Marvelous Mrs Maisel scene-stealer Alex Borstein hints Susie could be pansexual: ‘I think she falls in love with minds’
Alex Borstein attends the Amazon Prime Experience The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel FYC screening and panel at Hollywood Athletic Club on April 23, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic)
Alex Borstein, who plays Susie Meyerson in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, has opened up about whether she sees Susie as gay.
Borstein is a three-time Emmy winner, taking home one award for being the voice of Lois in Family Guy and two for her portrayal of Susie, who becomes Midge’s manager when she decides to pursue stand-up comedy in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times while quarantining in Spain, Borstein addressed rumours that Susie is gay, suggesting that she falls in love “with minds”, not gender.
She said of the butch-presenting manager: “One thing I like about her is she’s like this fleshy, new-formed baby.
“It’s interesting that a lot of people who want to know about her sexuality are the same people who would be like, ‘We don’t want it to be labeled.'”
She continued: “I like that she’s never had the luxury of having a relationship or even exploring it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s never even had her first kiss.
“She’s absolutely in love with Midge to some degree, but I think she falls in love with minds.”
Alex Borstein says Midge and Susie ‘is a love story’, but Susie isn’t necessarily gay.
This is not the first time the Borstein has faintly alluded to a love story between Midge and Susie.
In 2018, Borstein told Hollywood Life: “Midge and Susie, it’s a love story, you know? I’m not necessarily saying it’s a lesbian [love story], but it’s a female love story, and [Joel’s] part of that triangle.
“So it’s a really interesting thing. It’s work-related, but it’s the same kind of a love triangle, so I think that’s what people get really riled up about.”
But this refusal to properly acknowledge Susie as queer has fans irritated.
In 2018, Riese wrote for Autostraddle: “Subtext, the life raft we once clung to, has been sent to sea and in this new bold era, Susie’s squelched sexuality somehow feels personally insulting… It seems to represent a fundamental unease with queer stories, wanting all the benefits of a sassy gay sidekick without the hard work of acknowledging, let alone understanding, their multifaceted personhood.”
