I’m married. We’ve got the matching rings, the not-sure-if-it’s-legal wedding certificate and a full 14 years of blissful family photos. But when Karina Lombard — The L Word’s seductive Marina — coos to me, “Oh, you make me feel so good,” it’s hard not to imagine chucking it all and running off to a desolate tropical island with this Native American sexpot. Not since Raquel Welch hit the screen in One Million Years B.C. has an olive-toned, dark-haired woman so ignited the passions of both male and female viewers.

And Lombard, who has earned the moniker “macho femme,” is digging every minute of it.

When Showtime announced that Lombard would not be back for The L Word’s season two, her numerous fans sent flowers to execs and placed pricey ads in industry magazines. “I love it,” Lombard says of the “Save Marina” fan campaign. “It’s beautiful.” As the first season wrapped up, it became clear that few envisioned the enormous popularity that would surround Marina, the sultry café owner who seduces the wide-eyed, heterosexual Jenny, introducing her to the joys and drama of lesbian life. In a cast of major beauties, Lombard has become an overnight lesbian sensation.

Then again, it hasn’t exactly been overnight. Born in Tahiti to a Lakota medicine woman and a Swiss-Russian-Italian aristocrat, Lombard was separated from her mother as an infant and raised in her father’s tony, cultured world. First came Spain, then Italy, then Switzerland, where she attended a number of elite boarding schools and became fluent in several tongues (Italian, Spanish, German, French and English).

During a visit to New York as a teen, Lombard was discovered by photographer Bruce Weber, who cast her in an ad campaign about Native Americans. At 18, she landed the Canadian miniseries L’Île, following up with a bit part in The Doors and a starring turn as a Creole Jamaican in Wide Sargasso Sea. The latter garnered Lombard a First Americans in the Arts Award for best Native American actress; she then landed the coveted role of Brad Pitt’s American Indian wife in Legends of the Fall. She was adept at playing the other woman long before The L Word; Lombard also seduced Tom Cruise in The Firm.

Lombard hardly needs The L Word now. She’s got a new movie (Big Kiss) and a new CD (yep, she’s also a musician) out this summer, plus there’s a project in development with Cirque du Soleil. As the rest of the world gets its first taste of The L Word, one can only imagine the fans Lombard will gain when dykes in Canada, Britain and Australia get a whiff of her seductive charms.

So, how does it feel to be replacing Angelina Jolie as today’s hottest lesbian heartthrob?

Angelina Jolie? Oh, she’s beautiful. She’s so gorgeous, she’s an incredible actress. She’s amazing. So it’s an honor.

Did you realize when you signed on to The L Word that you’d be part of such a groundbreaking project?

Yeah, I knew right away. I kept telling [L Word creator] Ilene [Chaiken], this is going to be huge, because of the stories, the actors, everything about it. I never had a doubt. It was so clear to me.

Did your agent ever warn you about being pigeonholed?

You know, I never … think of that, because you limit yourself, the minute you’re afraid of — I mean, the minute I focus on what I don’t want to be, which is pigeonholed or something, it’s trouble. So all I go with is, is there something within me that wants to tell that story as best as it can be told? For me, as an actor, and as an artist … it’s to tell stories. I love that, because growing up, that’s what changed my whole world. Fairy tales and being able to escape into a world of magic. That’s all I want to do.

Have you wanted to do this all your life?

Well, it was never specific. I remember the first movie I saw — I grew up in boarding schools and away from the mainstream, and the first movie I saw was a rerun in the old theater in the neighborhood. I saw this movie called Donkey Skin … with Catherine Deneuve, and she was very young, and so gorgeous. And it is one of the most beautiful fairy tales I have ever seen, and I knew I wanted to live my life like that. I wanted that magic and to live in that fairy world.

One of the things I love is that critics have started to call you the new “macho femme” — the only brain with brawn on TV right now.

Oh, my god! I feel like I’m on the moon. I’m not hearing any of these compliments.

Well, we got batches and batches of letters about you this summer at CURVE.

Oh, my god, you make me feel so good. Thank you! It’s great because, obviously, it hasn’t been easy, the whole journey of Marina, but I adore the character. What was fascinating in Marina, and what attracts me in life, is what I really wanted to portray — an individual that connects both the feminine and masculine sides in all its dimensions, both emotional and mental, and able to function in the male and female worlds without being too much one or the other. To strike a balance in between, I thought was fascinating.

Your portrayal of Marina is so compelling and believable. This is something you seem to bring to a lot of your characters. You seem to take these clichéd roles and develop them into something else.

The empowerment of the human race is something that really interests me, because there lies the solution to everything. When I get an audition or I get a character, I always look at how no matter how low a human goes, there is always a piece … of empowerment, where he can reach for that piece and basically climb his way back up.

This season you’ve had some amazing love scenes with Mia Kirshner. Were those scenes different from filming a love scene with someone like Tom Cruise?

Well, yeah. Mia is much smaller than I am, so I was definitely in the position of protector, when you thrash around and get wild —

So you have to make sure you don’t bang her head or something?

Right. I did a sex scene in the bathroom, all of them in the bathroom I had to be really careful. Because you’re bigger, you have to, and she was against the wall, so you have to be careful that she actually doesn’t hit her head, and then when you make the noise, it was more like my hands were in it. I was covered with bruises — [laughs] my arms were. But that’s normal. You take that responsibility. With Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, they’re bigger, so they have the responsibility as far as rolling around and moving around. People always have this amazing idea of how sex scenes or love scenes are. … But it’s very technical. The camera gets in strange angles to get good light, or else on screen it looks weird. It’s a choreography. It’s like a dance, and you turn your head — one and two and three and left and right — it’s definitely a choreography.

Is it easier to film scenes with women because you’re both women? Do you feel less bashful? You probably always feel unabashed, right?

[Laughs.] What is that supposed to mean?

Well, do you sort of feel like this macho femme in real life? Assertive and self-assured?

I was very athletic as a child, so I was always with boys and skiing, which is a very aggressive sport, even though I did the slalom, which is more like a dance. So I always grew up in a world of boys and I grew up on my father’s side. So yeah, it’s a world that I know better. Because of what I was exposed to as a child, I was around men more than women. … If I see two men or two women kissing, there’s nothing inside me that goes, “Eww, my God.” I never have.

Is that something about growing up in Europe maybe?

Maybe … now, when I see a beautiful woman, I’m like, “Wow! She’s gorgeous!” I’ve never had that whole thing of envy and jealousy at all. To me, a beautiful woman or a beautiful man turns me on. I honor that.

Have you had sexual experiences with other women?

Oh, boy.

C’mon. You can tell me.

That is a loaded question!

Just give me a hint.

Let me think about that one. We’ll get back to it.

OK, we’ll get back to it. During your first love scene with Jenny, she’s really floored by the implications of her first sexual experience with a woman. Have you ever had a life-changing experience that really floored you?

All the time.

When was the last time?

God, I have those moments all the time because you realize how much power we have as individuals. That we can literally co-create our lives, and the minute you enter that realm, we [experience] miracles all the time. So, yeah, a lot. I try to … constantly push the possibilities. In that scene, I really wanted that. I wanted to go all the way. It’s funny, because when we shot that scene, it was the first sex scene of the whole pilot, the whole season, and all the girls — Kate and Erin, Leisha — left a bottle of wine in my trailer, saying, “Good luck!” The last thing you want to do is drink wine, because then you get all weirded out. So I went to the set, and I was really relaxed all day, I thought maybe I’d get nervous when I got there and actually had to take my robe off. … I arrived there and I took my robe off and I jumped in and said, “OK, let’s go!” And I forgot that I was naked. I was just with this woman and that was just what I was doing … we had a really good crew, which is so important to feel safe because there’s not much else you can show after that.

Let’s talk about your childhood a bit. Was being American Indian in boarding school difficult?

Absolutely, yeah. Growing up [I got called] “savage,” “bastard.” Because you look different, you’re from a different background and you’re not from the same country — you weren’t in this country two years ago and you speak another language than we do. But it doesn’t matter; it’s good, because it trains you to rise above.

You’ve said your family wasn’t really supportive of your Native American heritage.

I lost my mother very young. So I grew up [around] my father’s side, which is very white. My whole family on my father’s side is blond with green eyes, so we definitely looked different.

Your grandparents left the Lakota reservation before you were born. Have you ever been there?

No, you know it’s interesting, when I came to America I was approached by Native American people, and they always knew what tribe I was from. I have to say I am so proud to be [Native], and it’s sad that I was raised completely away from it. But it’s OK, because the way I was raised is very rich, and many countries. … But as far as the Native American heritage, it is definitely very strong inside me. It’s in the music that I write and — the strangest thing always happens to me when I’m in the studio recording, after a while your body kind of relaxes at the end of the day and I’m sitting there and this old Indian starts chanting and it’s coming out of me and I don’t know where it comes from, but it is always there.

You’re the first Native American to play a lesbian on TV.

I remember the first time I got the First Americans in the Arts Award and I went up to the podium and I got so emotional, and I so did not expect to feel like that when I saw these amazing faces. Indian people have the most beautiful faces and I just started crying, because it reminded me of my mother and so many things and the fact that the Native American culture is still a mystery to me even though I try to learn as much as I can about it. … I said to them, “I promise you with all my heart that I will always represent Native Americans with the dignity and the wisdom that we deserve.” And a few months later, I got Legends of the Fall. Of all the movies that have Native Americans in them, I think in Legends of the Fall the [way the] American Indians are portrayed [is] so amazing.

That’s great about Marina, too. She’s a modern Native American queer woman.

Last time I went up for another [First Americans in the Arts Award] I said, “Listen to me, if I can act with this accent of mine, you can work!” There’s always a place for everyone. I’m proud of my Native heritage.

OK, back to that big loaded question now.

[She laughs.]

C’mon, Karina.

So, basically you want to know if I’m straight, gay or bisexual?

That would be lovely. You could tell me if you’ve had other experiences with women. You’re bisexual, right?

[She laughs.]

I know you are. You’re too compelling and believable. I feel as though you’re genuinely attracted to women.

Yeah, I am genuinely attracted to anyone that is beautiful. That’s true. And I won’t say no more. [She laughs.]

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