[IMG:L]Viewers may take it for granted that stars look glamorous and beautiful on TV, but when someone can stand out in a room full of other glamorous stars, that is real beauty. Teri Hatcher did just that, drawing all eyes away from a party filled with ABC’s hottest talent.
Always a surprise when the star of a returning hit does the annual press rounds, Hatcher showed up toward the end of a party in a red dress, turning her body into a crimson cylinder of shapely curves. She had hoped to just pop in and say hi to her Desperate Housewives boss Marc Cherry, but Hollywood.com wasn’t about to let her get away without dishing some dirty on DH’s fourth season.
Here’s what we already knew: With Susan (Hatcher) and Mike (James Denton) finally married, their relationship enters a new phase. New neighbors will cause even more mystery and trouble. Hatcher’s already shared scenes with newbies Dana Delany and Nathan Fillion, among all the other residents of Wisteria Lane. Okay, Teri…spill the secrets!
Hollywood.com: What can you tell us about DH’s Season Four?
Teri Hatcher: Here’s what I can say. I have been working 12 days in a row. I was filming early this morning until 8:30. I rushed over here really to support Marc. I knew he was here and some of the new cast because I’m so excited about this year. The first two scripts, there’s just nothing more fun than when that writing is so great and everyone’s character has such a terrific storyline. We’re just having such a good time. Dana Delany is a great addition to the show and Nathan is amazing.
HW: How are Mike and Susan functioning as a married couple?
TH: Mike and Susan are really having a romantic…I can’t tell you what happens. You’ll find it out in the first episode but it’s romantic and neurotic and surprising. I feel like Mike and Susan haven’t really gotten to spend a lot of time together since the first season, so this is a time at least for those two characters where they are together and they’re getting to explore the emotions of being together. So they’re not apart. That’s not happening.
HW: Is there room for more people on Wisteria Lane?
TH: Apparently there is. They are really fitting in just great.
[IMG:R]HW: Does that make it easier for you, spreading out the work more?
TH: No, I’ve been working more than I have ever worked. It’s not like it takes anything away from that but I think what Marc is aware of, and I think rightfully so, is just keeping a freshness to the show. I think [he does that] by bringing these characters on when they work, and I these characters work. They’re great. They just fit right in. I think it just brings a freshness on that they need.
HW: Does that energize you, to keep things in flux after three years?
TH: It’s just when the writing is great, there’s just no better job. We were just saying tonight that it kind of doesn’t matter how many hours you work when you’re so invigorated by the freshness of the writing and the actors that you’re working with. It’s just like you can’t believe you get paid to do it and it feels like that so far this year.
HW: How does Dana Delany‘s character come in?
TH: She used to live in the neighborhood and that was when Susan and Mary Alice were there, so we were the characters that knew her and were good friends and now she’s back. There’s something different about her and something odd going on and we’re all trying to figure that out. I have to say, it can be a difficult tone to slip into that drama/comedy thing that Desperate Housewives tries to ride. She just absolutely fits right in. It’s so exciting. She’s got the drama and the comedy and the edge. She is just brilliant.
HW: Are you involved in the potential mystery this year?
TH: Yeah, but the way Marc works with that, we only know it as it goes along so I don’t really know very much about what that is about.
HW: Nathan Fillion plays a gynecologist, so what was your first scene with him?
TH: It was a great scene. Often you’ll hear actors saying that the oddity of you might meet someone, “Hi, nice to meet you” and then the next thing you know you’re doing a kissing scene. Ours was, “Hi, nice to meet you – now my feet are going to be on the stirrups and you need to pretend like you’re doing some sort of exam nobody wants to talk about.” That’s pretty welcoming. “Hey, welcome to Desperate Housewives.” It was funny. Those were the kind of jokes that were going on.
HW: Were you wearing boxers underneath?
TH: I wore plenty to be a lady.
HW: It must be nice to be able to talk about the new costars, since it’s not a secret.
TH: It truly is. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked down the red carpet and people have said, “So how do you feel about so and so being on the show next year?” It’s like, “So and so’s on the show next year?” This time I actually knew about Dana and I literally, I’ve been working 12 days in a row, 14 hours a day. I just was the last person to finish filming and I had to come over here because I can’t tell you how excited I am about this season.
[IMG:L]HW: You’re very high on the new episodes, so do you feel this season is back on track where others might have faltered?
TH: You know what? I don’t look at life that way. I don’t look at life that way, I don’t look at TV shows [that way], nothing. To me, each day is an opportunity to do something new, to make a different choice, have a different energy. So each episode, whether it’s first season, second season, third season, is a new opportunity to have a new kind of energy. I don’t feel like the fourth is less [or] more, [just] different. I feel like it has its own individual taste and [that’s] what I’m most excited about. I don’t know if that’s because of Marc‘s writing, that he’s really nailed down some very specific storylines for all the women on the show that are very enticing and creative, or if it’s because of the new people that are joining our cast or a combination of all that. But there seems to be just incredible camaraderie [and] energy to the whole thing that feels like I don’t remember it feeling for a while. So that’s great.
HW: This season has a lot of new shows featuring women over 40 in the leads. Do you feel Desperate Housewives was instrumental in propelling that trend?
TH: Well, if it was, I would say the credit goes to Marc but I have said before that I don’t believe they intended to cast a bunch of women over 40. I think we didn’t look like were over 40 and then after we were cast, we realized that and then that happened. I don’t think they said, “Hey, let’s hire women that are 40.” I wasn’t actually over 40 when I got the job but now I am.
HW: Did you get a chance to travel on your hiatus?
TH: I did. My daughter and I went to cooking school in Italy then we went to Eva [Longoria]‘s wedding and then it was over and we were back to work.
HW: You’re known for all the goodies you cook and bake for your castmembers. Does your daughter cook for you yet?
TH: She cooks, yeah. She’s in a cooking camp here in Los Angeles. She loves to cook. Cooking and horses. She brought me to the set today a rolled chicken enchilada thing that she made. She brought me some home made trail mix. She’s very into it.
[IMG:R]HW: What are you watching on TV?
TH: So You Think You Can Dance. I love that show. I don’t love it because of the competition. I love it because I used to live in Manhattan and my daughter grew up in Manhattan. I used to take her to the ballet from the time she was three. She was seeing the New York City Ballet and if I could sit in a theater and watch dancers every night, that would be my idea of a good time. Live, professional, brilliant dancers are just amazing to me. So I’m not really into the “Who gets eliminated” part. I just like to watch the dancing.
