AE: When did you became aware that you had a strong gay following?
LC: Interestingly enough, in Bette Midler's early career, I thought she was
the most original sounding person I'd heard. So I sort of ate up what her story
was about. I was already on the road, we're not that far apart in age, and she
was doing these gay bathhouses. Coming from Arizona, I didn't know anything about any of
that stuff. There were all these stories about how the gay population was so
supportive and really drove her early success, and they were right. She's
amazing. So I was told, "Girl, I'll tell you something, if you ever have a
gay following you will know that you've made it."
AE: Hey, we've got good taste!
LC: Yeah! [It was maybe fifteen years ago and] I was sitting at my home
here in Potomac, Maryland, and did an interview with a young woman from a gay
publication, a lesbian magazine I think it was, and she starts talking about [that
fact that I’m a gay icon], and I'm kind of looking at her, and she goes,
"You don't know, do you? You're so cool!" And I was like, "Tell
me! Tell me!" And I was dancing around. "Oh my God! I can't believe
it!" It was great.
AE: Well, I'm sorry we didn't get the word to you sooner!
LC: I know! I so get it though. I so get it. I'm such a champion of civil
liberties for the gay and lesbian population, like I am for women and being
able to choose.
AE: I'm curious if you're friends with any of the other female
action icons: Lindsay Wagner, Charlie's Angels, or even Lucy Lawless who plays Xena? Have you met any of these other
actors?
LC: I've met Lucy Lawless, and she couldn't have been nicer. We had a nice
conversation. I think how she approached her character, how the show approached
her, was great. Lindsay Wagner was a friend of mine a million years ago, I just
don't have the opportunity to see her, but whenever I meet a mutual friend, I
always send her my best. Same with Jaclyn Smith. I never knew Kate Jackson, but
Farrah, we used to all go on the same interviews for the same one part.
[laughs]
AE: I read in an interview from a couple weeks ago that you've
been in touch with the producers of the Wonder Woman movie, and it
sounds like there is some progress. Is there a role for you?
LC: I have a lot of friends over at Warner Brothers, and I get updates now
and again, but it really depends on the director and the script. I hope it's a
blockbuster. If there's a place for me, great, but if there isn't, that's okay,
too. I don't think I would do a cameo. Unless there was a real part where there
was something more than just a little, bitty thing, I'd just let them bask in
the glory. It needs to be done and done well. I wish them the best.
AE: Has there been any talk of a specific role for you?
LC: Yeah, there has been. Off and on, but then they switch gears, and
they're not happy with the script. It's fairly simple. Everything has to be
character driven. It has to be a good story. It's not about the effects. Those
will all take care of themselves. There'll be some great things, but if they
have a good story, just the story itself, it doesn't even have to be very
complicated, you know?
AE: I also think, I'm not the first to say this, you're so
associated with the role, unlike other superheroes. I think everybody agrees
you were perfectly cast. They really need to get the casting right. It needs to
be someone who can really reinvent the character.
LC: Sometimes that's a problem. I don't think it's as much reinventing as
not playing Wonder Woman. You can't play Wonder Woman. You play a person
who happens to have these powers, these skills. You have to play her as just a
woman. You have all the opportunity in the world, because this is a dual role.
I would never dumb her down. I wanted people to know Wonder Woman through Diana
Prince.
