Sarah Shahi auditioned for "The L Word," but once she got the gig she wasn't
sure she wanted it. "I was just scared," Shahi said. "It seemed like a great
big life change.

I didn't know if I wanted it or not. It was not only the material, but could I do it well enough."

'The L Word' 10 p.m. Sunday Showtime

The material, of course, is key in the Showtime drama about lesbians living
in Los Angeles. The series, which was launched a year ago to critical raves,
returns Sunday.

"It's a pretty big deal to go into everybody's households and be a lesbian,"
Shahi said. "It's not something that's taken lightly. There's no other show
on the air that does what we do as well as we do it."

"The L Word" is a dramatic shift for Shahi, a former Dallas Cowboys
cheerleader. In the past, she's played, as she said, "the hot assistant,"
never something as challenging as her role on "The L Word," which also stars
Jennifer Beals, Mia Kirshner, Erin Daniels, Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman,
Pam Grier and Katherine Moennig.

"It's just like going to acting school every day," Shahi said.

Her character, Carmen, is introduced in the first episode and quickly gets
into a love triangle with Kirshner's Jenny and Moennig's Shane.

"The story lines affect millions of people, whether they are gay or straight,"
Shahi said. "There's a huge humanitarian part of it you may not have with
other shows."