It’s almost been a year since the cancellation of this reboot. Here’s what the cast has been getting up to since
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY SHOWTIME/JILL GREENBERG
Twenty years ago the first ever episode of The L Word (TLW) premiered. It changed the world of sapphic representation onscreen. Five years ago, its super queer spin-off The L Word: Generation Q came out and helped a whole new generation of lesbians, sapphics and queers feel seen. Sadly, just under a year ago Gen Q, like so many other contemporary LGBTQIA shows, was cancelled prematurely. However, we might get a NYC-based spin-off, so all hope is not lost.
If like us you’ve been missing seeing your favourite messy Californian queers onscreen, join us in looking into what they’ve gotten up to since the season three finale, and where you can see them next.
Psst… if you’re wondering why some of the OG cast are missing from this list, we’ve already covered what they’ve been up to. You can catch Jennifer, Leisha, Kate and more here.
Now without further ado, lez catch up with the faces of Gen Q.
Arienne Mandi (Dani Núñez)
Beloved by the fandom for portraying “power lesbian” Dani Núñez, Arienne is a certified favourite among our readers. The good news is: she has an impressive back catalogue you can see her in. From appearing in shows such as NCIS to starring in a sapphic romcom, Love, Classified. But the even better news is: she’s got exciting projects coming up. She’s starring in an upcoming political thriller titled Judo. Deadline has also announced that we’ll get to see her in The Night Agent season two.
Sepideh Moafi (Gigi Ghorbani)
Night and day I think about Gigi Ghorbani. Sepideh Moafi is undoubtedly my biggest TLW crush. Despite how things ended between Gigi and Dani, they’ll remain my favourite TLW ship of all-time too. Last year, Gigi fans got to see the actor play a super queer role again in Class Of ‘09. She’s also set to star alongside Shahab Hosseini in Wild Berries.
Outside of her acting, Sepideh is also a resilient activist. She uses her platform to speak out in support of human rights around the world. She’s an ambassador for International Rescue Committee which is an organisation that responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The actor has recently dedicated her platform to raising awareness of the realities of Palestinians in Gaza. She’s taken part in a video series that goes in-depth into South Africa’s dossier charging Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Jordan Hull (Angie Porter-Kennard)
Jordan portrayed Bette and Tina’s daughter, Angie. Two years ago the young actor starred alongside Adam Sandler and THE Queen Latifah in Hustle. She also featured in one of my favourite episodes of the Two Dykes And A Mic podcast. Her career is just getting started and we can’t wait to see what she does next.
Rosie O’Donnell (Carrie)
Carrie’s Butch4Butch romance was one of my favourite Gen Q moments. Rosie is someone who knows all about the rampant “Cancel Your Gays” trend, as not only will we not see any more of her on Gen Q, but we also won’t see more of the A League Of Their Own spin-off, where she made a cameo. The 61-year-old actor, comedian and podcaster has been using her platform to raise awareness of both autism and the work that service dogs do.
Jacqueline Toboni (Sarah Finley)
TLW word fandom had a love/hate relationship with Gen Q’s resident soft butch heartbreaker. But one thing’s for sure, we all love Jacqueline Toboni. Before joining TLW franchise, Jacq fans fell in love with the actor in Netflix’s Easy and Grimm. She appears to have worked with Gen Q creator Marja-Lewis Ryan on a comedy film called Liked.
Jamie Clayton (Tess)
One-half of one of Gen Q’s most popular ships, Shess (Shane and Tess), we’ve missed seeing the actor on our screens. Her backlog consists of the likes of Sense8, The Neon Demon and Hellraiser. She’s known to be a huge fan of science-fiction so we’ll hopefully see her take on more roles within the genre in the years to come. She is said to be voicing a character in Twilight Of The Gods, a TV show that is currently in post production.
Rosanny Zayas (Sophie Suarez)
We certainly miss seeing this former DIVA cover star on our screens each week. While it doesn’t look like the 33-year-old actor has any upcoming film or TV projects in the works, she was recently recognised at The Emmys. The musical episode of Gen Q season three was one of my personal favourites and Sophie’s song, All About Me, was so iconic. Rosanny delivered a stellar performance. It was great to see All About Me nominated. I can’t wait to see what Rosanny does next.
Paula Andrea Placido (Roxy)
We loved getting to meet Roxy in season three. Her friends-to-lovers arc with Dani had us hooked. Before joining the cast of Gen Q she’d already garnered lots of LGBTQIA fans from her role in Hacks. And we have good news, we’ll get to see more of Paula on our screens this year. She’s been cast in the upcoming Borderlands film as well as a mini-series called Apples Never Fall and both are set for a 2024 release.
Jillian Mercado (Maribel Suarez)
Jillian’s performance as Sophie’s straight-talking sister was a favourite here at DIVA. And we can’t believe the cliffhanger we will now likely never get the answers to when it comes to Maribel’s relationship with Micah. We’re looking forward to seeing the actor portray Ruby in the upcoming release, Between The Aisles, which is currently in post production.
Vanessa Estelle Williams (Pippa Pascal)
Yes, I’m still thinking about *that* Pippa and Bette scene from Gen Q. And I’m also so sad that we’ll never get to see if Sophie and Pippa would work things out after meeting at #Tibette’s wedding. Last year we got to see the iconic actor in Angie’s Cure, Cruel Encounters and Black Girl Erupted. She’s also part of two upcoming projects: Phenom, which is in pre-production, and Again Comes The Rain which is in development.
Stephanie Allynne (Natalie)
This actor, writer and comedian was also part of one of the most talked about sex scenes in Gen Q. Next month (like the true power couple that they are) Stephanie will be joining her wife and fellow comedian, Tig Notaro onstage for She Said She Said. She’ll also be doing a live with Mae Martin and Alana Johnston where “they do improv based on personal questions asked by the audience”.
Leo Sheng (Micah Lee)
The 27-year-old Chinese-born trans actor has already had an impressive career, from joining TLW franchise to sharing a screen with Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Resurrections. In season three, we got to see Micah interact with TLW OG Max (Daniel Sea). And it was great to see Daniel include Leo in his collaboration with trans-owned brand Both& Apparel.
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