Everybody has some dirty laundry, especially America’s favorite housewives — Susan Mayer, Lynette Scavo, Bree van de Kamp and Gabrielle Solis who have the whole world talking about the dark and delicious secrets of Wisteria Lane. With the arrival of Season Two of Desperate Housewives on Showtime from May 1st every Monday at
20:00 KSA, we caught up with Emmy and Golden Globe award winner and Oscar nominee Felicity Huffman.
How does it feel to be nominated for an Oscar?
Fantastic. It feels like a dream come true. This whole year has felt phenomenal. “It’s a dream come true.” And in acting how often does that happen? You get the stuffing knocked out of you a bunch of times and you are like, “I would just like a job.” So it feels unbelievable.
Do you think you would have handled all this fame differently if it had happened 10 or 15 years ago?
Yes. Well, on several levels, the first is gratitude. After you’ve failed many, many, many times, when you succeed it’s not only sweeter but you are aware of how grateful you are and not just as a concept but in a deep seated way.
Have you been inundated with loads of offers since your nomination?
I got my first offer two days ago which was a thrill.
Last year you told us nobody recognizes you on the street. Nowadays after all the prizes and the nominations do people stop you?
Yes, it used to happen sort of in little dribbles when someone would recognize me but they were unsure where from!
And are you enjoying all the extra attention?
Well, it hasn’t happened to the extent that it has with the other women in “Desperate Housewives” who really do get hounded and followed. They get photographed going to the coffee store; people go through their garbage, that hasn’t happened to me. One day I went out and I thought this feels different. So it’s not a question of whether I like it or not, it is more of a question of I’m a working actor, I have a job, and I have a job for maybe a couple of years with “Desperate Housewives”.
Fans love Huffman’s portrayal of a haggard housewife with four kids under six. Do you have much feedback?
They tell me how glad they are because (their life is like Lynette’s) and the difficulties, the rigors, the horrors of motherhood — they haven’t been portrayed before. You’re not allowed to talk about that. If you say how bored you are with giving the kids a bath every night, you immediately have to follow it up with how much you love them and how great they are. I mean, even saying ‘the horrors of motherhood’, you can feel people going, ‘you’re not supposed to put those words together’.”
Are you enjoying the second season because your character is so different from season one, a stay at home mum and now a working mum?
I feel like the voice of a mother staying home needed to be said at least for me I’m really glad it was out there. And after a year kind of going, I’m losing my mind and you sort of go “next.” And I think there are a lot of working mothers out there and I think that is a viable story and a fertile story. And the fact that my husband is staying at home now I think is right for investigation for comedy and drama. So I really like it. Last year I was wearing grubby clothes which were really loose so that’s not my most favorite thing. I loved the story lines last year. I love the story lines this year.
You are a working mum, how do you manage to juggle kids, work, and home?
I struggle. I mean it has been pretty tough even now that I’m working, Bill (William H Macy) is not. I work maybe two or three days on “Desperate Housewives” and those are the days he might be writing, we have been able to flip it pretty well. There has never been a time when we are both working a lot and that’s just the luck of the draw. We kind of figure it out.
How do you feel with the kind of pressure that goes on with actors and their weight?
I think it is tough. We have to take responsibility as a community, it can’t just be magazines or men or certain types of women, it is a universal kind of responsibility but any time someone says, there is a small band and you have to fit inside that band I think it causes great pain and struggling. Whether you’re trying to be a size six or whether you are gay you experience a feeling that “I don’t fit in” and “what I’m doing isn’t working” and “I am below par.”
You are very open about not feeling terribly confident about your looks, has the success of the show made you feel better?
You know I’ve made peace with it. And, you know, I’m working with these world class beauties so I can’t say that there aren’t times when I go “Wow, God, Marcia.” She is just so beautiful and perfect little Eva and Nicollette. I remember when we first did the photo shoots to promote the show and everyone lined up and the media would come and take pictures with you. And they were taking pictures of the beautiful Teri and Nicollette. And the first hour I was like, “This is so funny nobody wants to take a picture of me.” And then the second hour my nose was a little out of joint and my ego was like, “This sucks.” And then by my third hour I was like, “I hate this.” And then I called my husband from the limo crying. And he went “What?” “What?” I went, “I am the oldest and the ugliest one here.” And he said this, which I loved him for it, “Aweh, baby, I’m always the oldest and the ugliest one on the set. And it is only going to get worse.” I just loved him for it.
Do you relate to Lynette?
Lynette is close to me. That’s probably why I was cast. I walked in for the audition, it was 6 at night, my kids were in the bath when I left; they were crying; it’s raining; I’m exhausted. And I came in and I went: “What?” I’m not saying that all mothers feel this way. I know there are some that sail through it and god bless them. But yes, I find motherhood incredibly challenging and difficult — and those words are anemic compared to the experience.
So many people think you are just like Lynette because you play her so well, but you’ve said you’re very different. What is the difference between your parenting skills and Lynette’s?
Well, for one thing, I would have raised my hand and called “Uncle” looooooonng before Lynette did. I would have said I need help. “We either have to move your mother here, or move my mother here and you cannot work as much.” The other thing is, Lynette fudges the truth to her kids, but I wouldn’t.
Do you find yourself torn about leaving your kids the way working mothers often are?
I started out a guilty mother because I was sure I was a terrible one. So any instinct I had I was like, “That’s a terrible instinct! I only work two or three days a week. The exceptional week is four days. So you know, no. Work is a piece of cake compared to raising children. Are you kidding? You get to go to the set and people go: “Would you like a breakfast burrito?”
You’ve been playing Lynette for close to two seasons now. Which other “Desperate Housewives” character would you have liked to have taken a shot at playing?
I’d love to play Marcia Cross’s character. I mean, nobody could do it as well as Marcia, so I wouldn’t want to ever follow her because it would be impossible because she’s... she’s just brilliant. But I think it’s a great character.
