Teri's take on the desperadoes
|
Teri Hatcher talks about her role in the popular American soap "Desperate Housewives" which is all set to start this Friday.
|
THE `HOUSEWIFE' Teri Hatcher who plays Susan Mayer.
After a six-year hiatus from series television, actress Teri Hatcher returns in "Desperate Housewives", to be shown on Star World from this Friday at 10 p.m. Best known as Lois Lane in the 1994-1997 ABC series "Lois & Clark", she plays in the serial, Susan Mayer, a single mom struggling to find love while living in a troubled suburban neighbourhood. Hatcher finds a comfortable connection to her new character, as she is also a single mom to her six-year old daughter, Emerson.
"We are similar in some ways," admits Hatcher about her role in the series which has just finished its first season in America successfully. "But I think where we most relate is that I can be incredibly well intended, try very hard to get something right, and it just goes wrong. I'm unlucky that way and I think she's very unlucky. `Desperate Housewives' is perfect for me. I get to go back to work and still be able to take my daughter to school and pick her up."
The rest of Susan, it seems, is all acting. "It begins when a hot guy moves in across the street," Hatcher goes on to explain. "You know, she's really insecure and shy and she hasn't begun to see how to get a date or go on a date or dress for a date or anything."
"Desperate Housewives" has already proved a hit in the United States and has taken Hatcher back to prime-time TV for the first time since 1997 when "Superman" ended and she concentrated on raising her daughter. The show is described as "Sex And The City" with a suburban twist.
"It has drama, a lot of heart and some laughs thrown in," adds Hatcher of the steamy series, which chronicles the ups and downs of several married and divorced domestic divas. Because "Desperate Housewives" is an ensemble cast, Hatcher has the added bonus of not having to carry the show by herself or endure a gruelling work schedule.
"My daughter just started in first grade and I didn't want her feeling like mommy had disappeared. I feel like I'm a stay-at-home mom, which I was for the five years before this. She's absolutely been my focus. That's the choice I made. `Desperate Housewives' is perfect for me. I get to go back to work and still be able to take my daughter to school and pick her up."
Path to stardom
The daughter of a nuclear scientist and his computer-programmer wife, Hatcher could have applied herself to almost any occupation involving science. At college in Cupertino, California, the young Hatcher found time in between studying mathematics and engineering to captain the cheerleaders. Her path to stardom only really became clear when she accompanied a friend to an audition as moral support, only to land the part herself. Fed up with playing airhead bimbos, Hatcher auditioned for the role of the sassy and strong Lois Lane in a TV "Superman" series.
"I'll be forever grateful for Lois Lane," says Hatcher, recalling her big break. Among the many highlights of Hatcher's career is a turn hosting "Saturday Night Live" that had USA Today commenting, "She gives one of the best and most energetic performances by a good-sport host in a long time." What's more, the sketches she did with Molly Shannon, David Spade and Chris Kattan have become part of SNL's Best Of. Other favourite roles include that of Sally Bowles in the national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical "Cabaret" and the many opportunities Off-Broadway and around the globe to talk about and examine her own issues through her performance in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. Of all her film credits, Hatcher still considers the first movie she ever made - "The Big Picture", directed by Christopher Guest - to be her favourite. Other movies that followed were "Soapdish", with Kevin Kline, "Two Days in the Valley", "Spy Kids", directed by Roberto Rodriguez, and a turn as a "Bond" girl in "Tomorrow Never Dies", opposite Pierce Brosnan. Nor will anyone ever forget the line she made famous in Seinfeld, which was, of course, "They're real - and they're spectacular."
Hatcher was honoured with the 1996 "Spirit of Compassion Award" for her generous support of the Aviva Center, which provides services to sexually and physically-abused adolescents. She has been a strong supporter of AIDS Walk Los Angeles and New York, and very active in the battle against breast cancer. Among her pop culture honours, Hatcher has topped Best Dressed lists around the world and was voted E! Entertainment Television's
"Best Dressed Woman of 1996." She has also been honoured by the Hollywood Women's Press Club as "Discovery of the Year," but this year she looks forward to being re-discovered in the role of Susan Mayer. It's a role that's taken her years to be ready for, and one that will offer viewers a "surprising" and new turn from this well known and talented actress.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
