Kiss and Tell

By Ileane Rudolph

She has dealt with anorexia, divorce, step-sibling rivalry and her mother's near-fatal accident. Now Once and Again's Jessie Sammler (Evan Rachel Wood) is joining a handful of teenage girls on television who have fallen in love with other girls.

"It's a little scarey for her," says 14-year-old Wood. "Jessie is starting to question her sexuality. [She met] this girl at school, Katie (Mischa Barton), and they just feel this connection." This week, that connection leads to a kiss. "Half the people I told that I have an on-screen kiss with a girl asked, "Was it weird, really different?" says Wood. "The only difference was we were both wearing lip gloss. I think most teenage boys tune in to see two girls kissing," she says, giggling. "But it's just really beautiful and inoocent. If people don't see it that way, that's their problem."

Not every network sees it that way. Buffy the Vampire Slayer executive producer Joss Whedon was sure "nobody would mind" when the show's Willow and Tara (Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson) had a same-sex kiss. "It's not controversial for someone to realize thy're a lesbian," he says. "That's over. [But WB executives] said, 'Excuse me, you're doing what?' I was like, Oh my God, people still care about this!"

All My Children's Bianca (Eden Riegel) came out at 17 but has yet to have a romantic on-camera kiss. "You don't want the audience to focus on one kiss. That's not [what it's] about," says Riegel, who's proud that Bianca's sexual exploration wasn't just a phase. ABC won't reveal where Jessie's exploration will lead, but Wood hopes th story will "open pople's eyes a bit," she says. "I don't understand why there has to be so much hate about things we don't understand." __ TV Guide (March 9 - 15, 2002)

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