BOTH SIDES NOW
DESIREE AKHAVAN AND MAXINE PEAKE STAR IN A COMEDY ABOUT COMING OUT FOR THE SECOND TIME…
Dating is complicated, that much is a given. But when you’re dating both men and women, does that make things easier – or do you just end up with the worst of both worlds? In this new comedy, Desiree Akhavan (who also co-wrote and directs the show) stars as New Yorker Leila, who has just taken a break from her relationship with her girlfriend of 10 years, Sadie (Maxine Peake). Moving into the spare room of writer Gabe (Brian Gleeson), Leila takes tentative steps into the world of dating men as well as women for the first time – but ultimately struggles to reveal her true feelings to all her old friends…
Why did you want to make this programme?
Desiree I was doing press for my first movie and every time I did anything it was like, “Bisexual Iranian-american filmmaker”, “Bisexual director”, “The bisexual Lena Dunham”. I remember feeling this was such a deeply embarrassing, shameful thing, it was like, “Bed-wetter, Desiree
Akhavan”! Then I wondered – well, it’s technically true, I am bisexual, why is it such an embarrassing thing? That was the thesis statement: why does this make me uncomfortable?
And what answers did you find from making it?
Desiree You’ve got to watch to find out! I think there are a lot of reasons: one is that it’s not something you can identify and put your finger to. If I’m walking down the street holding a woman’s hand we’re in a same-sex relationship, if I’m holding a man’s hand we’re straight. There are a lot of openly bisexual people, and you can’t identify them according to whose hand they’re holding at that moment. There isn’t a face of bisexuality: there’s Anne Heche, and that’s it. And she’s not the best one! You can’t break Ellen’s heart!
Maxine, what attracted you to the role of Sadie?
Maxine I got an email from Desiree saying, ‘I don’t know who you are, but lots of people say you should play Sadie’. I thought, ‘Is she northern? She’s very straight to the point and direct!’ I just thought Desiree was possibly one of the coolest people on the planet, and this felt like something really exciting that hadn’t been seen on British
I AM BISEXUAL, WHY IS IT SUCH AN EMBARRASSING THING?”
DESIREE
television before. I thought, ‘I want to be a part of this.’
What made this right for a TV series and not a film?
Desiree I always knew it was a series because it’s like she’s on a sexual journey. To me that was the perfect way to handle bisexuality, through the lens of a lesbian, someone who is reverse-coming out. With a film you have half the time to do it, and you have to close it up at the end. This way you can ask a bunch of questions and keep them going.