A Woman Of Her Word

Jennifer Beals makes a long-promised—and promising— return in the Showtime sequel, The L Word: Generation Q

- By Brantley Bardin

FOR SIX DELICIOUSLY DRAMA-FILLED, Sapphic, sex–soaked seasons, The L Word immersed audiences in a lesbian community never before seen on television. It caused such a sensation that when the series ended in 2009, L Word star Jennifer Beals—who played BettePorter, an L.A. art world power lesbian—was sure another show about LGBTQ women would fill the void.

That didn’t happen. So Beals and L Word co-stars Katherine Moenning (Shane) and Leisha Hailey (Alice) took matters into their own hands. The result: The L Word: Generation Q, with award-winning lesbian writer-filmmaker Marja-Lewis Ryan onboard as its showrunner, and Beals, Moenning, and Hailey all reprising their beloved characters.

Says Beals: “I want Generation Q to continue L Word’s legacy of representation, inclusivity, and reminding people that the ‘L’ doesn’t just stand for lesbian but for love, too. It begins 10 years after the last show, and I want to deep-dive into conversations about sexuality and gender identity.” Bealsis quick to add, “You don’t want it to be didactic, though, so it’s going to be funny!”