Sepideh Moafi Knows You’re Obsessed With Gigi On ‘The L Word: Generation Q’

I recently attended a screening of the first episode of The L Word: Generation Q’s second season at Henrietta Hudson, a venerable New York City lesbian establishment that tends to draw a low-key crowd (at least compared to Cubbyhole, ten blocks north). Once the lights went off and the show started, a hush fell over the room; that is, until Gigi Ghorbani (Sepideh Moafi) popped up onscreen, surprising her ex-wife Nat and Nat’s new girlfriend Alice in the school drop-off line. Suddenly, everyone was shouting like this was the bar from Cheers and Norm had just arrived; I knew then that Generation Q had found its Shane. (Okay, okay, Gigi and Shane couldn’t be more different, but the reaction to their celesbian power feels similar.)

“I have such a crush on Gigi,” one Henrietta patron (who shall remain anonymous for fear of irritating her girlfriend) confided to me. Indeed, Gigi has been a frequent topic of discussion on  Autostraddle, the queer online magazine and social networking site, and Moafi is taking her to some exciting new places this season. Vogue recently spoke to Moafi about the show, her unique path to acting, her complex feelings about the lack of TV representation for Middle Eastern and North African LGBTQ+ individuals, and her take on Gigi, Nat, and Alice’s “throuple.” 

Vogue: I have to tell you, the reaction I’ve seen to Gigi has been off the charts. What’s it like playing such a popular new character?

Sepideh Moafi: (Laughs.) It’s great. I mean, it’s always nice to know that your work is well-received, but it’s especially nice with a character like this. I feel like we’ve been really craving this representation for a long time, so it feels really good to validate people.

Have people been reaching out a lot since the show’s second season started airing in early August?

Yeah, definitely. I was kind of taken aback by the reception last year, because I just had no idea. I mean, I was a huge fan of the first iteration of the show, but I just—I didn’t expect to get such a global response to the character of Gigi and to the diversity within the show. This time around, there’s a lot more of gratitude for Gigi’s existence, and for her dynamism, and the sort of…fire and the grit that she brings.