Rachel has very kindly agreed to answer your questions to submit a question Rachel will answer a selection of questions periodically subject to her work and personal commitments. Rachel regrets that she cannot respond to every question and she cannot respond to personal emails or directly to individuals.

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December 2007

We loved seeing Helena so obviously head over heels with Dylan - will Helena have a new (healthy) relationship this year?

I loved seeing Helena head over heels with Dylan too - I loved working with Alexandra Hedison and am always trying to persuade the writers to bring her back somehow. Helena does become involved with someone this year, and gets head over heels, but whether or not it's a healthy relationship I'll leave that for the viewers to judge! There are such huge surprises for Helena this season, pretty shocking actually. I think I should just leave it at that.

Will Holland Taylor be back in Season 5?   (We Love Holland !)

I love Holland too! And yes, I'm happy to say Peggy Peabody is back in Season 5, full of her usual gusto and imperious ways. We have some wonderful moments together. Working with Holland is always a pleasure, always memorable and educational. The dynamic is changing a little between Helena and her mummy dearest. For the better I think.

Its hard to ask questions about the new season  - without asking you to give away the stories - which we know you can't!  Can you tell us who you are likely to have scenes with & who you are most looking forward to working with?

I think most people have seen the trailers for Season 5 now so I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say  I'm in a whole new environment at the beginning of Season 5. So a lot of the characters I'm associating with early on are new to the show. Apart from my mother Peggy Peabody of course. It made my scenes with the old gang - Tina, Alice, Shane etc all the more precious.

Is Helena going to go down a slippery slope to criminality or will she be redeemed?

I can't answer that! That's the 64-million-billion-Peabody-trust-fund question!

What's your favourite location so far?

I think my favourite location is still Whistler, at the end of Season 3. I think I said before how much fun we all had - everyone staying together in the hotel, skiing and hanging out in our down time. It was near Christmas, it was festive, it was beautiful, we were wonderfully looked after, and we had freezing fun like going around and around  on a ski lift for hours and hours, with running noses and mittens, singing our hearts out to keep warm. Drinking mulled wine in the evening around bonfires - just lovely.

I don't know if you can answer this one but I get an amazing number of emails about it - you wear a large square ring, looks like mother of pearl.  Do you know the maker/designer?

The ring is something I've worn from my very first day on L Word. I have no idea who makes or designs it - Helena wears a lot of David Yurman and this looks similar to his stuff but it's not by him. It was something our wonderful costume designer Cynthia Summers had in her office and I zoned in on, claimed it for Helena . I think it is mother of pearl but I'm not sure. Helena always wears it. I have this whole story worked out around it, which I'm not going to tell you. But I like having small props that build a character's history, that help me step into them every time I put them on. And this is one of those props.

Is there any other non L Word work on the horizon in the off season?  There was a hint that you would be in more episodes of Ghost Whisperer

I would love to do more Ghost Whisperer, but nothing has come through as yet. As you probably know already, there is a huge writer's strike taking place at the moment in the States which is shutting down productions and really curtailing new work from starting up. No-one knows how long this will last, but the writers have the support of most of Hollywood - including the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) - except the producers with whom they are battling. Having said that, I am currently shooting some exciting TV in Vancouver (home from home these days), and am scheduled to shoot a British film in February. I'm very excited to work in the UK again after so long!

July 2007

You have talked about Helena getting California-ized - How has Rachel got California-ised?
Firstly my accent - whenever I return to London I'm always told I sound so American, and then vice versa when I come back to LA. I've become used to healthier food, though I try not to be one of THOSE actresses. I live in flip flops and birkenstocks. I've even read a few "spiritual" books! Some people think I've had my teeth professionally bleached but THAT IS A LIE GODDAMIT! Thankfully I still hate cars, though I can see the convenience of them. And I still miss the hustle and bustle of London, even with the horrific threat that hangs over the city these days. I love the sunshine, but I still miss seasons.

Your role in the L Word in the last season has included playing high drama and comedy - which do you enjoy more to play?

I think I'm more confident playing the drama, as there are fewer variables involved, but I enjoy both enormously. Comedy is so precarious - the tiniest thing can ruin a moment or a scene. You have to really trust your director and your material with comedy. I've been lucky to have so much comedy with Leisha who plays Alice, as she's a natural and I learn a lot from her. In an ideal world I would play a little of both - which I do, so that makes me very lucky.

Is Helena starting Season 4 with a more limited wardrobe? I'm thinking orange prison issue jumpsuit!

Lets just say that Helena has a MUCH more limited wardrobe. There have been a few days I've shown up for work when all I have hanging in my wardrobe is a robe to keep me warm. Oh yes. Good times.

Do you think Helena would cope better in Prison than Paris Hilton appears to have?

YES YES , GOOD LORD YES!

Would she soon be running the prison poker game & be top dog? (her English boarding school experience should set her up well to cope!)

Helena would deal with prison in her own inimitable way. No spoilers here I'm afraid!

The 'relationship' with Catherine had an interesting power dynamic - that some would call 'abusive', were there benefits for Helena?  What do you see as Helena's motivation for tolerating situations she obviously found uncomfortable?

Helena in episode 412 -

"Look Papi, Catherine and I have an arrangement. It suits me. And I'm tired of people second guessing me about it. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met Catherine OK? I'm not cut out to live modestly. Anyway, I'm learning a trade, and in the meantime Cahterine provides board and lodgings and luxuries and travel I couldn't survive without... and the sex isn't bad either."

The lines are written and for an actor these are the only truths we are given.  Everything else is our own conjecture. I think Helena doth protest too much here. She knows that by this point it's become  an unhealthy, abusive relationship and try as she might she can't deny it any longer. She's become weirdly dependent, as she was with her mother. She's frustrated and at the end of her tether.

Helena was at a terribly low ebb. She was abandoned by family, she was left to start her life all over again at thirty... something years old, with few marketable skills. She was developing an addiction that allowed her to forget and even battle the predicament she found herself in. She was desperate and scared. And Catherine gave her the trappings of opulence again. But she couldn't tolerate it for very long. They met in ep 406 at a party, and Helena relished the sexual frisson in 407. By episode 410 at the races Helena was beginning to pull away from Catherine, to see her cold, abusive nature. By 411 she was humiliated and degraded. By the end of 412 she snapped and robbed her blind. And in 501...... well. You'll just have to wait and see!

January 2007

Are there any other members of your family in the acting profession?

Nope.

If you could live in any era of film or television history, which roles would you have loved to play?  (either male or female)

Two that spring to mind immediately are Jeanne Moreau's character Catherine in Jules et Jim. She's so complicated. And Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet (though not entirely sure why, I don't even have a thing for horses).

Is there a type of character you would like to play?

I want to play someone very gritty, in a harsh environment, in a completely de-glamorised situation. A journalist in a hostile war zone perhaps. I love playing Helena, but for a contrast during the hiatus it would be great to be rough and dirty, no hair or makeup.

What do you think about Helena as a mother? Her own mother seems to be missing in Helena's childhood so do you think Helena want to give her children what she never got?

Helena adores her children and, objectively speaking, probably spoils them a little. But that's because she doesn't see them as often as she'd like. It kills her that they are in NY and she is now in LA, she speaks to them every day and tries as hard as possible to maintain an intimacy that was missing in her upbringing.

If you played Scarlet O'Hara who would you like to play Rhett Butler?

Robert Downey Jnr would make an interesting Rhett - darkly funny and ironic. Brad Pitt would be the sexiest. George Clooney the most charming, but he doesn't really do it for me. It would be fun to really mess it up and make it Rene Butler and have Beyonce play her!

September 2006

Your favourite football (soccer) team?

I only really take any notice of football when it's an international game. Then I'm a big England fan. Otherwise it all passes me by. I won some money on our World Cup sweepstake at work. Loved watching those matches. I'm sad Beckham's gone.

What is you favourite cocktail?

A long gin and tonic before dinner. Campari and soda in the sunshine. Mojitos are good, champagne cocktails... I could go on and on.

What was your first pet and what was its name?

A cross breed dog called Samantha.

Which is your favourite L Word episode and why?

I'm terrible at favourites -

Episode 12 from season 3 stands out as being the most enjoyable to film. We were mostly up in Whistler, all the cast and crew staying at a great hotel, on the same corridor - it was a bit like winter camp or something. Filming was kind of magical in those locations. I remember the wedding scene was bitterly cold and never ending but beautiful, the ski lift scene with JB was hilarious, we laughed and sang so hard! And in our off time we would (try to) ski or go zip trekking and just have a wonderful time with the great people who work (and worked) on this show.

Holland Taylor was there too, and my scenes with her are always exciting - I think one of my favourite scenes might be where she disinherits me. Again it looked magical, and it's such a sweetly delivered blow by Peggy, brutal and charming.

Which is your favourite Helena scene? 

The yoga scene was great fun and I was very happy with the way it turned out. Leisha is an amazing actress. I also liked the scene where we dismantle Dana's shrine, again the filming of it influences my feelings towards it. We have some new favourites coming up I think in Season 4. Most of my favourites seem to be comedic. The laughter you don't see on the screen really influences my choices.

Another favourite scene is in season 3, the litigation scene with Alexandra Hedison as Dylan and Holland Taylor as Peggy Peabody. Neither Helena nor Dylan say much but an incredible amount of emotion is bouncing around between us. It’s the climax for Helena’s whole storyline that season. You can express so much without words, sometimes it's more pure that way.

June 2006

What work did you do to support yourself as a jobbing actor?

I was lucky - when I first started acting I made money as a model and didn't have to do any other jobs. I got to travel a lot, but it was pretty brain-numbing at times.  Before that though, as a student, I worked in various shops: Bejams and Woolworths on the pick and mix counter at Christmas (!); I was a trolley dolly on British Rail selling "tea, coffee, sandwiches, biscuits"; I was a post woman one very snowy Christmas holiday, cycling around in the dark mornings; and for a long time whilst a student at Sheffield I was a barmaid (The Bath and The Red Deer).

What is the greatest advantage about being an actor/celebrity?

Making a living from doing something you love, your passion, something you would do in your spare time anyway. Looking forward to going to work. 

And conversely what is the greatest disadvantage?

When you don't get the chance to work, because your career is at the mercy of other peoples' whims.

What 3 top tips would you give someone wanting to get into the business, either in front of the camera or behind it?

Persevere. Do unpaid work for experience and meeting people in the industry.  Have a great hobby.

Do you know Helena's complete storyline for the season before you start filming?

We are each told an outline as it is expected to develop for the season.  However, this will often change depending on unknown factors such as casting availability, chemistry between actors on screen and off, time restrictions etc.

Helena has become one of the most popular characters on the show.  Do you prefer season 3 Helena or do you miss the old season 2 Helena?

I'm flattered you think that!

As an actor I loved playing different shades of Helena in Season 3, but I was always trying to find moments within that to bring flashes of Season 2 Helena back so that the two seasons have coherence. Helena had her insecurities and heart break in Season 2, it's just that the audience wasn't privy to them. Once we got to know her better in Season 3, they became apparent.  And in Season 4 - well, talk about adapting to new circumstances!  Helena is really being tested.

How tall are you?

5ft8 ½ in

April 2006

Who do you look up to professionally and personally?

Wow, so many people!

Professionally I really admire Rachel Griffiths, Julieanne Moore, Juliette Binoche, Don Cheadle, Patricia Clarkson to name but a few... They are incredible actors, who can portray so many layers of emotion and thought. They make it look effortless. I can watch their work again and again.

I would also add Participant Productions.  They're an American film company founded by Jeff Skoll. They produced, amongst other films, Syrianna, Good Night and Good Luck and Fast Food Nation. One of their mottos is "movies that move you, a whole new kind of action flick". I have a lot of respect for a film production company that takes its social responsibilities seriously. It produces incredibly good films that are significant, thought provoking and worthwhile.  And they make money and gain nominations. That's a great and difficult achievement. I really admire them, wish I was more like them.

Personally, I look up to those people in my life who manage to take pleasure in the smallest things, even when life gets shitty. People who are eager to enjoy life regardless of circumstances. People who are hard working, generous, passionate and eager to laugh.

If you (Rachel) were as rich as Helena, what would you spend your money on?

Oh good lord. I guess once you've bought yourself and everyone you love a great home and lifestyle, you set about trying to do something worthy with all that money. Charity and education. That's one area where Helena and I would be similar, I'd like to think I'd be a philanthropist. As well as a hedonist.

When the writers create dialogue for Helena do you have to correct it so that it sounds "right" and more familiar to say?

Sometimes there are Americanisms which I change to keep the English tone.  And occasionally I change things around a little, but rarely without consulting the writing team. It's pretty unusual for me to make substantial changes. When I first started on the show I didn't change a thing, after a few episodes I began to voice any concerns I might have.

March 2006

What is the best photograph you have ever taken?

Of the Namibian desert. Sand dunes as far as the eye can see, fading off into the desert.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island what luxury item would you take?

A bed, complete with fantastic mattress, linen and pillows.

Favourite month and why?

I love October if it's clear and crisp and cold and bright. But then again March in the spring is beautiful... you see, I’m not good with favourites.  I can’t really pin myself down.

Favourite time of day?

Bed time or meal times

What was your proudest moment?

A breakthrough moment with a group of 18 year olds that we (a community theatre company some friends and I had set up) were working with on Shakespeare.  They’d been very resistant the first two sessions, and then suddenly they were involved and engaged. it was just like those ads they have for teaching. Such a great feeling.

If you had to give up books or music which one would you choose?

I’d give up music.

January 2006

What was the L Word convention in London like for you?

It was the first convention I had been to, we have done a few Q&As in LA, but nothing like this where you get so close to people, you see the same faces and you really feel like you get to know them.  I have been overwhelmed by it.  The opening ceremony really blew me away, I have never seen anything like that.  I really don’t spend a lot of time in LA where I think they get more attention, and when I’m here I’m quite low key and I’ve not really seen it and I think it’s incredible.  I know from talking to Laurel that people relate to her a lot and a lot of people really wanted to get that contact with her to tell her how she, and the show, changed their life.  Laurel said that compared to a science fiction convention it’s a lot more emotional, it’s a lot more personal.

Favourite colour?

Green.

Favourite movie? 

An enduring favourite is “Three Colours Red” the final one of Krzysztof Kieslowski's  trilogy.  If you watch the 2 before and then watch Red, it’s just heartbreaking and beautiful, stunning.  I love "Moulin Rouge", that’s a DVD I watch over and over.  One of the films that has really made me laugh the most is "Shaun of the Dead".

Favourite book?

Somerset Maughan's "Of Human Bondage" - so far anyway.

Favourite flavour ice-cream?

Coconut.  Raspberry Ripple a close runner up

Favourite pizza topping?

Spicy sausage

Favourite group and/or artist?

Hmm, I’m beginning to realise I don't have many 'favourites'.  Radiohead are always up there.

Favourite place to go on holiday?

I haven't been everywhere yet so I don't know

Do you participate in any sports?

Yoga (is that a sport?). Tennis (many a battle with Alexandra Hedison)

Favourite perfume?

Never wear perfume.  Ever.

Do you have any hobbies?

Reading, theatre, nibbling (aka snacking in the states), sleeping in.

When away what do you miss most about being away from England?

I miss the grit and the individuality.  And the countryside.

Conversely what do you not miss at all about England?

I don't miss the general gruffness and rudeness of London.

Which web sites from your favourites list would you recommend people to go & look at?

Don't go to the medical encyclopaedias, you'll get paranoid.  And don't go to wire image, two hours later you'll hate yourself for it.

Are there any bits of American phraseology that you have adopted into your everyday speech (for better or worse?)  What are they?

"Oh no you did - unt" in a big LA accent.

Saying "I'm good thank you" when someone asks how I am.

"Trash"

"Totally" (I hate myself for that one)

You are throwing a fantasy dinner party - who would you like around the table as your guests & what would be on the menu? (Money & death no object - this is a fantasy dinner party)

Jesus Christ

Mohammed

Buddha

Ricky Gervais

We'd eat Mia Kirschner's macrobiotic food so as not to upset anyone’s religious sensibilities - especially Ricky Gervais'.