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Interview with Gabrielle Christian

Actor Gabrielle Christian is best known for her lead role, Spencer Carlin, on the N Network’s South of Nowhere. For the past three years, Christian has portrayed a rarity in episodic television — a thoughtful, out and proud teen lesbian with a hot girlfriend who is nobody’s side-kick (or a witch).

The 24-year-old Washington DC native landed her first series in 2000 on the short-lived WB show, Young Americans (featuring a young Katherine Moennig as a character named “Jake” because some things never change), and has worked steadily ever since, most recently making guest appearances on CSI: Miami, Numb3ers (both CBS), Girltrash! and an original episode of LadyCop, the show-within-a-show on the web series, 3Way.

Since South of Nowhere’s abrupt cancellation, Christian has been devoting her time and celebrity to non-profits such as FAIR Fund, an organization that works globally with young women in its fight against human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault.

Christian, whose last name pays tribute to her infant brother who died in 1991 from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), is also the spokesperson for SIDS Educational Services, where her mother is an executive director.

Who says Hollywood actresses are all vacuous, publicity-mongering, party girls? (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Gabrielle Christian simply has better things to do, such as talking to AfterEllen about the end of her show, her new documentary, and whether or not she’s sick of her friend and fellow cast member, Mandy Musgrave. AfterEllen: Let’s get right to it. How do you feel about South of Nowhere ending? Gabrielle Christian: Well, I would have liked to have seen it go a lot further, especially since we covered the high school world so well. And now, right before Spencer goes to college, the show ends! It’s really sad because I wanted to continue on that journey; see where she would end up and what she would become in the end. I was a little bit disappointed as an actor.

AE: Let’s pretend Spencer goes off to college. Would she and Ashley have stayed together? GC: I think they would definitely break up, at least once or twice, especially the Ashley character. I think she needs a lot of attention. She’s into being a star and having people love her. For her girlfriend to be on the other side of the country, or even a few hours away, I just don’t think it would be enough for her. Even if she grew up a little bit, the character is really needy.

Whereas Spencer is independent and takes her school very seriously. I think in the end, they would obviously have to get back together. They are true loves and would probably figure something out after college. Spencer would probably move back and they’d live together.

AE: Where they can comb each other’s hair forever. Why was SoN so devoid of decent love scenes for Spencer and Ashley? GC: The network, obviously, has high standards for kids. So many of our viewers, and a lot of the fan letters we get, are from elementary and middle school kids. We air right after Degrassi and About a Girl, and some of those teenybopper shows, so I think they just wanted to be cautious with our material.

But it was kind of hypocritical in the sense where every other character on the show is extremely physical, having sex and making out. I don’t know if it’s that society’s not ready to see young people who are gay being physical, or what it is. But I think on our show, they were just really scared to show too much of it.

AE: On the other hand, there was a scene where Spencer drops her raincoat in front of Ashley, and you were naked. That was pretty titillating. GC: I think in the third season, you do see a little bit more of it. Especially with Spencer and some of the other girls that she starts to date. In the beginning in the first two seasons, Spencer’s still a little bit scared and not so sure of herself.

The way they described it to Mandy and me was that our love is so innocent, and so new. And [Spencer] had never been with a girl before, so it’s all awkward.

But I don’t know. When I was in high school, I had my first love and we made out all the time. We were very affectionate. And that’s all you really want to do when you’re in high school. Especially for your first love, when you first start exploring physicality with people.

AE: Oh boy. I think there are fans who would like you to write the show. GC: And you’re going to see — you’re not going to see it in the series’ last TV episode — but we did do a webisode for the finale. And you see where they are in five years. AE: Can you tell me what happens? GC: [laughs] I don’t think so. It’s not something I’m too proud of.

AE: Why? GC: I like it, but it’s really cheesified. It’s a two-minute webisode for a four-season series finale, so I had higher expectations, I guess I should say. But I mean, it’s good. I think it’s giving the fans what they want to see. But it just doesn’t have much depth to it. And it’s kind of like the perfect Hollywood ending.

AE: So, it wraps up too neatly with a bow? That’s lame. GC: Yeah, where we filmed the last TV episode, it’s kind of like a cliffhanger. You don’t know where they’re going to be the next day and then the two-minute webisode fast-forwards to five years later. It’s like, “Oh! Happy-go-lucky people!” And I don’t think life works that way. Our show was so authentic and so real — especially in the first season, which is still my favorite season — but we’re so melodramatic [in the webisode], it’s to the point where everything’s completely predictable.

AE: If they bothered to produce a webisode, why is it only two minutes? GC: Maybe it’s four minutes. But it’s only two and a half, maybe three pages of dialogue and we just kind of did it to please the fan base.

AE: Who’s in the webisode? You, Mandy and who else? GC: And Matt [Cohen]. AE: Just the Spencer, Ashley and Aiden characters? GC: Just the three of us. That’s all I can say! And it’s cheesified! And it’s ridiculous! And it’s so predictable. I’m sure you can just imagine what happens.

AE: Creator Tommy Lynch has talked publicly about possible books, a movie, trying to move the show to another network. Has he said anything to you about a reincarnation of South of Nowhere? GC: [Before the show was canceled] he was pitching ideas of what he wanted to see, and what we wanted done [for another season.] Then kind of out of the blue, they canceled us. I’ve heard rumors about a movie, but not from anybody [with the show.] At this point, it’s wishful thinking. So, no, I haven’t heard anything.

AE: With South of Nowhere and The L Wordboth coming to an end, it’s slim picking for lesbian entertainment. GC: And the Grey’s Anatomy relationship has ended also.

AE: Yeah, that was fun for five minutes. GC: [laughs] Well, I thought 3Way would be a good frontrunner for that world, but I don’t know what’s happening with that either.

AE: I think they’re going to start shooting Season 2 in January. And the first season is coming out on DVD soon. That will include the episode in which you played a crime scene investigator. GC:Yes. AE: Gaby, what kind of investigator’s uniform is that exactly? It’s like an episode of CSI: Bunny Ranch. GC: [laughs] And since South of Nowhere ended, I did a guest spot on that other one, CSI: Miami.

AE: And Mandy [Musgrave] did a guest spot on the original, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. GC: Yeah, she did it. Mandy and I have done a lot of the same shows. When we both moved out here, we came the same month of the same year. And one of the first jobs each of us booked was on Drake & Josh, as Drake’s love interest. And then, there was South of Nowhere, and now we’ve both done a CSI.

AE: Do you feel like you’re living parallel lives? GC: I don’t know. It’s interesting that we get a lot of the same work. We’re completely different people in the way that we look, and the way that we live our lives. But people have said we have pretty good chemistry.

AE: She’s the dark to your light. GC:Over the last few years, we’ve changed a lot. We’ve known each other for five years now. In the beginning, Mandy was more of the extrovert; was going out a lot and having a good time. And I was always a little older, more reserved, more reclusive and I liked to stay in. Recently, we both got [engaged] and I think we’re more on the same page now, than we were at 18 and 19 years old.

AE: How sick are you of Mandy at this point? GC: [laughs] No, I really like working with Mandy a lot. It’s funny that we’ve worked together for so long. We would work on set for three or four months out of the year on [such] an intimate level — doing so many things as our characters, and spending so much time together — that the rest of the year, we kind of took these little vacations. But now that the show is canceled, I really look forward to seeing Mandy because I barely see her. She lives really close to me but our lives are just going in opposite directions. I miss her.

AE: Well, she’s been a big part of your life since you’ve been in LA. GC: It’s funny. Most people I’ve known [here] are gone now. They come and go on a whim. Since I’ve been out here, she’s one of the longest relationships I’ve had. AE: Who’s gone? Other actors? GC: Other actors and people who spontaneously move out here and think it’s going to be really easy and fun. I mean, it’s expensive and it’s tough and competitive.

AE: It’s all those things and so much more. GC: I don’t know how I’m still here sometimes. It’s so hard.

AE: Are you done doing the high school thing and looking forward to playing roles that are more adult? GC: No, I really like the high school thing, especially the senior year for a character, and where they’re going to go. But I think it would be great to play a college girl. I’ve never really done that before.

AE: Are you booking any 20-something adult roles? GC: It’s tough for myself, and Mandy, because we look young and we’re kind of built small. But we’re 22 and 24 years old now. So when we’re going in the room for a high school kid, and it can be a problem. We open our mouths and they don’t believe how old we are, or we have to lie.

But we look too young to play the age that we actually are, so it’s kind of a tough market right now. I think that’s one of the problems I’ve been having with getting work; [the characters are] either too old or too young.

AE: Any prospects this month? GC: I recently auditioned to play Natalie Holloway.

AE: The woman who disappeared while on a class trip in Aruba? GC: Yeah. Lifetime’s doing a movie on it. Oh my God, it was creepiest audition ever. I go to this audition and every girl there — we’re all blond-haired, blue-eyed — totally kind of looks like her. But I’m waiting to hear on a few things.

AE: While you wait for your first grey hair, what else are you doing? GC: I’m working with this organization called FAIR Fund. We work with children, young women, and older women who’ve been trafficked or exploited or violated, but mainly trafficking.

Nobody really knows, but slavery is actually more prominent [now] than it’s ever been in world history. It’s under the radar and in every state and every city and country that exists. People know about Southeast Asia but they don’t know so much about Eastern Europe and Africa.

So we decided to do this documentary that’s being shot by Samantha Farinella (Left Lane). She did all our behind-the-scenes stuff on South of Nowhere. She’s a great friend of mine and was willing to donate her time because we’re working with absolutely no money. All the money the organization makes goes to the girls.

AE: Are you narrating the documentary? GC: Yes, I’m narrating the documentary.

AE: Have you met any of the girls? GC: This summer, we went to Belgrade, Serbia and spent about a week there, interviewed some of the girls, who are from all over the former Yugoslavia area. We have girls from Hungary, Bosnia, Croatia, Russia, ages 12 to 35, who have been bought and sold to traffickers.

I’ve learned a lot of things and it’s also been eye-opening and depressing and amazing. They put them on drugs, or put them on the street to sell themselves. And a lot of the girls think that that’s the only way they can make money because it’s the only way they have. It’s a vicious cycle.

The girls that we have on camera, you’d think some of them would be victims and want people to feel sorry for them. But it’s the complete opposite. These girls are so strong and they’re survivors. They’re like a bunch of bad-ass girls. I would never want to get in a fight with any of them. AE: What can be done for them? GC: Donate, raise awareness, and support organizations like FAIR Fund. Right now, we’re doing a program called Jewelgirls and we teach the girls how to make jewelry. We come back to the States and sell their jewelry for them. They learn they could be entrepreneurs. It lets them know they have other options.

AE: Do you feel a personal connection with the girls from Eastern Europe because you’re Hungarian? GC: Yes, well that was the coolest part. When we were in Belgrade, there was a girl who is half-Hungarian, like myself, and for her interview, she spoke Serbian but she needed some help with some Hungarian words. I was able to contribute as translator and I connected with her because we had been to the same places and our families come from the same places.

It was really cool to be a part of that. I also studied Russian in high school for three years, so I kind of have the Slavic thing down. I can read Cyrillic and got to be the point person when we went out on the streets and had to read signs and billboards and where to get off the bus. I could read everything, so that was really cool.

AE: So when you got lost, it was your fault. Have you ever heard the foreign language versions of South of Nowhere? GC: Yes, it’s hilarious. There’s French, German and Spanish.

AE: If they ever do a Hungarian version, you could do your own dubbing. Jodie Foster does all her own French dubbing for her films because she’s fluent. GC: That’s so cool!

AE: I know! You could do Hungarian Spencer. GC: Oh my God! That would be so funny.

AE: Say one of Spencer’s lines in Hungarian. GC: Szeretem a lányokat.

AE: What did you just say? GC: I like girls!

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