's preferable that gay actresses play gay roles
There's suspension of disbelief in all theatre, why should this be any different?
Almost all the actresses that I know - straight actresses - who have played love or sex scenes with another woman have said that it's easier and more fun with a woman than with a man, actually. Which isn't that surprising - since we're not talking about sex and being turned on - but about, I don't know, comfort and levels of inhibition.
As for "acting gay" ... it's strange, I admit I don't understand why what appeals to you sexually should so often have a relation to how you behave or "act" (so that if you see a flamboyant or effiminate guy you're almost positive he's gay) but what's in your mind often comes across in your body - in your expressions, or movements, or SOMETHING.
Not just being gay or straight, but age, gender, nationality, almost everything, comes across in the way you move and talk ... at least, I'm starting to think so. The way people move tells you a lot about them; it's very personal. A 55-year-old secretary I know walks differently from a 35-year-old professor, who walks differently from my 20-year-old Asian suitemate, who sits differently a fortysomething black woman I saw once on a bus ... of course I know we are not just talking about walking and sitting ... but it's true that most of the way we move and present ourselves has a lot to do with who we are and how we live.
Sometimes I play a game: from the way I walk, the way I stand, sit, talk I can usually guess whether people will see me as American or European - for example, if I feel more American, I hold myself a little differently, and it almost always comes across. Sometimes it's unconscious; you can do it consciously too: acting is about using your body to create a character - because an audience can't see what's inside your head, it's the way you externalize it that makes it work.
I can understand the "there are no stereotypes" argument, that what appeals to people sexually doesn't entail or presuppose a certain kind of behavior or attitude ... and I think that's true, but on the other hand the way you see things and people often manifests itself somehow in the way people see you. And the best actors and actresses don't just play stereotypical behavior but make it personal to the character they're playing.
Does that make sense?
I don't think it takes an earthshattering actress to convincingly play someone gay - and then convincingly play someone straight - I don't see that it's any harder than playing someone rich and then someone who has to count every penny.
Or someone who's Jewish, if they're an atheist or Christian ... people do this kind of thing all the time. Because there's been anti-Semitism, should Jewish actors be given all the Jewish roles? I don't see how that argument makes any sense at all.