Actress Alexandra Paul Discusses Her Gay Twin,
New Movie Tru Loved
Five seasons in an iconic red bathing suit made Alexandra Paul a global star. Fans around the world know Paul as sexy, smart Baywatch beauty Lt. Stephanie Holden. What they might not know is the star’s identical twin sister is San Francisco resident and out author Caroline Paul.
“Caroline often has people ask if she’s that woman from Baywatch,” admits Paul. “When I’m in San Francisco, though, people frequently mistake me for her!”
The actress not only finds great humor in it, Paul draws inspiration from her sister’s life experience for two upcoming film roles. She first goes Sapphic for here! Network thriller Trapped! then plays the title character’s lesbian mother in independent film Tru Loved. Now Paul shares about the roles and how a gay twin has enriched her life.
(Bay Times) Your Tru Loved character is an “unstereotypical” lesbian mother?
(Paul) Being a lesbian mother in itself is unstereotypical, unfortunately. My onscreen lover Cynda Williams is black and I’m white, so there is not only a sexuality issue but also a race element to the relationship in Tru Loved. Cynda’s character goes to work and is beautiful and put together. My character is not “put together.” Lucky me. I didn’t wear any makeup other than a little base. It was so fun! I got to wear a tattoo. I don’t usually get to wear tattoos in the Lifetime movies I’ve done so many of. (Laughing)
Did the camp aspect of Baywatch win you a gay following?
I think I have a gay following because I’ve been involved with gay issues for decades and am outspoken about my lesbian twin and political beliefs. I believe more strongly than she in marriage equality. I’m voting for Dennis Kucinich mainly because he’s the only candidate for marriage equality. My sister is like, “Well, there are other issues.” (Laughing) I’m actually stronger on it than my gay sister!
Did you recognize an evolving difference before your sister came out?
No! Actually, I didn’t know she was gay until she was in college. I called her one morning, and a woman answered – one of her best friends – with a really sleepy voice. All of a sudden it clicked. Simone put Caroline, my sister, on the phone. I asked, “Are you gay?” Caroline said, “Yes”, and that was that. Caroline had boyfriends – long-term boyfriends – through both high school and college. I guess at that point she was dating both men and women. What she has basically told me is she’s attracted to men, but she falls in love with women, so she considers herself gay. If we’re together, she looks at men more than I do even! I was surprised when I first learned she was a lesbian, but I guess I’d never thought about it before because she’d always had boyfriends – and girlfriends she didn’t tell me about.
Was it easy to accept? I think of twins having that “We share everything” mentality.
Growing up, we were embarrassed to talk about sex with each other. We’re very, very close now, but until the age of 13, I wished I had an older brother. Because our mother was determined to raise us as individuals, we went to different boarding schools. We became close in that we stopped fighting, but we also didn’t see a lot of each other. Then I came to Hollywood and she went to college. We didn’t see each other much then either. Now we talk on the phone daily and we do talk about sex. She sent me this book called The Straight Girl’s Guide to Sleeping with Chicks, which I read. I called her and was like, “OK, now I know what you guys do!” I would ply her with sex questions for the two other gay roles I’ve played, and she got really embarrassed.
The perspective of someone whose twin is gay is so interesting.
My identical twin, to boot. I’m so grateful she’s gay. It’s opened up a different world. I have gay friends, of course, but I actually don’t know many lesbians; a lot of gay male friends. Having someone so close to me be lesbian makes me more sensitive to otherness. As a middle-class white female, I blend into society. When you’re gay, or of color, it makes life something people like I have a truly hard time understanding. I feel like her being gay has added to my life and opened it. I’m sure my mother feels the same way. I figure my brother does too. My dad was a very conservative Republican. I think it was hard for him. He was like “Why do you tell everybody Caroline is gay?” Why not? I tell everybody I have a boyfriend. Why not tell people she has a girlfriend? He really learned. He still didn’t talk about it, but he wasn’t embarrassed about it. He loved her girlfriend. She was in a relationship for 11 years when my dad was alive, and he loved Trish. Coming out is enriching for everybody.
This interview is more engaging than expected!
See? It opened up our lives, too. It added to our conversation. I feel blessed to have a twin sister who is gay, to have a lot of gay friends and be in this film. It’s like a modern version of a 1985 John Hughes movie. Remember those? It’s really about what teenagers are going through – only it deals with 21st century issues like being gay in high school. It turns presumptions about race and sexuality on their ears. I am thrilled to be in Tru Loved.
For more info see http://www.AlexandraPaul.com and http://www.CarolinePaul.com
