"I think women are amazing"

Everyone in American suburbia, it seems, has a little dirty laundry. Those are precisely the rags Desperate Housewives hangs out on the shopping line to dry.

Aired on Showtime's TV Land every Monday at 9pm, UAE time, the US soap created by Marc Cherry has a truly contemporary take on "happily every after".

Set on Wisteria Lane in the fictional town of Fairview, the series began with Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong) leaving her perfect house in the loveliest of suburbs ? and ending it all. Now she takes us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbours, digging out skeletons from dark cupboards.

In this circle of friends is Bree van de Kamp, otherwise known as Martha Stewart on steroids, on the loose after being widowed.
The lovely Marcia Cross plays Bree, immersed in the character right up to her arched eyebrows. In this interview, she talks of Being Bree, among other things incidental.

Do you know people like Bree in real life?
So many people have talked to me. Yeah. I?m very messy, so I?m always surprised when I hear like, ?I would have sewed on that button and I would have brought baskets of muffins?. And I?m like, ?I can?t get out of the house. I don?t know how you people do it?. I mean there?s some pretty amazing women out there who are really talented and great homemakers. Yeah.

How would you describe Bree?
Well, she is highly neurotic. She is not psychotic. She is not really a true obsessive-compulsive either. She?s just a little psychotic with a little disassociate disorder. This woman is just highly neurotic and very repressed and unconscious.

You are actually a psychologist?
I have my Master?s in psychology, so this show is heaven. It?s fascinating. Even just, you know, the business itself is fascinating psychologically, but that?s another conversation.

Why did you study psychology?
I love psychology. I love humans. I think we?re fascinating creatures. You know, everybody has a story. Everybody has, you know, things in their lives, and I just like people.

We remember you from Melrose Place. Have you been eager to change roles?
I didn?t really know that I?d ever get a chance to change character. I mean, I think when you?re so strongly identified with a part it?s really hard to? you know, it takes a long time. So it?s a blessing and a curse to? I mean, I?m sure I will hear the same thing, you know, however many years from now. ?Oh, she?s too like Bree.? You know, it?s just how the industry works.

So that?s why you left acting for a while?
Yeah. There wasn?t anything that I was getting that was really very interesting. And I don?t like being bored. I really want to be excited and passionate about what I do in my life, so I went where I was excited, and I really loved that.

And how did they find you?
You know, I? I actually auditioned for a show called Everwood. I don?t know if you know it. It?s a lovely show, and I got a wonderful part on it and I made a decision. I had just done a year of like an internship at a clinic, and I felt like it was a good point that I could sort of like ? either I?m going to go deeper into that or I?ll go, and it was such a lovely part that I went, ?Okay. I?m not done.? This is really ? and then from that came this, and here I am.

How did you audition for this show? Was it Bree or nothing?
I wanted to read for Mary Alice. They laughed at me, which I guess because I identify with her, and then they asked me to read Bree. And I was just like, oh, because it?s such a hard part. Not that everybody?s isn?t. You know, it?s definitely a huge challenge. But then I just read it cold and I was like, ?Okay. I know why they want me to read this.? Because I can do it. It?s a very long, harrowing process and eventually I got the job.

Is Desperate Housewives an American show?
This is an international show that goes in every country and that does it good. It has a wicked sense of humour and I think that the world is ready for that show. The show has been a massive hit around the world and we are now in like 130 territories.

Do you think it?s very hard to be a housewife?
I think it must be so hard. I?m not one. I think they?re the unsung heroes of, you know, the planet because it?s the hardest job ever to be a mother. I mean, what man says I want to grow up and do laundry and cook dinner every night for a family? Does that sound fun? That?s hard work. And shop and clean, I mean, women are amazing. That?s what I think.

Have you had much response from women, people saying this is my life or you?re a bit glamorous for my life?
I don?t think the glamour part bothers them because they know it?s a heightened thing for the TV and comedy. I think they can really relate to all the characters.