AUSTIN, Texas — Sharon Gless is laughing a husky smoker's laugh as she ponders how her character in the drama "Hannah Free" is little bit like her. "Crusty" — that's a descriptive she agrees they share. That and "petulant." But not "tough." That trait's too stereotypical for lesbian women, she says.
For the first time in her long career, Gless — best known as the blonde Christine Cagney in the cop show "Cagney & Lacey" and as an the understanding mother of a gay child in Showtime's "Queer as Folk" — is playing a gay woman. "Hannah Free," written by playwright Claudia Allen and directed by first-timer Wendy Jo Calton, screens Saturday during the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival.
 Showtime 'Queer as Folk' stars (left to right): Thea Gill, Sharon Gless, and Michelle Clunie. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
It's a first she sounds giddy about.
In the title role, Gless plays half of a lesbian couple that experiences the ups and downs of a lifelong romance that begins at age 10 and runs through age 80. (Gless, who's 66, plays Hannah at ages 50 and, in a stretch, 80.)
The small-scale, stagebound film was "a labor of love for everybody," says Gless, an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress. It was shot in three weeks and is "as low-budget as the Screen Actors Guild would allow us to play."
Gless called this week from her Florida home, which she shares with her husband of 18 years, Barney Rosenweig, the producer of "Cagney & Lacey." Florida is also where Gless shoots the USA Network series "Burn Notice," the highest-rated cable show in the country.
Q: You've been a longtime lesbian icon, yet surprisingly this is your first lesbian role. How does it feel?
A: People have asked me, "What was it like to, um, you know ... " And I tell them I've never been so comfortable in a role. I didn't try to play a stereotypical lesbian, whatever that is. I just emotionally put myself in the place of loving this other woman all my life. Most of the time I'm bedridden — I do very little walking in the film — so I'm only working emotionally from the waist up. (Laughs.)
Q: What attracted you to the part?
A: The woman who wrote it, Claudia Allen, has written over 30 plays. She's a renowned lesbian playwright in Chicago, and this is my third project I've done of hers. Tyne Daly and I did one of her plays for the radio, and years later I did one of her plays on stage. Then (Claudia) called me several months ago and said one of her plays was going to be filmed and asked me if I wanted to do it. I said absolutely. She asked if I wanted to know which one it was, and I said, "No, it doesn't matter." She's a dear friend and she writes women beautifully. I just said, "Yes, let's do it!" I just wanted to be there, and I couldn't be happier that I did it.
Q: You've said, "It's an honor to play this character." It's probably partly an honor because your character is in every scene.
A: (Laughs.) Yes, that's an honor, too! It's because it's Claudia's work. I love her work. And no one had ever asked me to play a lesbian before.
Q: Tell me about the character Hannah Free. How much is she like you?
A: She's a lot more adventuresome than me. I don't know if I would have the nerve to join the Air Force during World War II and if I could move off to Alaska as she does. She has a wanderlust that I admire but that I think I'm too lazy to actually exercise. She's maybe a little crusty and petulant like me. (Laughs.) She knows what she wants, and it's during an era when being like that is very courageous. I would call her courageous; I don't know if Hannah would call herself courageous. It's just who she is. She does what she has to do.
Q: What is "Hannah Free" about? To me it's a memory play about the persistence of love in the face of social disapproval and, more daunting, in the face of time's march.
A: It's a love story. I can't use the word "loyalty" for Hannah, because she isn't always loyal. But love wins out when your heart is attached to one person. And I don't think that pertains to just lesbians. She just can't be without Rachel. As far away as she goes, she always has to return. Because Rachel can't live like Hannah, she keeps returning. I thought the script was very timely, because of what's going on here in Florida and in California, where they will not condone gay marriage. That will change, by the way. But that's what Hannah's going through — not being able to be family with Rachel, blocked by attitudes.
Q: Something remarkable about the movie is how sexy it is. And it's not gratuitous, but very organic and natural. How important to the story is sexuality?
A: I'm so glad you said that! I think it's sexy, too. It's appropriate. When people love each other they make love, so it should be shown. It shows that Rachel really did love Hannah, that they really had a love affair. The sex scenes are important to show who Rachel really was behind closed doors. My 22-year-old granddaughter, who's gay, thought there was too much sex in it, ha ha. But most people like it.
Q: Back to the idea of you as a lesbian icon: As a straight woman does it surprise you? Is it an honor?
A: I'm very flattered, certainly. I was in Philadelphia a couple months ago and (the Philadelphia Cinema Alliance) gave me the annual Gay Icon Award. I don't think I really deserve the title. It's a cumulative honor for a body of work — "Cagney & Lacey," "Queer as Folk" and now this movie. I've also been a very, very strong fighter for the gay community. I learned a lot doing the five years on "Queer as Folk." I learned about the pain and the injustices. So I've made it a cause of mine. It hasn't been an effort. It's something I believe in, and it's a pleasure to do it.
Q: There's a long way to go, isn't there?
A: Oh, yeah. I'm a fifth-generation Californian, and for the first time in my life I'm ashamed of my state. The stupidity. You just keep fighting. But it will change, I promise you. Californians consider themselves so hip, but they're not at all. They're backward. It's just ignorance, ignorance and ignorance.
Chris Garcia writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: cgarcia(at)statesman.com.
