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Desiree Akhavan Likes It Both Ways in “The Bisexual”—Dramatic and Funny

The new series debuts on Hulu on November 16.

Following this summer's gay conversion therapy drama, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, multi-hypenated filmmaker Desiree Akhavan brings us The Bisexual, a six-episode Hulu comedy series about Leila (Akhavan), a 30-something Iranian-American living in London who breaks up with her longtime GF and business partner, Sadie (Maxine Peake), to date the opposite sex.

Personal and professional havoc ensues.

Openly bisexual off-screen, Akhavan previously tackled the "B" word in her acclaimed 2014 indie feature debut, Appropriate Behavior. NewNowNext chatted with the filmmaker about the new show, bi visibility, and post-breakup hair don'ts.

The show, which already aired in the UK, received radically different reviews in the UK’s Guardian and Independent, the former being a two-star negative one, and the latter a rave. Do you feel people are "getting it?"

I think they are. I'd like to think that Guardian bad review is an anomaly, one-off written by a very conservative, right-wing woman it just wasn't made for. Also, the best things in the world aren't for everybody. To be inoffensive is irrelevant to the kind of work I want to make. Any point of view can be polarizing.

Like Leila, you are a bisexual Iranian-American living in the UK. What percent of The Bisexual is drawn from real life?

I don't think I can boil it down to percentages, but for sure everything in The Bisexual is inspired by real life. Every character is taken from the life of myself and my writing partner, Rowan Riley. We start somewhere very real and then take it to a heightened reality. In terms of the plot, [unlike Leila] I actually came out from the start as bisexual. It was something I was never closeted about. I first fell in love with a man, and then a woman, and many women after that. Making this was a sort of 'choose your own adventure'—what if I had not come out that way? What if I was closeted and had only been with women? But it is incredibly personal.

Tereza Cervenova/Hulu

The Bisexual - "104" - Episode 104 - With LeilaÕs bisexuality now out in the open, Sadie couldnÕt feel more betrayed. With no hope of reconciliation with Sadie, Leila finds an unexpected ally in Gabe who ham-fistedly helps her navigate a new life dating men and women. Tania (Niamh Algar) and Leila (Desiree Akhavan), shown. (Photo credit: Tereza Cervenova/Hulu)

In the first episode, after breaking things off with Sadie, Leila does this unflattering space buns thing with her hair. Where did that come from?

It was 100-percent inspired by the last time I got my heart broken by a woman. I went blonde, because I thought I would look like Storm from X-Men, but ended up looking like a complete idiot. In the script, Leila bleached hers, too, but we shot out of order and didn’t have the time to do a wig or dye my hair, so we ended up with space buns.

Was there an issue you wanted to address in the show but didn't?

Oh yeah. I really wanted to talk about male bisexuality, and it was in there but got cut. We had a whole character who I dated, a male bisexual, and Leila was actually kind of turned off by it and it reversed the tables on her own prejudices. The episode was twice as long as it needed to be, so anything that wasn't directly related to the plot had to be cut. An entire thirty minutes of footage was cut.

The last time we spoke, about Cameron Post, you said "bisexual is kind of a dirty word and makes me deeply uncomfortable—Anne Heche ruined it for us all." Who has done a good job of improving the visibility of bisexuals lately?

Wasn't there just a senator elected in Arizona who is bisexual? Krysten Sinema. But I'm still waiting for those role models. A lot of people round up or down to the nearest sexuality, like if they're with a same-sex partner, they're gay, and if they're with an opposite-sex partner, they're straight. It's difficult to be visibly in between.

Tereza Cervenova/Hulu

The Bisexual - "106" - Episode 106 - Sadie makes a revelation that leaves Leila questioning everything. She turns to Gabe. As they lean on each other Leila leans on Gabe as their relationship born out of awkwardness evolves into one of genuine friendship. Hye Me (Cassie Clare) and Ruby (Naomi Ackie), shown. (Photo by: Tereza Cervenova/Hulu)

What do your parents think of the show?

They saw the first two episodes, and I think they liked it. I think at this point they are proud and know me so well and are no longer horrified and along for the ride.

How do things look for a second season?

I feel confident, but who knows. Talking to my collaborators about it, it's something in the works.

Now that you've tackled bisexuality and gay conversion therapy, what would you like to explore in your next movie or show?

I want something completely different. I want to go big, genre, magical realism and take visual risks. I just want it to be unlike anything I’ve done before in tone and style. I feel I made some character driven, tender films that were very personal, and now I want to make the personal spectacular.

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