Michaela Conlin‘s Angela on the hit Fox series Bones has been one of the strongest female characters in recent history. As a forensic artist who specializes in craniofacial reconstruction (try saying that three times fast), she’s just as intelligent as she is beautiful, and serves as a loyal best friend to Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel).
Bones fans were psyched when repeated references were made to Angela’s possible interest in women, including a mention of an ex-lover named Roxie. And in season four, viewers met Roxie (played by Nichole Hiltz) when she reappeared in Angela’s life. The two rekindled their romance, briefly, but they eventually parted ways, giving Angela another chance to date Jack Hodgins (played by T. J. Thyne).
At the Fox TCA party in Pasadena this week, Michaela expressed her love of Angela’s bisexual side.
“The thing that I really liked about her when I auditioned for the role, was she sort of loves who she loves and she is attracted to what she’s attracted to,” Michaela said. “She’s very sure about things. She doesn’t distinguish between men and women, or old or young. She’s very free and I think it’s very rare to have a woman written that way on television. I like that we didn’t explain it, it’s just who she is.”
Although she’s now a married woman and expecting her first child, Michaela says that Angela could still romance a woman in the future. “I don’t know, but the show could keep going and in season 7 or 8 maybe!” she said hopefully.
Michaela credits producer Hart Hanson for the development of Angela’s sexuality and free spirit. “It grew from the Roxie joke for sure,” Michaela said, referencing the second season mention of Roxie being the girl whose heart Angela broke back in art school. “To [Hart’s] credit, we both talked about it and he was very open to it. I think he always had it in his mind. She’s traveled, and she’s lived a lot of lives. I just like that we sort of didn’t apologize for it.”
Angela and Roxie’s relationship was criticized a bit for having happened during sweeps that season, but it aired over a three month period, giving viewers more than just a typical girl-girl kiss to draw them in. Instead, they provided a side of Angela that fans enjoyed seeing, because they were delving into her past as well as her present interest in women.
“I like the way they handled it,” Michaela said. “I wish it had gone on longer. I really do.”
Considering Angela is now married to a man, it could be a sign that the writers consider Angela more straight than bisexual, but Michaela and many lesbian fans don’t think that is the case. Instead, Angela is a well-rounded character that didn’t find what she was looking for in Roxie, but it doesn’t mean her interest in women or history with them has disappeared.
And besides dealing with her love life, Angela is very busy working alongside her BFF, Bones.
“I love working with Emily,” Michaela said. “She’s avery good friend of mine. We have a really fun scene coming up about Hanna, which is David’s new love interest. We have a very honest talk, which is long overdue.”
No matter who they are sleeping with on the show, Angela and Bones will always make a perfect pair.
