Vacation Vixen: Two Annes

Look at that, two Annes with an E at once. Admittedly, I never watched Amybeth McNulty’s “Anne with an E,” mostly because i loved Megan Follow’s “Anne of Green Gables” so much. But I will stan that sisterhood forever.

Mental Health Minx: Anne & Diana

Anne Shirley and Diana Barry were in love. Period. What did you think bosom friend means, people?

Oh, Canadian TV

If you heard a loud, piercing squeal sometimes yesterday afternoon it was just me. I was just reacting to news that Megan Follows was joining the cast of “Wynonna Earp” in a recurring role as Momma Earp. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!

This is Emily Andras making all of my wildest Canadian dreams come true. You all already know how much I love, love, love (love, love, love) Anne of Green Gables and Megan Follows. Interviewing Megan a few years ago was a fantasy bucket list accomplishment. And now, holy cow, is this just wonderful, wonderful casting.

I cannot wait to see the layers and loveliness that Megan brings to the show. She has always been a ferocious actress, capable of conveying intellect and introspection so clearly. I have no doubt she will be perfect as Momma Earp. In fact I cannot wait.

Also perfect, Emily’s response to casting Megan:

Me every day on the #WyonnnaEarp set (IN MY MIND). pic.twitter.com/sVLanMAVqN

— Emily Andras (@emtothea) February 5, 2018

Thank you so much, Canada, for giving us something so great to look forward to in 2018.

My Weekend Real Anne

My love for Anne of Green Gables is eternal. The magic of those books found me even before the mid-80s miniseries. But it was through that series and endlessly irresistible charms of Megan Follows I feel in love for good. And, I say this every time, but I really did make my family vacation on Prince Edward Island one summer. I even have a little vial of P.E.I.’s famed red sand somewhere in a keepsake box.

But now with the released of this new Netflix “Anne With An E” series on Netflix (also, uh, what’s with the late name change wasn’t it just “Anne” before that), I just feel perplexed and very sad. I was willing to give this “grittier” reboot of L.M. Montgomery’s beloved heroine a chance. I really was. But then I read negative review after negative review. Though, to be honest, if Heather Anne Hogan says to skip it, I will always skip it. (In my world, the abomination known as “Skins Fire” does not exist).

Because, and I ask this quite sincerely, why? Why make a dark, gothic, gritty Anne of Green Gables? Why? Sure, realism is important and the world is admittedly awful. But we all know that already. To be honest, we have all the darkness we can deal with right now, thank you very much. What made Anne Shirley special wasn’t just how she overcame her life’s tragedies. It wasn’t because of her being beaten mercilessly. Or her dealing with PTSD. Or her being rescued from a would-be rapist in the woods. Sure, in the real world maybe she would have had to deal with these things. Sure, in the real world too many people have to deal with these things.

But Anne Shirley made us always believe in a better world. Some would call it innocent or naïve or fanciful. But it was her unrelenting optimism and determination and, yes, spirit that made us all think things could be better. We could be better. And people who make us feel like that, well, you love forever. So no thank you, Anne With An E, I already have a bosom friend. I’ll keep my Anne of Green Gables just as is. Happy weekend, all.

p.s. I know the new Anne is apparently canonically gay (or at least professes her love for Diane in a gay way), but you know what, we all knew that already.

Vacation Vixen: Megan Follows

I’m very, very happy that Megan Follows has been gainfully employed on “Reign” for a few years now. But I truly and sincerely hope Netflix will make a place for her, to at the very least guest star, on its new Anne of Green Gables series. I mean, they have to, right? They have to.

Reign Over Me

So I don’t watch “Reign.” I’ve never watched “Reign.” I also didn’t watch “The Tudors” either. Basically I’m not huge on those kinds of period dramas, unless there are like dragons or Khaleesi or both. But now I’m torn because Rachel Skarsten has been cast as a series regular, her first post-“Lost Girl” job. And, she’ll be playing Queen Elizabeth I on the (very loosely) historical drama about young Mary, Queen of Scots. Right, that’s a pretty cool role.

Also, the series stars Megan Follows as Catherine de’ Medici, which is another pretty cool role. And my enduring love for Anne with an E makes me inclined to watch anything she does.



Also, current series regular Caitlin Stasey, who plays lady-in-waiting Kenna, has come out proudly as bisexual.



Also, the series appears to have some pretty sexually fluid characters.



So, you know, that’s a lot of alsos. So my only question now is what’s holding me back? Thoughts? Is it worth it, kittens?

p.s. It’s great to see our “Lost Girl” ladies finding post Fae-world work. Rachel with “Reign.” Zoie Palmer with “Dark Matters.” Ksenia Solo with “Orphan Black” and “Turn.” Now we anxiously await to see what Anna Silk does next.

That Megan Girl

I know, I know, I’ve been blathering on and on about how great it was to interview Megan Follows. But, really, it was great to interview Megan Follows. And now that interview is finally up. Please know that she used the words “delicious,” “utopia,” “shit” and “fuck” all within the confines of a very smart, very articulate 31 minute and 45 second conversation. And I loved every nanosecond of it.

You can read the interview yourself here. Enjoy.

My Weekend Hero Worship

The line between artist and character is real and important. While we fans may stretch the bounds of reality sometimes in our fanaticism, it is always important to remember fact and fiction isn’t just in our heads. These people, the ones we watch and follow and adore, they’re still people. They’re not their characters.

I know this, this is true. But sometimes, just sometimes, when you get a chance to talk with the artist who played a character you watched, followed and adored, it’s easy to forget – if even just for a little while. Though it is not out of delusion of malice that I tend to blend the two, but more often sheer delight. So when I tell you I interviewed Anne of FREAKING Green Gables yesterday, I will hope you grant me the leeway to be a ridiculous fangirl and just savor the moment.

Indeed, yesterday I did get a chance to interview the one and only Megan Follows. We had a lovely 31 minutes and 45 second phone conversation. I tried not to sound like an idiot. She sounded very much like a smart, passionate and articulate artist she has distinguished herself as over the years. But in the back of my head, my 12-year-old self was screaming, “OH MY GOD, YOU’RE TALKING WITH ANNE SHIRLEY!” You will, however, be proud of me for not actually screaming that into Megan’s ear at any point during the interview. (You will also be able to read the full interview next week on AfterEllen.)

The reason for my interview was Megan’s performance in a short film premiering at OUTFEST in Los Angeles tonight. It’s called “Where Are the Dolls,” and it is as short (only 7 minutes and 37 seconds) as it is dreamy (based on an Elizabeth Bishop poem). The movie by out filmmaker Cassandra Nicolaou is a lovely little waking dream, more of a moody poem than a movie with a discernible plotline. But when it delivers, oh kittens, it delivers. Consider it 7 minutes and 37 seconds of wish fulfillment for every lesbian “Anne of Green Gables” fan who ever dreamed of her own special bosom friend. Because what it delivers Megan making out with another woman. Yeah, I know, you’re scheming ways to get to LA right now.

In my career I’ve been very fortunate to be able to interview many of the people I admire most, from activists and artists and all-around interesting folks. But now, now I can say I’ve interviewed the person who made me connive and finally convince my entire family to spend its summer vacation in Prince Edward Island so I could touch the red sand beaches that Anne with an e also touched. In fact, now that I’ve interviewed the artist formerly known as Anne Shirley (Megan) and the artist formerly known as Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter), I only need the artist formerly known as Princess Leia to complete my favorite childhood heroines hat trick. Carrie Fisher, call me. Happy weekend, all.

ETA: You can read the interview here.

Her queer little ways

Every now and then your childhood sneaks up and reminds you where you came from. In the midst of the mundane task of retrieving the mail yesterday, between the bills, bank statements and other banal reminders of adulthood was a time capsule. My “Anne of Green Gables” DVD set finally arrived, a belated Christmas gift from my mother. I’d forgotten they were coming, a function of falling too quickly back into the frazzled schedule of work and grown-up demands. But there they were, waiting patiently for me to remember. And remember I did.

I own all the books, of course. They sit neatly in a place of honor on my bookshelf, worn from time and hours of reading into the darkness of the night. L.M. Montgomery was my J.K. Rowling. I have almost everything ever bound and stamped with her name – Anne, Emily, Pat, Rilla and an endless assortment of short anthologies of occasionally questionable quality. But those I read on my own. I watched the series on TV with my family. I became obsessed with visiting Prince Edward Island (which I eventually convinced them to do one summer vacation) while watching the series on TV with my family. . I fell in love with Megan Follows (albeit unbeknownst to them, and me at the time) while watching the series on TV with my family.

This series, the one I now held in my hand. I’m not sure what took me so long to buy them. OK, they’re a tad pricey and I’m a tad cheap. Also the complete set didn’t come out until 2008. Someone in a drawer somewhere in my parents’ house gathering dust I have the complete series on VHS, recorded lovely from repeats on PBS. (OK, not “The Continuing Story” because – come on – those weren’t even based on the books). I had to fight the urge to put them on immediately and watch them back-to-back-to-back for an unending loop of spectacular sunsets along red sand beaches. But I didn’t. Work, bills, adulthood stood in the way.

But don’t worry, I will find the time. I must. Anne with an e was my hero growing up, with her smarts and spunk. She was an orphan who survived on the sheer force of her imagination, a dreamer, a thinker, a romantic, a kindred spirit. She was stubborn and prone to getting into scrapes. She was the best bosom friend a little girl could have – for Diana Barry and the rest of us. I look forward to spending time with her again soon. We have so much to catch up on after all these years.

Where you go I will Follows

Research is really a wonderful thing. Some people like to take shortcuts, but I believe in doing things the old-fashioned way. Hence last night I spent untold hours looking up actresses in lesbian guest appearances to prove my Lesbian Rule of Threes, a totally not fake theory I did not just make up after having a cocktail or two last night. Read all about it later on AfterEllen today. Suffice it to say I was scanning old clips to make my case when I stumbled across this one I had tucked away. To be fair, the great and powerful ScribeGrrrl tipped me off to it in the first place. I believe things like this are are why the internet was invented.

Yes, that is Megan Follows playing totally gay on “ER.” Yes, I know, OH MY GOD! Now, unless you were one of those “Little House on the Prairie” girls, everyone knows Megan Follows was Anne Shirley, as in “Anne of Green Gables.” I am now going to allow 15 seconds for the 10-year-old in all of you to freak out and possibly squeal.

This of course led me to more research while led me to the conclusion that I am not the only person who daydreamed about Anne and Diana being Bosom Friends with benefits. Come on, who calls their best friend their “bosom” anything? Gay ladies, that’s who. All that hand holding, all that kissing on the lips, all that professing of love. Think I’m kidding? Research doesn’t lie.

Megan Follows is one of my earliest and my most enduring crushes. That red hair, those freckles, that spunk. Did you know she turned 42 last week? Yeah, I’m not sure how I feel about that either. But I do know that I will always be at least a little in love with Megan, and now so much more that she once played a big old lesbian. Talk about your kindred spirits.

Vacation Vixens

Anne Shirley and Diana Barry totally hooked up.

My Weekend Crush

Growing up, one actress was the most spunky, the most scrappy, the most Shirley -- Anne Shirley, that is. Megan Follows was the perfect Anne of Green Gables. As a young girl, my love for L.M. Montgomery’s books was insatiable. I had the entire Anne (with an e) series, the entire Emily series, both Pat books, countless short stories and assorted random novels. In fact, I still have them all on my bookshelf. I even made my family vacation on Prince Edward Island one summer. So when the Canadian adaptation came out on PBS, I sat rapt as Anne, Marilla, Matthew and Gilbert Blythe (to this day, I have to say his first and last name together) came to rich, vibrant life. There was the red sand of P.E. Island. There was the charming, gabled farmhouse. There was the carpetbag-totting orphan with long, red braids.

As Anne matured in the series, Megan seemed to magically mature from girl to woman before our eyes. I’m pretty sure my affinity for red-heads can be traced back to her. Not to mention freckles. I always hoped Megan would find continued stardom after she was done being that Anne girl. And while she has kept busy acting, particularly in her native Canada, Megan hasn’t had the breakout success stateside that she so deserves. Ironically, part of the problem is probably people like me who have never let her leave Green Gables. But Megan should be heartened by the fact that she will forever be a kindred spirit, a bosom friend, to girls (and grown up girls like me) everywhere. Happy weekend, all.