Known to many of us as the tough-as-nails lawyer Joyce Wischnia on the stylish drama The L Word, Jane Lynch is an out lesbian and accomplished actress with extensive background in theater, TV, and film. Some of Lynch's recent credits include roles in the comedy films “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005) and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Rickey Bobby” (2006), as well as appearances on popular television dramas, including Desperate Housewives and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Lynch can also be regularly found in lesbian short films playing the queer film festival circuit. For these reasons and more, she’s a widely recognized figure to countless lesbians across the United States.

In this, her first interview with the Japanese media, Lynch talks about The L Word, her own experiences coming out, her favorite lesbian movies, and some of her favorite pastimes.

-- First, I’d like to start with The L Word. Your character, Joyce, made quite an impact on fans here in Japan. How would you describe her?

Well, I’d say she’s very smart and does not suffer fools well. She loves representing underdogs and fighting for their rights. She likes being their advocate, but what gets in the way for Joyce is that every once in awhile she starts a personal relationship with these people and it becomes unethical. Like with Tina in Season 2. She saw Tina in a weak position and it made her want to defend and take care of her. But she took it too far. She took it past the lawyer-client relationship and into something more intimate; she kind of preyed on her.

Of course this is unconscious for Joyce. She thinks she's just helping, but she goes too far and violates Tina's boundaries. Tina didn't want a girlfriend, she just wanted a lawyer and someone that she could depend on, yet Joyce betrayed that. That's Joyce's pattern--she stands up for the weak and then, if she's intrigued enough, she blows past boundaries and ethics and tries to build intimacy. And that's not right. But that's who she is.

-- How did fans in the US respond to Joyce?

I went to a restaurant screening of The L Word once where no one knew I was there. It was shown on a big screen and there were lots of lesbians at the venue watching it. When my character came on screen, everyone in the room started to boo and hiss. I ended up leaving through the backdoor! (laughs)

I've had people come up to me in Los Angeles and say, "I know who that character was based on!" There are two lawyers in Los Angeles that some people think the character is based on. I don't know if that's true, though. I think Ilene just made Joyce up.

-- What brought you to join the cast?

Well, I first saw the drama after it was released on DVD. I was at home and I literally watched the whole first season in one sitting--DVD after DVD. I watched it in two days and I was like, "Oh my god, I love this!" Later, I found out that Ilene would be speaking somewhere for Power Up, so I went to see her speak. I had recently done a Christopher Guest movie called "Best in Show", in which I played a lesbian. Ilene had either seen it or just generally knew me as an actress because when I went up to meet her she said, "Would you be on our show?" Naturally I said, "YES!" and within a couple of months she had written a character for me.

-- So Ilene was the first to bring it up?

Yeah! But I wanted to join before she had ever said anything! It was mutual, and a wonderful first meeting. To this day, I'm very glad I went.

●The L Word Season 4　DVD Collector's Box Set
On sale now
6 disc set at ￥10,290 (incl. tax)
●DVD sales (Japan): 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan 　
www.foxjapan.com
(C)2008 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC.

●Broadcast (Japan): FOX Life HD
www.foxlife.jp