Lauren and Amanda Dish on 'The Real L Word' - Exclusive Interview

New York transplants Lauren Bedford Russell and Amanda Leigh Dunn, or self-proclaimed duo “LAmanda,” have reunited in Los Angeles and are making (heat) waves this summer on The Real L Word.

New York transplants Lauren Bedford Russell and Amanda Leigh Dunn, or self-proclaimed duo “LAmanda,” have reunited in Los Angeles and are making (heat) waves this summer on The Real L Word.

While The Real L Word captures a slice of the Amanda and Lauren’s lives they are accomplished women off camera. With a degree in business Amanda has delved into event coordinating, PR and marketing as well as helping to launch several charities including Cinema for Peace, Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute’s charity FFAWN, and the Museum of Natural History’s first green scholarship fundraiser gala.

Fans of the show will recognize Lauren’s amazing fine jewelry line Lyon, which includes her Equality and Rock the Vote bracelets.

SheWired caught up with the best friends – and sometimes more – to chat about what it’s like being on the show, how their friendship and roommate situation have evolved, and what’s in store for fans.

Everyone knows that you’ve been best friends for years. How did you two meet?

Lauren Russell: Our friend Jen saw (Amanda) on this lesbian site, and she basically sent her picture to me and was like, "Look at this chick on this site." It was this thing where everyone was supporting her friend who –

Amanda Dunn: It was called Project Reveal. We were all just supporting them because it was like Facebook for lesbians. So one of Lauren's friends sent her my picture and was like, "Heyyy, look at this girl.”

LR: Somehow we became friends on Facebook. Then me, Jen and Amanda all decided to meet up and be friends. And then Amanda and I just like made out the rest of the night. Yeah, that's how we met. We got in trouble because we were making out on the couch for like three hours.

This season focuses on NYC v. LA. What do you think is the difference between Los Angeles and New York?

AD: It’s a lot smaller in New York – not even smaller, it’s just a little bit less spread out. It definitely changes according to the area that you’re in. If you’re in the city, there’s definitely an aesthetic that’s really different than if you’re in Williamsburg, which is a little bit more grungy. It’s like a little bit more – I wouldn’t say more feminine ­– aesthetically, it’s super different. In LA, the LA look sort of flows over into the lesbian scene.

What’s living together like? Sometimes you can be best friends with a person but be horrible roommates. Are you still getting along?

LR: We honestly had always been really stable friends. Nothing has really gotten between our relationship. We're very chill, we have a very comfortable relationship, and living together was just pretty easy. We do so much stuff together, but I think comparatively to other people, I think we do pretty well considering how much time we do spend together.

AD: We don't fight a lot – I don't really know why, but it just works.

Given your history of being friends with benefits, were you concerned at all deciding to be roommates? Did you think anything would happen, or did you want anything to happen?

AD: We can't really say a lot, but we're always friends first. There's not really anything that can break that, whether it would be a relationship or hooking up with each other or anything. We're like family to each other. So whatever might come and go and remain and whatever, it's not going to change how we view each other as people and how we carry on in our day-to-day lives together. We have a lot of care and respect for each other.

So, how did both of you decide to do the show?

LR: For me it was not something I had planned to do. My really good friend Amber and I were at dinner, and she's like, "I'm applying to be on the show," and I was like, "What?" She’s really down to earth and cool… She was like, “You should do it, too,” and I was like, “I don't know,” and she was like, “C’mon just try it out with me… I can possibly show some more femininity to the lesbian world. I feel like showing feminine girls is important because for me before I came out, I was like, there's no pretty, feminine lesbians around.

AD: Making such a big decision moving 3,000 miles across the country and then making another big decision right before I came out – to just put my world on display – it was nerve-wracking. At the same time, I probably know Lauren better than I know anyone in the world, so it was just sort of like if I'm going to do it, I'll do it with somebody I trust and care about. It's definitely a big decision when it comes to opening up your world and basically trusting these people with letting you be interpreted any way that they please. At the same time we hope that it will sort of integrate the community a little bit more and show people what our lives are like. The cast members on the show are all so different, but I think it's just a really good balance.

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