It was on the red carpet for the second season L Word premiere that I first realised how exceptional Jennifer Beals is. She was midinterview with E! Channel or some such, and had just expressed her very real grief at the death of actor Ozzie Davis who played her father in the series. Barely acknowledging her words or giving her space to draw breath, the interviewer was straight in with his next question – what was she wearing tonight? Jennifer paused. Amidst the madness of flashbulbs and cacophonic name-calling that is a crazed red carpet experience, she had the wherewithal to fix the guy with a hard stare. Struggling to be heard over the hubbub, she chided him concisely: did he not hear what she had just said? How could he plunge into inanities when she had been marking the life of a great and esteemed man?

I was blown away. Those red carpet interviews represent life at its most vapid, yet it didn’t deter Jennifer from her true nature. The easier response may have been just to name the designer.To give good interview and pass it off as a Hollywood moment. But Jennifer’s not prepared to reduce her life or emotions to a series of easy sound-bites for media satisfaction. Everything she is or does is without compromise, and with total commitment to the truth.

So I have to admit, I was a little trepidatious about interviewing Ms Beals. As much as I’ve come to love you, dear DIVA reader, I’m not about to ruin a valued relationship by (asking the wrong question and) blurring the lines between journalist and personal friend. There have been, of course, many conversations and experiences she and I have shared over the years that would be unsuitable for a magazine article, whether she was famous or not. Most are obvious, others are wonderfully weird, like the names of her pets. She is, by her own admission, a very private person.But more of that later.

Of course, there’s no hiding one thing about Beals, and that’s her abundance of creativity and talent. Her latest and highly anticipated project, The L Word Book, has been so popular, the printers are struggling to keep up with demand. Jennifer describes it as an attempt to archive her experience in the form of a photographic journal, going behind the scenes of the show. It includes cast commentary and assorted ephemera – bits of scripts, call-sheets,
production memos. Only available to order online, the book reflects the intimate nature of the L Word fan-base in that it can be personalised with a dedication page or by adding private photos. This is exceptional in the world of publishing. So I was curious – what had inspired her?

‘It first started as an impulse to create a family album for the cast
and crew. I’m very particular about memory, and very aware that
mine’s quickly eroding. Then at the convention we did together [L5
in Blackpool, November 2008] I saw how interested people were in
the minutiae of the show, and how generous they were. So I thought,
here’s an opportunity to provide the fans with a different experience
of the show and to continue our tradition of fundraising.’

With all proceeds going to charity, the book was a total labour of
love for Beals. I know from phone calls over the past 18 months that
it’s gobbled up her spare time, as well as some of her patience. She
compares getting the L Word cast together to wrangling cats: ‘My
fantasy was to have everyone at a round table and show the photos,
to have this dialogue with one another. But that’s just not possible –
everyone is at every corner of the earth and doing a whole manner
of things. I managed to get Rose, Mia, Kate and Leisha together. Pam
was the most difficult, I was begging her – Pam, give me something,
anything!’

Her perseverance paid off, ultimately securing revealing interviews,
particularly when it comes to the controversial show finale.
‘[The cast] are very forthright in the interviews, specially about the
sixth season. I think for some people it gives them a sense of closure
that they didn’t have when watching the show, to experience how
we, the cast, were processing it. Everyone came back to the fact that
it was a fantastic experience, that it was a Utopic project.’

Flicking through the book, the photographs transport me back to
those Vancouver summers so vividly I can almost hear Leisha’s gurgling
laugh or Floyd barking. Moments of candour return alongside
the height of posturing, images that only a confidante could witness
or an artist capture.

Amidst all this nostalgia, who could blame Jennifer for missing
The L Word? ‘I miss Bette sometimes. Especially when I’m in
the middle of an argument with someone and I think – I know she
would know what to do.’ In fact, we both get a little wistful about
that aspect of our characters. She continues: ‘I miss my clothes, let’s
face facts. I miss hanging out on set with the other women, doing
the Planet scenes. Leisha could make me laugh so easily it was just
fun. [I’m] just really, deeply appreciative of the experience and so
profoundly grateful to Ilene for letting us share to the degree she
did with her process.’

So does that make Bette Porter the defining role of her career to
date? ‘It’s very fluid. I don’t think that anything that has to do with
identity is that solid. Also, it’s not for me to decide, it’s for other
people. It’s not as if I go around thinking – hmm, what’s my defining
role?’ When I mention to Jennifer that some people actually do
spend time debating that very question, contrasting the merits of
Bette Porter versus Alex Owen (her break-through role in the movie
Flashdance), she’s genuinely surprised. I think we can safely say she
doesn’t read any of the myriad websites that analyse every breath
she takes. ‘No, I don’t. It’s just too self-reflective and bizarre. I can
barely figure out how to use my iPod, much less someone’s blog.’

And here we are at the delicious dichotomy at Jennifer’s core:
a self-confessed hermit who’s happy to share her personal photographic
journal with the world. When she filmed last year in New
Mexico for The Book of Eli, a post-apocalyptic film starring Denzel
Washington, she rented an adobe cabin in the middle of nowhere,
in the quiet and amongst trees. Why the solitude and privacy? Is it
from her childhood, because of her fame maybe? ‘Well, doctor…’ she
laughs. ‘I have no idea! This morning I went for a run in the forest
and apart from having my dogs with me, I was alone. It was wonderful.
I like the quiet. You can hear who you are, you can hear who
the trees are. It’s a different perspective that’s not dictated by the
media.’

But it would be wrong to think of Jennifer as a solitary, unsocial
person who never shares her feelings. If you’ve seen her at a convention
or heard her deliver a speech, you’ll know she’s not afraid to
show her vulnerability or happiness, that she’s ebullient in nature.
In fact, this is part of what makes her such a compelling actor: her
face is constantly awash with fleeting emotions. She has a family –
her nearly-five-year-old daughter and her husband – and an array of
intimate friends with whom she’s loquacious, funny, entertaining.
And always truthful. ‘I’m the small dinner person rather than a club
person.’ Quality over quantity, I offer? ‘Yes, exactly, exactly!’ she
laughs. ‘I have been more sociable of late, you’d be surprised. We’re
letting loose! [As a kid] I spent a lot of time by myself in the garden
getting dirty.’ That may sound like an only-child talking, but she has
two brothers, one older and one younger.

Beals was, famously, still a freshman at Yale when she was cast in
the 1983 movie Flashdance. Catapulted overnight into being an icon
for the decade (there’s a club night in Hoxton named after the film),
she even kept this life-changing news secret for as long as possible. ‘I
got the call and got the movie and the first night in my hotel I called
my mom and said, “Guess where I am...?” They didn’t know half the
time what I was doing… I didn’t tell everyone right away. Like three
people, then I just held on to it.’

Yes, having gone to Yale does mean she’s exceptionally intelligent.
She speaks four languages, and I remember her taking Sanskrit
classes at some point. She’s intellectually curious, which makes
her stimulating company, and capable of great dedication (she’s
an accomplished tri-athlete, who learnt open-water swimming just
months before completing her first race). Taking this into account,
she could have turned her hand to almost anything. So is acting
enough for her? ‘Yes, I love it, it’s really fantastic. When you get a
great role and a great scene and a great scene partner and you’re
just in that little pocket and everything just floats away and you’re
in that kind of dream…’ She breaks off, with a small sigh. And if she
hadn’t become an actress? ‘A photo journalist. It’s about encountering
people and being open to their story and how they articulate
their story. I think the most attractive thing is being involved in some
sort of story-telling. Whether it’s through film or television… Acting
makes me feel more alive.’

Which is lucky because I don’t need to tell you how in demand
she is. Since The L Word, she’s appeared in TV’s Lie To Me with Tim
Roth (she compares her four episodes on this to TLW as ‘like writing
a haiku instead of a novel’). She played Gary Oldman’s blind wife in
the The Book of Eli. She starred in the indie movie A Night For Dying
Tigers, capturing one evening in the life of a highly dysfunctional
family. It also stars Lauren Lee Smith (TLW’s Lara Perkins), of whom
Beals says, ‘She’s a frigging genius. Watching her blew my mind,
it was so subtle. She brought so much more to the part, she was
tremendous and gorgeous, to top it off.’ And next up for Beals is the
female lead in a new TV show for FOX called Ride-Along.

‘Shawn Ryan is the show runner; he did Lie To Me, that’s where
we met. He’s very good and very smart and I feel very lucky. I
play Chicago’s first female Chief of Police, Superintendent Teresa
Colvin, much too young and not of the chosen gender for the job,
helping clean up the corruption in the city of Chicago. I feel incredibly
grateful and honoured as Shawn is such a great writer. He also
did The Shield.’

The Shield, if you don’t know it, is an amazing cop show, and it’ll
be exciting to see Jennifer in a similar role to the one Glenn Close
played – tough, competing in a man’s world, with glimpses of vulnerability.
Maybe she’ll even be wielding a gun! Ride-Along, which
co-stars Jason Clarke of Brotherhood, means relocating to her old
hometown of Chicago and might seem to be a big change of direction
for Jennifer. As a huge Shawn Ryan junkie, I’m thrilled for her,
but when I ask if she’s played a cop before she says, ‘Oh yeah, but
don’t even take me there, Rachel!’

So I don’t. I know better than to push it. This is an interview
and some subjects are off-limits, and this is one of them. As are pet
details. ‘My dogs take their job [of security] very seriously. They’re
our pets and our friends but there’s no calming them down if there’s
someone in the yard.’ Can I include their names in the interview I
wonder? ‘No. What a surprise, right?!’ She laughs wholeheartedly.
Then offers up a tale so intimate, it paints a dreamy portrait of a
young Jennifer Beals who’s already self-sufficient, already brimming
with confidence. She’s protecting her cherished emotions and experiences
from prying eyes, keeping them private even at this tender
age.

‘Can I tell you, when I went to camp as a kid I would get letters
from friends or family and while all the other kids were tearing open
the letters and devouring the words from their families, I would not
open my letters for like two days. I would just savour the fact that I
had them. It was insane. It was this delicious prolonging of the joy,
in a way. By telling everyone about it, sometimes for me it dissipates
the joy.’ So you’ve always been secretive? ‘It doesn’t feel like
secretive, it just feels like holding onto something that’s mine, that I
savour. Not very conducive to interviews!’

At this admission, she laughs shamelessly and I laugh along with
her. You’ve got to love her. I suggest it makes her more mysterious,
more enigmatic. ‘I don’t mean to be secretive,’ she states, very
matter-of-factly. ‘I just… enjoy what I enjoy.’