With her Academy classmate Heather Grody, she formed the pop duo The Murmurs in 1991. In the 1990s, they released several albums and performed with Lilith Fair.[8] In 2001, Hailey and Grody changed their name to Gush. The group disbanded when Hailey was cast in The L Word. In 2005, Hailey founded Marfa Records.[9]
Hailey performing at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, April 2012
Acting
Hailey's television debut was in 1996 when she played a struggling musician on an episode of Boy Meets World.[11] Her first major film role was in the 1997 movie All Over Me.[12]
From 2004 to 2009, she starred as Alice Pieszecki, a journalist, television, and radio show host, on The L Word. At the beginning of the series, Hailey's character identified as bisexual. By the end of the series, specifically in season 5, her character dated mostly women.[13] In 2007, Hailey was voted #1 in the AfterEllen Hot 100 list compiled by AfterEllen.com.[14][15]
In September 2008, Showtime announced Hailey would star in The Farm,[16] a "pilot presentation spinoff" of The L Word, to be written and produced by Ilene Chaiken, creator and executive producer of The L Word.[17] It was announced in April 2009 that the show would not be picked up by Showtime.[18][19]
Hailey's award-winning indie filmLa Cucina premiered on Showtime in December 2009, where she plays a straight pregnant newlywed.
Hailey has appeared in several Yoplait yogurt commercials[20] as well as a BMW commercial.[21] In April 2008, Hailey was named spokesperson for Olivia Cruises, a travel company which sells cruises and resort vacations marketed towards lesbian customers.[22]
In 2011, she starred in the psychological thriller Fertile Ground.[23] In 2015, Hailey appeared in an episode[24] of long-running The CW show Supernatural as Amelia Novak, the estranged wife of Jimmy Novak (human vessel of the angel Castiel, played by Misha Collins.)
Writing
In 2025, Hailey co-authored a memoir, So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All, with her L Word co-star Kate Moennig.[25][26]
Personal life
Hailey dated actress Kim Dickens from the age of 19 for ‘five nurturing and expansive years,’ up to 1996.[27] Hailey dated k.d. lang for nearly five years until breaking up in 2001.[7] She also had a relationship with Nina Garduno from 2004 to 2010. From 2011 to 2016, she dated her bandmate Camila Grey. In 2011, the couple were involved in a dispute with Southwest Airlines, after being ejected from a flight for arguing with a flight attendant who asked them to stop kissing.[28] Hailey and Kim Dickens are currently in a relationship.[2]
So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All (2025) by Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey, St. Martin's Press, ISBN: 978-1250361363
1 2 Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey (September 14, 2022). "Honey Pot". PANTS with Kate and Leisha (Podcast). Apple. Event occurs at 11:00. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
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