Worldwide gay community inspires web series

23 January 2010
By Chrystal Dean

Imagine you’re an Emmy Award-winning actress. OK, go with me here. You’ve been in the game for 20-odd years. You’re renowned for playing one of the most popular and bad-girl characters on Days of Our Lives (think murder and mayhem). Then you spend 10 years on America’s longest running drama, Guiding Light, (1937-2009) playing a ruthless business-woman and lover of men…MANY men. Then your character unexpectedly falls in love with a woman. And your life changes forever. Not because you get the challenge of playing American day-time television’s first lesbian love-story, although that is pretty groundbreaking, but because lesbians from right across the globe take you into the fold. And they genuinely love you because you have given them something they don’t get enough of – somewhere to see themselves onscreen. They reach out to you in any way they can – sending letters, emails, artwork and probably even underwear – to tell you what this storyline means to them. Then your show gets axed.

This was Crystal Chappell in April 2009. The lesbian storyline, known by fans as ‘Otalia’ (a combination of the characters names ‘Olivia’ played by Chappell and ‘Natalia’ played by Jessica Leccia - pictured right) has garnered a massive online following, with hundreds of fan sites, blogs, message boards, podcasts and videos (mostly found on you tube) dedicated to the sapphic pairing. So what happens to all these fans now? Crystal Chappell knows. She turns to her long-time friend and writer Kim Turrisi and creates a web-series for them – called Venice The Series. Bring onboard admitted tech geek and director, Hope Royaltey, as well as Leccia to star alongside Chappell – and you have the makings of one of the hottest web series ever seen. So hot that when the teaser for the first season was posted online the traffic alone crashed the server. The website for the series www.venicetheseries.com has had over 24 million hits since September 2009 and 225,000 unique visitors in just the first week of December.

This is what it’s like when the queer community embraces you. And it hasn’t taken long for the fan base to expand way beyond the original Otalia crowd. This series has fan bases in Germany, Spain, Brazil, UK and Australia. Chappell certainly feels blessed to have these people in her life. “They [the queer community] have embraced it [Venice] in a very lovely and supportive way. It is only because of how much they support it that we can move forward.”

And why start a series online? “Because I have the freedom to tell the story the way I want to tell it without interference from outside parties.” Good answer! And so far she has been very true to her word. The first episode of Venice went live on 5 December 2009 and within 30 seconds Otalia fans got to see the onscreen kiss they’d been waiting for and never got to see during the storyline’s 18-month run on the conservative CBS television network.

At the writing helm is Kim Turrisi, a gay woman herself, who is grateful for the opportunity to write gay characters for a world-wide audience. “It’s fantastic. But honestly, I try and write all my characters the same regardless of their sexual orientation, but to have this forum with this fan base and write the characters from the heart with complete honesty is a blessing.”

Venice is described by Chappell, who also stars in the show as Gina Brogno, as "a show about families, and life, and all the simplicity of it, and the turmoil of it. We're going to be following a character named Gina who is a designer, and she is a gay woman."

But don’t expect any gimmicks by way of sensationalised gay storyline here. Turrisi says the show “evolved organically from the desire Crystal had to embrace the community that had embraced her. Together we wanted to tell a story that included many walks of life. Plain and simple.”

Both Chappell and Turrisi interact with fans on a daily basis through social media website Twitter. Between them they have over 15,000 followers. Turrisi says her favourite thing is the friendships and connections being made. “There are groups that have get-togethers across the country and abroad. We love the twitpics they send. They are fiercely loyal and a force to be reckoned with. I love them!”

Posed with the question of whether she ever imagined she would become a gay icon, Chappell graciously replies “No. I am just a person and I embrace all roles, and I feel very privileged to be able to do what I am doing right now with Venice.”

But it’s a pretty sweet job, you have to admit – playing opposite some of the most talented and beautiful soap actors in America. In particular, being reunited with her Otalia cohort, Jessica Leccia, who plays Gina’s ex Ani Martin. Surely all this ‘playing gay’ is taking its toll. Don’t you have just a little girl crush on Jessica Leccia? “Hey, it’s not even little. It’s a huge girl crush!’

Venice the Series can be seen at www.venicetheseries.com. The first episode is free. The remaining 11 episodes and behind-the-scenes footage can be accessed via a USD $9.99 subscription. That’s cheaper than first round at the pub, and probably a lot prettier too.

To read the full TasPride interview transcript with Crystal Chappell and Kim Turrisi, click here.

Comment on this article on Twitter be starting your tweet with @TasPride or visit our Facebook page and post on our wall.

*Photo courtesy of JPI Photography.