Marcia Cross: Far from "Desperate"

By Tom Johnson and David Fantle

Life begins at 40-something … if the birthdays of the stars for ABC's hit comedy "Desperate Housewives" are any indication, that is.

Teri Hatcher, Nicollette Sheridan, Felicty Huffman and Marcia Cross have all traversed that monolithic divide which can act, more often than not, as a virulently ageist wedge between Hollywood actresses and their careers. What's more, they've all landed in a show that's both a ratings hit and one that resonates with quite a few middle-aged women across the nation who also lead lives of quiet desperation packing school lunches for the kids or REM-dreaming about the pool guy with the washboard abs.

"That's the great thing about what I do," Cross, 43, says early one weekday morning in her Los Angeles home over a cup of instant, pourable fortitude. "You get better and better and richer and deeper. As you age, you have more to bring to the pot -- forgive the coffee analogy, it's early -- It's exciting that way; there's no end to the possibilities."

As Bree Van De Kamp, the waspy, repressed wife on Wisteria Lane who seems to have sprung directly from the pages of the Official Preppy Handbook, Marcia Cross has entwined with a character she can really sink her clinical teeth into -- Cross earned a Master's Degree in psychology from Antioch College in Los Angeles three years ago.

"Bree's a mass of repression," Cross says. "I think actors can play parts without knowing what's going on psychologically. For me, it's interesting because I think Bree is a woman who does live with a lot of repression -- not technically obsessive-compulsive -- but with a lot of different defense mechanisms to keep herself going and not falling apart; to keep herself from feeling her feelings as much as possible."

Ironically, Cross’ co-star, Nicollette Sheridan, originally read for the part of Bree. In a separate interview, Sheridan tells us that the prim and proper character didn't feel right for her from that first reading.

"I thought the character was a very interestingly disturbed human being and there was a part of me that felt that I wasn't sure I wanted to play -- for maybe seven years -- this neurotic woman who could implode at any moment," she says. "When I went in to read I just couldn't commit 100 percent so I went in looking a little more like Edie than Bree and after reading I felt I did a good job. The director looked at me and said, 'No, no, no, I see you as Edie. Would you mind reading for Edie?' So with that I took a deep breath, shed my jacket, which revealed quite a low-cut dress designed by Chloe, and I said this is perfect. I come in the mother of two, a good wife, and I leave a slut!"

As much of an acting challenge as Bree is (and Cross likes challenges), the actress points to a role in a 1996 Lifetime movie, "All She Ever Wanted," as perhaps the toughest part she's ever played. And she performed that one, cold turkey, without the security blanket backup of a psych degree.

"The character, Rachel, wanted to have a baby but she was a manic-depressive and on lithium," Cross remembers. "In order to get pregnant and stay pregnant she had to go off the medication. Convincingly hitting those emotional highs and lows was a challenge."

One aspect of Cross's "Desperate Housewives" character that she doesn't find daunting (just completely befuddling) is the humor that seems to flow naturally from Bree's particular domestic situation -- lately, her husband's sexual preference for dominance scenarios and Bree's attempt to "please."

"I would never say I know how to play comedy. I play the character and the fact that's it's funny, to me, is a complete fluke," Cross says. "I'm always delighted when someone comes up to me and says, 'You're so funny!' I say, 'That's great!' But if I sat down and thought about it, I really have no idea at how I arrive at 'funny.' I'm so not like a comedian who can figure out where it all stems from. I just play the part and intuit what feels right."

Cross credits the all-seeing series creator Mark Cherry not only as the glue that keeps every plot twist and character turn not only relevant from week to week, but as a kind of omniscient arbiter that makes the kind of decisions that keeps the show climbing in the Neilsen Ratings.

"Mark Cherry, if you call him, he'll talk to you that day and get right back to you and listen to any and every concern. He's amazing that way," she says. "He's definitely there to collaborate. I will say that the writers, starting with Mark, are so genius that I would never pretend I could do a better job. I call and say, 'explain this to me, it doesn't sound quite right. Could we change this one line a little bit?' But the overall arc of the show is so complex that I've got to hand it to them, they really know what they're doing. But, hey, don't think I haven't whispered in his ear a few things, of course."

At the time this article was printed, there was a flurry in the media about some diva-esque one-upmanship that occurred among the cast members during their shoot of a Vanity Fair magazine cover due to hit newsstands in May. When asked about this dissension in the "Desperate Housewives" ranks, Cross dismisses the brouhaha.

"We're not at each other's throats … never!" She says. "I'm having so much fun. This is a dream job. I'm still in shock. It's now the end of a year and I can't believe this is happening and the scripts continue to be fantastic. You go to work everyday and have this incredible group of cast and crew. It's one of the highlights and I know it. There's gratitude at every turn."

After the Vanity Fair dustup, "Desperate Housewives" cast mate Eva Longoria was quoted as blaming any frayed tempers on the 16-hour shooting days, and Cross agrees. "The days tend to bleed into each other," she says. "It's like being on call at a hospital where you don't have a set schedule, or you may, but it's completely changeable. When a friend wants to make a plan, you have to say, 'I'll let you know,' which sounds terrible. But you know if you make the plan, you're probably going to break it. It's kind of a caveat and it's frustrating.

"With every positive there's a negative, that's just life, Cross continues. "I think most of this first year on the show it's been problems with time. Time is a difficult factor. There are people you want to see and friendships and loved ones that have to take a little bit of a back seat. That's hard. I just had a birthday party and it was so wonderful to see everybody -- I felt so loved and supported. It was nice to know that in spite of all the hoopla and craziness, my friends are still there … they endure."

Cross grew up in Marlborough, MA and remembers the exact time and place she caught the acting bug.

"I was in sixth grade and did a class play called the 'Witch of Blackbird Pond,' which was a book (by Newbery Medal winner Elizabeth George Speare) which we turned into a little play about the Salem witch trials. I played someone accused of being a witch. It was verrry dramatic and I don't think I got burned at the stake! I think ultimately they believed me, at least that's how I remember it."

At Marlborough High School, Cross had the good fortune to find a mentor in the school's drama teacher who nurtured her dream to become an actress. "It's an amazing thing how a teacher can really change your life," she says. "He took me to New York City when I was a freshman because I asked him to and we went and saw 'A Chorus Line.'" (Currently, actor Jeff Bridges is an "absolute favorite" of Crosses. She loved "Door in the Floor.")

After high school, Cross set her sights on gaining entry to a good acting school. She made the rounds of auditions and got accepted at Julliard, but the school's prestige didn't register … at first.

"I didn't understand what Julliard was at the time," Cross abashedly says. "I wasn't even going to go there, I was going to go to another school for musical theater. And then I got the list of people who had been admitted to Julliard that year and there were only 26 of us from all over the world and I thought, 'Maybe I'm making a big mistake.' So I called them and said, 'I think I goofed, can I still get in?' And they said, 'Absolutely.' I was awarded half a scholarship and off I went at 18 to New York City."

Cross says her first stop in Manhattan was the YWCA -- 34th Street branch -- a stretch of street where "I met my first cockroaches and hookers. I was so happy. I had no idea. It was all so glorious."

A stint at the Williamstown Theater Festival followed Julliard as did a role in the Hartford Stage Company's production of "Twelfth Night" and one in "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. Then came a featured role in the long-running soap opera, "Edge of Night." "It was kind of a venerated show," Cross says. "I vaguely remember my mother and my grandmother tuning in every day …  it was always sort of in the background, omnipresent. And then to be on it -- wow!"

Although Cross has become a perennial on television, she didn't plan it that way. (A partial list of her credits include a guest-starring spot on "Seinfeld" as Jerry's dermatologist girlfriend, "Cheers," where she portrayed the younger sister to Kirstie Alley's character and appearances on "Ally McBeal," "Spin City," CSI," "Profiler and "Touched by an Angel.")

"I really wanted to do theater but when I came to Los Angeles -- and I suppose this is still somewhat true -- a lot of people on stage were coming back from TV stints and had a lot of notoriety, Cross says. "People told me that I really needed to get on a TV show. So, I did "Melrose Place" and it all kind of snowballed after that."

Cross credits a strong work ethic for much of her success and encourages aspiring actors to hone their craft on stage, if possible.

"It is an art, like looking at a painting" Cross says. "At some point talent will out. In terms of the audition process, the only word I have is endurance. It's such a dichotomy because as an actor you have to have a thick skin in terms of the business, but most actors, like myself, are thin-skinned. That's why we're good at tapping into all types of parts of ourselves. But the flipside is the constant, looming rejection, which often you tend to take personally."

But, according to Cross, actors must take care to minimize rejection as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"You can't wall yourself in, my goodness! There's too much in life to be passionate about. You’ve got to mourn whatever part you didn't get and move on! Whether it's doing volunteer work or being with your friends or studying, it's not worth losing sleep over.

"We've heard countless stories of actors who were told that they were never going to get anywhere and they should quit," Cross continues, "then they go on to do really well and make their mark. People like Katharine Hepburn or Fred Astaire who had the infamous screen test ("Can't act, can't sing … can dance a little!"). I don't think any one person is the ultimate judge; if you have a burning passion and no one's going to stop you, then you go and do it for as long as you can take it. If the rewards aren't coming to you and you're at an age when you've had enough, then you're done … whatever.”

Cross thinks for a moment then adds a sentiment that the coldly circumspect Bree would probably never utter (at least not this season): " God, it's your life. Live it!"