EXCLUSIVE | 'The L Word: Generation Q' star Leo Sheng dishes on THAT steamy swimming pool scene
This story contains major spoilers for 'The L Word: Generation Q'
This is the second part of an interview with Leo Sheng, who plays Micah Lee, on 'The L Word: Generation Q'. You can read the first part here, where he talks about playing Micah on screen and the importance of LGBTQ+ representation at a time when conversations surrounding the community have progressed. He also discusses how he landed the role and prepared for his character.
Leo Sheng may have never imagined bagging the role of Micah Lee on Showtime's 'The L Word: Generation Q', but he plays the character with a rare sincerity. Sheng's Micah joins the original three protagonists of the OG 'The L Word' - Bette (Jennifer Beals), Shane (Katherine Moennig) and Alice (Leisha Hailey) - as the new generation of the LGBTQ+ community featured on the show.
With three episodes in, we have seen very little of Micah. But one scene, in particular, had fans of the show polarised - Micah is in the pool with his love interest Jose (Freddy Miyares) when they begin making out and pleasuring each other. At that time, fans had found the scene and the chemistry between Micah and Jose "boring". But for Sheng, it is his most favourite scene from the show, adding that the scene was "incredibly sweet and just so tender".
"The first two episodes introduce Micah as a funny [person], who is not really good at dating, but he really wants to date this guy [Jose played by Miyares). And he is excited about their first time together. Then we see him on a date and we see him nervous. And the thing that he is most worried about is the gift card! I think that's something that I love in terms of his storyline - that it [Micah's arc] doesn't necessarily revolve around him being trans," he tells us, adding, "It's a part of his life that he lives with."
"When we come to the pool scene, what's so beautiful about it to me was that we really see him kind of breathe, and slow down, and think through the implications of this date and the possible future going forward."
Their date is filled with sexual tension, but Micah wants to take it slow. And the transparency between the two that enables them to be honest with each other is, for Sheng, the most touching part of their relationship. "I think it's so beautiful to see to queer people of colour and one, who is trans, start to catch feelings for each other and have conversations where they are able to say [the things on their mind]," he says.
'The L Word: Generation Q' airs on Sundays at 10/ 9c on Showtime.