L a u r a  I n n e s

Oh, Good, She's Hot!

Report: LI at the outfest panel "Lesbian Images
on Television", May 15 2002

First of all, she was wearing black pants and a black long sleeved collagoldenrod shirt and hoop earrings. Her hair's a bit darker and has grown out a little. she did this really cute thing where she would sit with her leg up on the chair like a teenager. Basically, she looked GORGEOUS.

So, first each panelist talked a little about their work, and Laura talked about some stuff that we've already heard in interviews: the producers calling her in for a meeting, how she liked pulling the rug out from under Kerry, how she liked examining Kerry's "intimacy issues" and "sex issues" (very cute expressions on those).

She's always "startled when talk show hosts tell me before the show 'oh, i'll be sure to mention your husband and child'" and how it's bad that they need to do that.

"The media don't represent people who don't look a certain way."

About privileges that heterosexual people take for granted and that gay people don't even think about since "it's not on their radar because of all the fucking trouble it takes to get it" and that that kind of stuff "riles her up" (she used her gay male friends trying to adopt a baby as an example).

"Elizabeth Mitchell, all the girls loooooved her..." (with a cute little smile).

And then (this was the best part) she talked about how when EM was on the show for the first time, her mom called her right after the show was over and "she asked me, 'is that gonna be your girlfriend?' and i said, 'yes' and she said, 'oh good, she's hot!'" The audience was roaring.

She also told a story about her in-laws who live in a retirement home in Minnesota where everyone watches ER and used a cute midwestern accent to immitate her mother in law saying, "It's ok if you're straight or gay, we don't care either way".

About lesbians in ER: "Y'know, we can't do the same thing on ER as on Queer as Folk." [Not that we ever really tried... - Evil Ivanova]

Some words of advice, talking about getting more women directors/writers etc.: "Work your ass off!"

This exclusive report was brought to you by january girl!

T h e  D o c t o r  I s  O u t

CURVE MAGAZINE, MAY 2002

She's been in Hollywood for 24 years - showing up in films like Deep Impact and sitcoms like Wings - but television viewers around the globe know Laura Innes a the conflicted, differently-abled, and just-coming-out lesbian administrator Dr. Kerry Weaver on America's favorite drama, ER. She caused a firestorm last year when Weaver fell for, then flubbed a relationship with, a lesbian shrink. After Dr. Romano, ER's malicious head honcho, fires her love interest for being, well, queer, Dr. Weaver - in one of television's rare delightfully symbolic scenes - faces down the establishment amidst a row of men's urinals and tells him that she too is gay.

Now, the actress behind the character, 44-year old Laura Innes, has proudly become the poster girl for middle-aged lesbians everywhere. (...) She's a different kind of TV star. With the mouth of an activist and the body of a babe, Innes is the kind of star lesbians have been waiting for.

Curve: Dr. Kerry Weaver is doing something unusual for TV but common in real life - she's coming out as a middle-aged woman. How did you research what that's like?

Laura Innes: I had conversations with people who are my own age, or around my age; I'm 44. I was curious about what that was like. And I read a book called Married Women Who Love Women....I have a friend who is around my age, a little younger, and she's gay and came out to her own community when she was younger but not to her family and to the community at large. When I worked with her, I didn't know whether she was gay or not. It was sort of that in-between area when people don't talk about their personal lives.... That's the kind of life I think Kerry would be living now if it weren't for the Lopez character sort of outing her. [SORT OF?! What would REAL outing entail, national TV broadcasting? - Ivanova]

Curve: So you believe outing a person against her or his will can be justified because she will ultimately feel better being out? [Oops, I got something wrong here. Of course, outing is no top issue for a lesbian magazine. Instead they asked the following question. Ivanova] Last year you emphasized you wanted Kerry to come out in her own right. Could they honestly not come up with a better way to get Kerry out of the closet than having her guerillakissed in public by her gf? [Dang, this keeps happening. Now, here's the real question, I promise!- I.] How does disability play into this? (...)

Curve: So this isn't just a story arc that's going to wrap up and -

Laura Innes: No. (...) in terms of our decision to go on this path - when the idea was presented to me I said, "This can't be something that's a sort of scintillating little period in her life. It's too significant" ... They said, "No, no, no, that's not our intention at all." Our intention is to really explore this transition and, beyond that, explore the particular things that someone comes up against when they're gay or lesbian. And beyond that, have it be no big deal; you work some place and some people are gay and some people are straight and that's it.

Curve: So, what happened? Were the real producers abducted and replaced by alien body shifters between seasons 7 and 8? [Geeze, it happened again. Sorry, Curve didn't ask this question. My mistake. Ivanova]

Laura Innes: I have had the experience of being in a coffee shop and someone says to me, "Well, she's not really gay, right? i mean, this is just, like a phase?"

Curve: Of course, lesbians want to know, too. They're worried it'll be a phase.

Laura Innes: Well, they shouldn't worry about that... They shouldn't worry about that at all.

Curve: Your fans seem to think the chemistry you had with Elizabeth Mitchell is irreplacable.

Laura Innes: Yes.

Curve: Do you think that's true?

Laura Innes: No. I loved Elizabeth Mitchell. She is a wonderful actress. She's a beautiful girl... I think Lisa Vidal, who is on now, is wonderful. We haven't been given the same kind of scenes that Elizabeth and I had, so in a way, she hasn't had a chance to shine as much as Elizabeth. I hope people will give that a chance. [read: They've given us really crappy scripts, please try to ignore that fact. It can only get better...- Ivanova]

Curve: Will you have the opportunity for more scenes with her this season?

Laura Innes: Yes, there's more stuff coming up. (...)

Curve: What's been your favorite episode or scene?

Laura Innes: Well, I would choose three scenes. One is a scene I did with Gloria Reuben early on. I kind of knew what was going on with her. It was a scene outside in the rain, and I revealed that I knew she had AIDS and i was supporting her. It was one of the first scenes where Weaver was really able, in a very quiet and dignified way, to express her support... And then, certainly, the stuff with Elizabeth was wonderful all the way through. (...) It sort of all worked as one piece.

Curve: That was a great scene. You confronted Dr. Romano about firing people because they're gay. You essentially came out to him amidst a row of men's urinals. Was the men's room setting intentionally symbolic?

Laura Innes: Yeah, it was supposed to be kind of ironic to be facing him in there. And sort of funny. A character like Romano is interested in manipulating and controlling. So he thinks he's going to go in the men's room and I'm going to shut up. That was a nice touch, I thought, that it didn't stop me.... Nobody was going to shut her up at that point.... And then she goes back and when she's alone in the elevator she has this moment, like, "Oh, my god."

Curve: Is there anything that has bothered you about other lesbian characters you've seen portrayed on television?

Laura Innes: There isn't a lot to choose from... I think they do a really nice job on Buffy. I think they do a great job on Queer as Folk. I think Friends is kind of a fun thing...To me, the deeper and more subtle problem is having lesbian characters who are seen as full people - that they have families, that they do their jobs well, that they have a social life, that they have relationships with their parents, that they live as full and deep and joyful a life as anybody else and nothing inhibits that.

Curve: And how successful has ER been at this task lately? [Hm...Ok, this was Ivanova, not Curve.]

Interview: Diane Anderson-Minshall

E R ' s  L e a d i n g  L e s b i a n

THE ADVOCATE, DEC. 2001

"Women are bigger pigs than men!" laughs Laura Innes in mock dismay [referring to the fans on the WWW]. "They were so into Kim for her physical appearance. I expected there to be all these progressive women looking at the real person, but they were like, 'Oh, she's such a hottie.'" (...)

She has also strongly supported her character's discovery of a lesbian identity, which is continuing this season with the introduction of a new girlfriend -- firefighter Sandy Lopez (...). Despite lamentations over Mitchell's departure, Innes thinks her Internet fans won't be too disappointed by the attractive Vidal.

But don't expect Kerry, who started off this season tensely unpleasant and closeted, to suddenly grab a banner and join a gay pride march. "I feel very much an advocate of the storyline, but that being said, I don't feel I'm an advocate for having it happen in a way that's going to make the lesbian and gay community happy every minute" (...)

"If it were me, Laura, and I came in to work after coming out to my boss, I'd be like, 'What's the big fucking deal?' But I'm not Kerry, so I honor the tensions that exist for this woman, who has a great deal of difficulty with intimacy. I want to say [to gays and lesbians], 'Trust us, we're going to do the right thing.' (...)

I will say that the chemistry that existed between Elizabeth and I was much better than the chemistry that existed with any of the guys they hooked me up with," she says, smiling. "She's beautiful, a wonderful actress, and a wonderful person. (...)

I remember during that scene [the thanksgiving dinner] having a real in-the-moment feeling of wanting to kiss her and being amazed that I was feeling that way," she says. "It was great. It was like, 'Oh, yeah, this feels right.'"

A O L  L i v e C h a t

NOV. 15, 2001

Question: Laura, I wanted to say first off... that I really admire you and you give me so much strength. My question for you is...has playing a lesbian on ER...changed you in anyway off screen?

Laura Innes Live: I think when you play a character who has a different experience than yourself you get some vicarious sense of what that person goes through. Sometimes when I'm out shopping I'll run into people who will express disappointment in the storyline and that makes me feel kind of sad. I sort of feel like a teenage girl who is coming out and her mother hopes it's just a phase. But yes it gives me a deeper understanding of what that experience feels like.

Question: A fan of yours [actually, it was Ivanova - thanks to KerryWeaver for posting it!] read in an interview that, when you were asked to do the lesbian storyline, after making sure your family was cool about it, you asked your publicist whether this could harm your career, and s/he said, probably not. My question: If she had said, probably yes, what would you have done?

Laura Innes Live: Oh, I'm sure I still would have done it! I called my publicist because he's gay and he's one of my best friends. I knew he would be figoldenrod up by the idea. I had people say to me in warning, "if you do this storyline, people might really think you're gay." My reaction was "So what?" If this character had been gay when I auditioned, I would have still gone through with the audition. (...) I think actors get typecast and that's sad. Any kind of stereotyping can diminish what you do as an actor. But I'm thrilled with this storyline and there is a lot more to explore!

Question: How much input do you have in developing Kerry's character? Do you wish you had more input?

LauraInnesLlVE: I almost always express my point of view to the writers and producers. Sometimes they alter a storyline accordingly, sometimes they don't. There are certainly times when I wish I had more input. Last year I was fairly involved in the progression of the story. But yes, I wish I had a little more input. But I try!

(...) AOLiveMC11: Actors are known to get attached to the characters they are playing. Do you have these sort of feelings towards Kerry? Had you met kerry in real life, would you like her? Are you going to miss her when she's gone?

LauraInnesLlVE: Yes, I think actors become very attached to the characters that they play. In this case I'm so attached to her I have very little objectivity to her. I think she is complicated and interesting and to me intriguing in a way that I never get tigoldenrod of. It's almost like with your own child, you're very, very protective and understanding and even when she does terrible things, I so understand why and I so make excuses for her. I think that's what makes me able to play her with the enthusiasm that I do. I think it would be a mistake to soften her.

People all the time do things to advance their careers, she's just a slightly more blatant example of that. It's fun to watch and see her in a boardroom turning against Mark Green. It's fun! They give me so many parts of her to play. I've had people come up to me and embrace me and people who just want to slap me across the face and I think that's great! And I think that's great for the show too!

full transcript

W h a t ' s  u p ,  D o c ?

INTERVIEW WITH ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, NOV. 15, 2001

With a failed lesbian relationship behind her, "ER" doc LAURA INNES looks forward to a new season of highs and lows for Kerry Weaver, as she battles for control at work and in her personal life.

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: Is this Kerry's wild ride year? Is this the year she comes undone?

Laura: What I've always loved about the character is that she is so extreme - both in her control and her expertise, or her bitchiness and her rage. She's extreme in being passionate about matters. She's extreme in the advocacy for the underdog at times.

Last year and this year they have made available to me storylines that allow me to keep showing different sides of Kerry. Obviously the arc last year with the sexual orientation was great for me to play -- to try and make this woman who is so controlling and so private show different sides of her that you almost couldn't show in any other way. It's great to have a character that is so controlled and unhinge her. Now they are throwing me for a loop and having me make mistakes. For me as a viewer, I like to see characters in some sort of transformation where you see them in a situation that you have never seen them before.

ET: Kerry seems as if she is doing so much to push people away from her this season. Is she going to be able to come back and make friends or allies?

Laura: She has always been somebody who is not easy with other people and certainly not easy or familiar with intimacy. One of the things that has fueled "ER" over the years is the politics of the hospital. For Kerry that is a big thing. She is a very ambitious person. She is very focused on the goal of being successful and a leader in the hospital and she is also a real expert at what she does.

She went through the love affair that ended badly last year. I think in response to that she is full-bore focused on work again. It is slightly different in that she is making some mistakes. So there are certain things that are happening to her and will happen in the future where she starts to become unraveled.

I think the way that people change in real life is incrementally. You have an experience that feels like it changes you completely, and then you fall back into old patterns or habits or real ambitions before you become a more balanced person. So in terms of her driving other people away, emotionally it feels like a response to what happened at the end of last year. In terms of where she is headed, hopefully, that will all balance out in a way that feels right, but I never want to lose the energy of that character.

full article

K i m  &  K e r r y  P a r t i e s

LIVE-CHAT AT CHANNEL 4, June 25, 2001:

Laura Innes: Hi, I'm happy to be here, so fire away!

Katrina: Laura, you're amazing, you and Elizabeth Mitchell have quite a following, are you aware of the popularity Kerry and Kim have as a couple, and is she returning for Season 8?

Laura Innes: First of all, thanks for that! We are very happy that the audience has responded to the characters. In the States we have heard they have Kim and Kerry parties! I'm not sure what's happening next year with Elizabeth. She has another project which she is waiting to hear whether it gets picked up, so we'll see.

vmaddog: Laura, are you aware of the massive fan movement for this storyline that has emerged on the internet?

Laura Innes: You know, I've heard about it second-hand, and we're thrilled. We didn't know what to expect, and we're so grateful for the support.

Kenn Melvin: In the 'greatest of gifts' episode Kerry gives Kim an expensive christmas present, a first edition of an old book: but we are only teased with a too-far-away-to-read glimpse as to what the title of the book is. Can you remember what it was? Lots of people seem to have ideas, but noone knows for sure..

Laura Innes: Hmmm... I'm embarrassed to say I can't remember! I had never heard of it. As I remember it was sort of a lesbian coming-of-age story, but I can't remember the name of it.

(...) Tomahawk: Has there ever been any direction which you've wanted to take Kerry, but not been able to? If so, what?

Laura Innes: Ohh let's see... It would be great fun to see her really cut loose and maybe get drunk at a party - you know, go wild! How about that!?

Kiss: that would be awesome! (Laura Innes chuckles at Kiss.)

Jess: What advice would you give to someone struggling with their sexuality like Kerry is?

Laura Innes: I guess, Jess, my advice would be: Be true to yourself, honour yourself and have patience with the people around you. They'll come around.

(...) beeter: am i right in thinking that season 8 is going to be very snappy with a lot of arguments...because of the return of Sherry Stringfield, and the probable departure of Anthony Edwards, especially given his behaviour!

Lene Nilsson-Lewis: With the return of Sherry Stringfield to the show next season, do you think that the confrontational relationship of season 2/3 will return or would you like to writers to take a different approach to the Weaver/Lewis relationship?

Laura Innes: I'm not sure what's going to happen. I guess I hope something in between. I'd be disappointed if everything was resolved in an unrealistic way, but on the other hand I wouldn't want to repeat what we have already done. (...)