Melanie of "Queer as Folk"

Showtime presents

March 11, 2001

Find out about the actor behind "Queer As Folk's" Melanie. Read our chat with Michelle Clunie. Michelle plays Melanie on "Queer As Folk," who is struggling with the pressures of motherhood, her career, and her relationship with Lindsay. Michelle has several TV credits to her name, including "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" and "ER." Her film debut was in the popular and critically acclaimed "The Usual Suspects."

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Showtime: Thanks for signing on for our chat with Michelle Clunie. Michelle plays Melanie on QAF, who is currently struggling with the pressures of motherhood, her career, and her relationship with Lindsay. Her film debut was in the popular and critically acclaimed "The Usual Suspects." She is not only a trained actor, but has also trained for seven years as a ballet dancer with the Academy of Professional Ballet. Welcome Michelle! Let's get started!

Michelle: Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the episode tonight.

Sherry: I love the show. I was just wondering what your first reaction was when you heard about the show. Did you have any reservations about this character?

Michelle: Well, I first found out about the show when my agent gave me the script. And after I read the first seven pages, I decided I had to do it. I felt it was something that would be worth my time. I had reservations about playing a lawyer, but not about playing a lesbian.

Wondergirl MJ: Have you ever played a lesbian character before?

Michelle: Oh, that's funny! Yeah, actually my first guest starring role on TV was on "Silk Stalkings," and the role was playing a seventeen year old prostitute with lesbian tendencies.

Chat 355: What kind of work did you do before you got into acting?

Michelle: I was in a ballet company, from the time I was thirteen, to the time I was eighteen. And then I did a lot of odds and ends jobs, waitressing, bartending, I even temped as a secretary for three days before I got fired.

New York Claudio: What did you have to do to prepare for the role of Melanie?

Michelle: I didn't really have to do much, to be honest. The role, I feel very familiar with it. She is a woman who is raw with her emotions and says what's on her mind. So it came pretty easily to me.

Wastroy: Hi Melanie! I love you and your character! How do you view the relationship between Brian, Lindsay and Melanie, and what would you change about it if you can?

Michelle: Oh wow, that's a loaded question! Well, I view it as a very dysfunctional family. We fight, we scream, we love, we hate, but at the end of the day we are stuck with each other. If I could change something about it, I would want to get the truth out on the table, about Lindsay's feelings for Brian.

Ana: To many of us watching the show, it looks like the relationship between Lindsay and Melanie is headed for trouble. Do you foresee Lindsay and Melanie getting a handle on their problems (custody, their relationship, money, etc.) enough to enjoy Gus and their roles as mothers and partners again, or will it be an ongoing struggle, as it sometimes is in real life?

Michelle: Well, I think relationships in real life are always an ongoing struggle. And I don't foresee ours being any different. I do think that Lindsay and Melanie are made for each other. But, when the show started, the viewers stepped into our lives, at a point where a lot of things were going wrong. There were decisions made, and sacrifices made, on my part, that were not well thought out, and because of that, we're having quite a hard time. But, hopefully, love will conquer all.

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