The Wire (HBO).(Interview)

Publication: Curve

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Curve Magazine, Outspoken Enterprises, San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 863-6538

On HBO's hot new series The Wire, police detectives on the bartered, crime-riddled streets of Baltimore fight a never-ending drug war. At the core are two cops--an unconventional white guy named James McNulty and the less traditional but equally devoted black lesbian Shakima Greggs. Shakima--nick-named Kima by her colleagues--is one of the few detectives who can go undercover in the drug-ridden projects like an insider and still navigate the political morass of police bureaucracy. Her life at home--with her long-term partner--is so convincing most fans expect that the actress who portrays Kima, Sonja Sohn, is herself a lesbian. Not that she's fighting her newfound role as lesbian sex symbol: "I'm really open, and I don't like to claim title to anything in my life, you know, racially, culturally, sexually." Of course, this isn't Sohn's first dyke role, either. Her provocative screen debut was in the critically acclaimed lesbian film Work.

Sohn, a former slam poet, starred in and helped co-write Slam. After that came smooches with Samuel Jackson in Shaft and a turn in Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead. Last month she appeared in HBO's third annual Def Poetry Jam and this summer she stars in the gritty, festival-bound The Killing Zone. But make no mistake: The Wire is Sohn's crowning achievement thus far. The second season of The Wire--debuting June 1--moves away from the urban drug war and instead chronicles the steady decline of the working class in Baltimore. During a break on the set of the series, Sohn--in her trailer cooking string beans and struggling with her cell phone--told us why she's thrilled to play television's only black lesbian.

CURVE: Shakima's home life--her relationship with her girlfriend--seems so real and so natural. How did you develop that?

Sohn: Honestly, I have to give a lot of credit to [show creator] David Simon. He just does such a great job with the writing and he knows the characters very well--I show up and I do the best job that I can.

I heard that you were disappointed with your initial sex scenes.

[Laughs.] Oh, absolutely!

Why is that?

It's because when I first saw it, it looked like two straight girls fumbling around trying to look like sexy lesbians. It was a very awkward situation.

But this isn't the first time you've done a lesbian love scene. In Work, you have some really sexy scenes.

How did you know about that? [Laughs.]

I thought that movie was amazingly sexy.

Really? I liked that film too, and I thought it was sexy. That's probably because [director] Rachel [Reichman] is really familiar with the world of lesbianism, you know, and is able to write those characters and direct those characters in that way.

How does it feel to suddenly be a lesbian sex symbol?

[Chuckles.] You know, some things you just don't have control over. And it's not that I mind. I was kissing Sam Jackson in Shaft, and all of a sudden, I became like a serious hottie, you know, among straight black men. It's my job as an actress to inhabit many worlds and to do it convincingly.

Is it fun to play a bad ass?

She's a bad ass at work but when she comes home she's like Miss Kitten--she gets put in her place. And that's really a lot of fun. I like that, because people have many layers.

Is this character a stretch for you? What are your limitations in playing Kima?

It was a stretch trying to play a copl...

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