TV Magazine (2005)
The L Word's Pregnant Pause
by Ileane Rudolph

Laurel Holloman

We've seen plenty of pregnant ladies on TV, but never one like The L Word's Tina Kennard, as played by real mommy-to-be Laurel Holloman. As befits the no-holds-barred lustiness of Showtime's lesbian drama (Sundays at 10 pm/ET), Tina's — and Laurel's — expanding belly didn't keep her from doing love scenes with ex-girlfriend Bette (Jennifer Beals) and the haughty What-The-Hel (Rachel Shelly). And how's this for a twist on life imitating art: Now that Holloman has had her child (6-month-old Lola), Beals has revealed that she's expecting! TVGuide.com touched base with Holloman a few weeks before she returned to Vancouver to shoot L Word's third season.

TVGuide.com: So now that Jennifer Beals is pregnant, you'll have to deal with her hormonal issues on the set. Fair play?
Laurel Holloman: [Laughs] We're pretty good at it now. I'll take care of her this year, because she really took care of me!

TVG: Will Ms. Beals' pregnancy be written into the show like yours was?
Holloman: Jennifer really didn't want to be pregnant on the show, and everybody has come to the conclusion that it would just be repetitive [coming right after mine]. But she'll look glowing in her close-ups!

TVG: You really struck a feminist blow by portraying a heavily pregnant woman as feeling strong sexual desires — and being very sexually appealing to others around her.Holloman: I was really pregnant, and I had gestational diabetes and was on insulin, which didn't make me feel so sexy. But I wanted to be part of something that was such a celebration of pregnancy and a womanly body. I thought it was very progressive. And a lot of women have sexual desire in the last part of their pregnancy, which is sort of interesting.

TVG: Kudos for your bravery. You were next to naked in love scenes and nude in the underwater labor scene.
Holloman: And I [had] gained 30 pounds! As it was happening, I wasn't thinking about whether it was courageous or anything. I'd like to look at my career when I'm older and go, "Hey, I really did things that were hard." As an actress, it's one of the most cool things I've ever done. Also, I did The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love at a young age, playing a little baby butch dyke. So very early on, I just dropped vanity and preconceived notions of what I'm supposed to look like.

TVG: You had some hot scenes with What-The-Hel, especially in the pool. Will Rachel Shelly be back even though your characters have broken up?Holloman: Yeah! What-The-Hel will definitely be back. She's a great addition, and Rachel Shelly is a delight to work with. I was seven months pregnant in that scene.

TVG: Did your situation ever make you laugh? You were this massively pregnant, married heterosexual woman in steamy clinches with gorgeous women.
Holloman: It was a little comical the first time I had to do a love scene pregnant. I was in the pool, and Rachel and I were laughing because the baby was kicking! It was easy to do [pregnant love] scenes with Rachel and Jennifer. I don't know if I could have done that with a man. [Laughs]

TVG: Speaking of men, what was your husband's reaction?
Holloman: He [Hollywood production designer Paul Macherey] was very proud of me. He's an artist, so he would never tell me what to incorporate into my art, just like I would never tell him what to design.

TVG: You went through most of your pregnancy on camera.
Holloman: In the first episode, I was four-and-a-half months pregnant — and I worked until the day before my water broke!

TVG: Wow!
Holloman: I didn't make it to the last episode. I had an emergency Caesarian section, just like Tina. On my last day, I was supposed to have a meeting with [L Word creator] Ilene Chaikin. My water broke and I was in the hospital that night in labor. I had to do reshoots for the final show five weeks after the birth of my baby. It was pretty interesting; they pretty much shot the emergency C-section in the final scene, after I had a real one.