Merryn Johns caught up with gorgeous out actress Jill Bennett.
The dramatic-looking brunette, who has played equally dramatic roles ranging from an assassin to a possessed woman, belongs to a small but elite group of out lesbian actresses in Hollywood.
“There’s a few of us now, actually: Leisha Hailey, Daniela Sea, Jenny Shimizu, Michelle Wolff ... let’s see here, did I say there was a lot?,” laughs Bennett. “Um, one of my co-stars on 3Way, Maile Flanagan, Cathy DeBuono, who I worked with on Out at the Wedding and Then Came Lola, Jessica Graham, who’s also been making the rounds of independent film...so, there’s a small group of us, but we’re all working our way out. Here in LA we all see each other and hang out and work together, thankfully, there’s more projects now.”
It sounds a bit like Bennett’s web series, 3Way, in which she stars. “That’s the idea. We get to work with a lot of people, friends of ours, and not have to wait for a studio or a network to decide to give us a show.”
Bennett, 33, who left the American Midwest in the 1990s for a career in showbiz, is all about doing it herself, and doing it her way. Starved for out role models as a young woman, she nevertheless pursued acting, inspired by actresses like Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon. “I remember when Thelma and Louise came out in 1992 – that movie was absolutely incredible; there definitely was a lesbian undertone in that film. Terminator 2 had such a strong female character in it. That was around the time I started to get really interested in acting.”
“There’s a few of us now, actually: Leisha Hailey, Daniela Sea, Jenny Shimizu, Michelle Wolff ... let’s see here, did I say there was a lot?,” laughs Bennett. “Um, one of my co-stars on 3Way, Maile Flanagan, Cathy DeBuono, who I worked with on Out at the Wedding and Then Came Lola, Jessica Graham, who’s also been making the rounds of independent film...so, there’s a small group of us, but we’re all working our way out. Here in LA we all see each other and hang out and work together, thankfully, there’s more projects now.”
It sounds a bit like Bennett’s web series, 3Way, in which she stars. “That’s the idea. We get to work with a lot of people, friends of ours, and not have to wait for a studio or a network to decide to give us a show.”
Bennett, 33, who left the American Midwest in the 1990s for a career in showbiz, is all about doing it herself, and doing it her way. Starved for out role models as a young woman, she nevertheless pursued acting, inspired by actresses like Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon. “I remember when Thelma and Louise came out in 1992 – that movie was absolutely incredible; there definitely was a lesbian undertone in that film. Terminator 2 had such a strong female character in it. That was around the time I started to get really interested in acting.”
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