52 year-old actress Dana Delaney is the latest female cast member to join Desperate Housewives, and plays troubled newcomer Katherine Mayfair who moved in last season. She turned down a chance to play Bree at the series’ inception in 2004. Delaney gave a press conference in June right after the season ended. She said that everyone was very professional and friendly on set and that rumors of rifts between castmembers were not true. Delaney admitted that the actresses playing the women of Wisteria Lane work hard to keep their bodies fit and trim, and said there was a kind of “dieting competition” among cast. The costume designer called it “the Desperate Housewives disease”:
When asked if there is pressure to always look perfect, she said there might be a quiet competition among the women of the show in terms of dieting. “When I got on the show the costume designer said to me, ‘don’t get the Desperate Housewives disease.’ When I asked what it is she said that everybody loses weight and their clothes don’t fit. I do think there is that competitive dieting thing going on and because I am such a contrarian I am the only one who gained weight — my clothes got tighter.”
The atmosphere on the set is great, she said. “We all heard stories about the fighting early on the set and I don’t think that exists anymore. All these actors are so professional. Everybody comes to the set knowing their lines, everyone is on time, it’s really a fun, fun set. It’s a great place to work.”
[From MediaScribbler via Hello Magazine, print edition, August 28, 2008]
Delaney also noted that all the castmembers were welcoming to her. She said on her first day no one knew that she would be joining them, but that they “were great with me… and it was sort of like, oh, hi Dana, what are you doing here?”
Eva Longoria might be trying to take that dieting competition in another direction – she’s gained a smidgeon of weight and says she’s doing it for her character, Gabrielle, who has had two children and has “let herself go.” Longoria is said to be desperate to have children herself, and if recent photos are any indication, she’s already well on her way.
The next season of Desperate Housewives premieres on Sunday, September 28.
Dana Delaney is shown on 7/17/08 at the ABC and Disney “TCA – All Star Party.” Credit: Glenn Harris / PR Photos
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