“Mad Men” star Elisabeth Moss talks to The Advocate about her character’s sexuality and more!

Mad Men returns for its latest season on Sunday night which means we are seeing its stars do lots of press.

There is the current retro cover of Newsweek for starters.

But the interview I think is really cool is the one Emmy nominee Elisabeth Moss, who plays Peggy Olson on the show, had a chat with The Advocate.

Here are some highlights:

On Peggy Olsen’s sexuality and flirtation with lesbian Joyce last season: “Of course Peggy would have a really good lesbian friend, and it was fun to toy with that flirtation. I loved all the respect and kudos I got from the gay community about that storyline. People were so excited that Peggy might be a lesbian. … Peggy is open to a lot of new experiences, and I loved that Peggy wasn’t put off by Joyce’s flirtation. The attention and the whole idea of it was titillating for her. I don’t think Peggy’s gay, but who knows? I mean, if anyone’s going to be gay, it’s Peggy.”

On whether the tension between Peggy and her adversarial officemate Joan might actually be sexual tension: “That would be really awesome, wouldn’t it? If they just totally attacked each other on top of a desk one day?”

On Peggy Olsen getting hit on by Jane Lynch in the opening skit of the 2011 Emmy Awards: “That was so cool for me, because I love Jane Lynch. Honestly, I’m such a huge fan of hers that I couldn’t even speak around her that day when she was on set. When I got that script and found out that I was going to be hit on by Jane Lynch, I could not have felt prouder or more honored.”

On her celebrity girl-crush: “Oh, that’s so easy! I don’t even know why I paused. Marion Cotillard. To me, she’s just a perfect, lovely, French little fey, but she doesn’t lose her animal sexuality, and she’s still very much a woman.”

On her stance on gay people as a Scientologist: “One of the most important things I take from my church is the idea of personal freedom and our rights as human beings, and that includes the right to date a man or a woman. Personal freedom is a very important concept in my religion, and I translate that to sexual orientation. If we’re all supposed to have the right to the life that we want to lead, then that should apply to the gay community. There isn’t really any dogma or scripture, yes or no, right or wrong on that particular subject in my church. It’s more open to personal interpretation, and that’s my interpretation. … Many of my church’s stances and concepts are grossly misunderstood by the media. It’s a long list.”

On making her Broadway debut in the 2008 revival of Speed-the-Plow as Karen, a role previous played on Broadway by Madonna: “When I got that part, I never thought I’d be following in the footsteps of Madonna in any way, shape, or form. Just to occasionally be in the same sentence as her is an honor, so I will gladly mooch off of her gay icon status.”