The lesbian lifestyle has come out from behind the flannel shirt to embrace Prada, punk and all things that make culture pop, at least according to the Showtime series "The L Word." With its second season under way, the lovely lesbians of Los Angeles are a cable sizzler. (It airs Sundays at 10 p.m.)The ensemble cast, including "Flashdance's" Jennifer Beals, engages in explicit scenes of love, lust and longing. Beals plays Bette Porter, a biracial curator of a small museum who was caught cheating on her longtime partner Tina Kennard (played by Laurel Holloman). This season she pays for the dalliance, while her cast mates mingle and merge.

Q. What is your favorite "Flashdance" flashback ?

A. Just looking out and seeing the rivers collide. I was there very briefly.

Q. After you were discovered at Yale, did you ever go back to your studies?

A. Well, after I get off the phone with you, I have to study for a Sanskrit test tomorrow. I just take classes for fun. I'm taking Philosophy of Sanskrit.

Q. I thought everyone always knew you were biracial, like everyone knows Halle Berry is. Why does it all of a sudden seem to be a focal point?

A. I don't know. I don't know what magazines people read. I just assumed everybody knew.

Q. Isn't being biracial the best of both worlds?

A. Yeah at times. I don't really think of it very much.

Q. What were your expectations for "The L Word"?

A. I didn't have any. I don't have any on any project I do. I just try to enjoy the process, enjoy the character, enjoy the people I'm with and move on. I have no control over what happens to any of it after I leave the set. The one thing I did get to choose was between playing Tina or Bette. I picked the more dysfunctional one.

Q. The lesbian chic fad seems to be fading. Will that affect the show?A. I didn't even notice it was a fad to start with so ...

Q. Have their been any adjustments to the second season? A lot of viewers find Jenny, the straight-girl-turned-confused, extremely annoying.

A. Oh poor Jenny. I don't know. You'd have to ask Mia Kirshner (the actor who plays Jenny) more about that. I don't know how much they changed Jenny. I am not so much aware of other people's ... I don't know, but I do know that Bette suffers the tortures of the dammed all season long.

Q. Do you feel compelled to stress you are straight, since you are playing a gay character?

A. I don't feel compelled to stress it. When it comes up I address it. I have played heterosexual women for so long, and it's been in the press that I've been happily married and am married to a man. Most fan letters I get are just grateful for the show.

Q. Even with greater tolerance and understanding, do you think there are still a lot of high-profile personalities in the closet?

A. I'm sure that there are. I mean, I would presume that there are because not every city is L.A. or New York or Chicago. There are a lot of places where it is much more difficult. Hopefully one day it will be accepted and not be an issue.

Q. What are your future plans?

A. I am developing a project right now. I am trying to sleep a lot. I am trying to figure out the philosophy of Sanskrit, which is basically trying to figure out linguistic cosmogony, which is always kind of a tough subject to tackle (laughing). Other than that, I told my agent I want to rest for a while. The second season was very hard, very long, and I could use some rest. The class is restful in a really good way.

Q. How did you get interested in Sanskrit?

A. I think I was always interested in the mantras and the chanting that happened in yoga classes. Then I started studying that a little bit more and I thought wouldn't it be nice to know, or get a sense of, what I was saying. Even though Sanskrit, the sound works on a cellular and mystical level without you having to know what it means. Still I thought wouldn't it be kind of interesting to know the intent. In some ways it's like Hebrew I think, in that Hebrew is based around cosmogony as well.

Q. Well, good luck with your projects, and I hope you get an A in your class.

A. Oh, I don't know about that (laughing). I think that's highly unlikely.