Now that ‘Desperate Housewives’ has rejuvenated her television career, Emmy-winning actress Dana Delany will be starring in the new ABC procedural drama ‘Body of Proof’, which promises to be one of the top contenders of the fall season.

In the series, she plays neurosurgeon-turned-medical examiner Dr. Megan Hunt, a charming yet snarky individual who she likens herself to be the female version of House. The dramatic pilot balances her professional cases with her private travails, including reconnecting with her estranged daughter.

But does this dynamic role mean the end of her run on ‘Desperate Housewives’? At the end of last season, Katherine Mayfair (Delany) and reformed stripper Robin Gallagher (Julie Benz) were off to Paris for a romantic vacation. Since Delany and Benz both have new ABC series in the fall, their characters’ fates are up in the air.

With burning questions in hand, TV Squad caught up with Delany at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival to get the lowdown on her new show and her possible ‘Housewives’ future.

With ‘Desperate Housewives’ you have thrived in an ensemble setting. Do you feel more pressure now that ‘Body of Proof’ is going to be centered on you?
It will be different. I have to say that ‘Housewives’ is the easiest job in the world because there are so many great actresses on it, and you only work two or three days a week. It’s so well-produced, and this is a whole new gamble. I don’t know how it’s going to be. We’re shooting in Rhode Island, so it’s going to be a challenge to uproot my life to shoot there in Providence. [Editor's note: The show is set in Philadelphia.] It’s going to be a whole new thing — new writers, new cast, new character.

The pilot is engaging because your character combines a bit of Katherine Mayfair and a bit of ['China Beach' protagonist] Colleen McMurphy.
That’s a good comparison.

Are you channeling some of your past roles into this? Or are you totally looking at in a completely different way?
I’m looking at it in a new way, but I’m me, I’m not Meryl Streep. [laughs] She’s the one who can transform herself.

What really drew you to ‘Body of Proof’?
It’s a very well-written, and it’s a great character. She’s complex, she’s strong, she’s smart, you don’t always like her. I like playing characters that are little complicated and that you don’t necessarily like at first, then you grow to appreciate them. I don’t worry about being liked. I like to be more challenged than that.

For you, in what ways is this different than other medical dramas?
I think ABC always wanted to have a procedural because they’ve done so well for CBS. Who would not want to have that? They think of themselves as more of a character network, more character-driven, so this one has a great character, and a lot of stuff is going to be motivated more by the character than the plot.

Does this mean that you’re definitely leaving ‘Desperate Housewives’?
We don’t know. It depends on what happens with this. We’ll know by the ratings. When this got picked up, Marc [Cherry, the showrunner] very nicely sent me a big thing of flowers with a little note that said, “I’ll be here waiting.” So I wrote him back and said, “I like a man who waits.”

How is this new series going to change things? Before ‘Desperate Housewives’ you always enjoyed your life and enjoyed traveling. How have things changed since?
I’m a little tired. I’m a little daunted because I’m not young. After I finish here [in Monte-Carlo], I’m going to the Caribbean for a week, just myself and nobody else, with a stack of books and my new iPad. I’m just going to lie on the beach and read. I’m going to need that because once we start on this it’s be all me and all these medical words that I don’t understand.

Would you have done the same thing six or seven years ago?
Probably not. I think ‘Desperate Housewives’ took me by surprise, how much I enjoyed it. I forgot how much I like doing television and forgot how much I like being part of an ensemble. I just like acting. That’s all. I just really like to act, and it makes me happy.

In the recent past you have talked about wanting to get married, but at the same time you’re not sure if you can find someone who could accept your freewheeling lifestyle. Do you still find it a challenge after all these years to find a relationship with someone who will quite understand your lifestyle?
People think I’m a little odd, especially for a woman. If you’re not married by my age there’s something wrong with you or you’re a lesbian or something. But I think people are coming around to my point of view. I think people are realizing that freedom is so underrated, that you can just do what you want. You can still have relationships, you just make sure that they’re with people who understand that you’re you and they’re them. I have a friend who says that if everybody just did what they wanted it would be a happier place. The key is to be honest about it. You can’t lie about it. I couldn’t pick up right now and go to Providence if I was married. I think Jeri [Ryan, my co-star] is going to have a hard time because she has two kids, and I think she’s freaking out. But I can do that.

Do you think we’ll be seeing more characters like you on television — mature women who are independent and doing what they want?
Obviously, there are great roles for women on television. Glenn Close, Edie Falco and Laura Linney are all [doing] great now. But it’s interesting because I went to this More magazine convention in Chicago, and I think there is a groundswell of women now who realize that marriage isn’t what it’s cracked up to be and are really okay about that. A lot of people are coming up to me saying, “Thank you for saying it’s OK not to get married.” Everyone feels pressure — it’s the urge to merge. You’re told that you should be with somebody.

‘Sex and the City 2′ got trashed by a lot of people. It’s like those women are now being punished for behavior that people liked from them in the past because of their age.
That’s too bad. I haven’t seen the movie. On this show ['Body of Proof'] we are going to have a costume designer who is 74 years old. She showed up at my house dressed in high heels, a skintight white suit with white and blue hair, and her 35-year-old boyfriend dropped her off. I thought, “Ok, that’s still possible.” It’s whatever you want it to be.

Who’s your favorite fashion designer?
Prada. It just fits me well, I think it’s artistic. I appreciate what she does.

Why did you choose the character of Dr. Megan Hunt as your next role?
It chose me. ABC called me and said they’d like me to do this role, and I said, “Don’t I already have a job?” And they said, “Maybe not.” I’m in this maze of life where I want to keep going, so I thought, “All right, why not?”

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Dana Delany has revealed that she would love to create a musical version of Desperate Housewives.

Delany, who played Katherine in the show, explained that she has already pitched the concept to the programme’s creator Marc Cherry.

“The idea struck me when I was watching 8 Women because the film reminded me so much of Desperate Housewives,” she told the Sunday Mail. “So I sent a DVD of the film to Marc. He wasn’t interested but now, of course, the television series Glee has come along, which I love.”

Delany added that she wants Cherry to team up with his friend Stephen Sondheim to create the musical.

“Maybe Marc could even get Sondheim to write the music,” she said. “I’d love to do it, even though I’m not a great singer.”

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I got nothing, Dana PLEASE do this. I’d LOVE to see everybody sing and SHE LOVES GLEE. She’s further cemented in my heart. <3

Well I’ve been checking the emmy ballots that were out last night and, like I predicted, Dana’s gone for both categories this year:

Best Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series – as Katherine Mayfair / Desperate Housewives

Best Guest Actress In A Drama Series – as Special Agent Jordan Shaw / Castle

I’m surprised Castle now counts as a drama when it’s always been a comedy. Also, both Tick Tick Tick and Boom! Have been submited for best writing for Castle.

Contrary to the official update, this was released yesterday:

The producers of “Desperate Housewives” will have quite a few homes to fill after the finale on Sunday, May 16 on ABC.

Susan (played by Teri Hatcher) is putting her house up for rent. Angie (played by Drea de Matteo) and her family are leaving. And, now, it seems another house may get a “for sale” sign. ABC has picked up Dana Delany’s pilot, “Body of Proof.”

When the news broke that Delany had signed on to a pilot, it seemed that she was looking for a new opportunity. Executive producer, Bob Daily, told Zap2it exclusively that as far as he knows, that wasn’t true.

“Actually, ABC approached her,” Daily tells us. “She actually went back and forth as to whether she should move on. I think she was having just so much fun on the show, but ABC really wanted her to do this pilot. And, listen, Dana’s great. She should be the lead in her own series and she has been before – an Emmy-winning lead in ['China Beach'].”

In fact, he says Delany had cold feet about leaving the successful series for a pilot that may or may not leave her unemployed in the end.

“I know that Dana came into us,” Daily explains. “And said, ‘I’m not sure I want to do this.’ That was when [creator Marc Cherry] said to her, ‘If it doesn’t work out, you’ll always have a place here. So, don’t let that cloud your decision.’ ”

Daily says that’s why they chose to keep her character Katherine’s storyline open-ended this season.

Well, Zap2it thinks that’s a no-brainer for the star.

Zap2It

I posted part of this interview already, but here’s the full one.

Playing a woman with marital turmoil is familiar territory for Emmy-winning actress Dana Delany. On the TV series “Desperate Housewives,” she was Katherine Mayfair, who had her share of drama and surprises in her love life. In the independent dramedy film “Multiple Sarcasms” (set in New York City in 1979), Delany is a wife and mother named Annie Richmond, who is also dealing with an unsteady marriage, but her marital problems are more subtle than what viewers might see on “Desperate Housewives.”

Annie’s husband, Gabriel (played by Timothy Hutton), is an architect facing a mid-life crisis as he works on a semi-autobiographical play. As Gabriel tries to avoid his day job as much as possible, working on his play makes him realize his true feelings for wife and his best friend, Cari (played by Mira Sorvino), and how those feelings might affect their relationships with each other and with Gabriel and Annie’s only child, Elizabeth (played by India Ennenga). At the New York City press junket for “Multiple Sarcasms,” I sat down with Delany, who talked about her recent roles that explore marital difficulties, what she thinks of the real-life scandalous “Desperate Housewives” lawsuit, and what she would be doing with her ife if she weren’t an actress.

(more…)

The lady decided to share some new info about the upcoming weeks!

“I will be in Chicago on the 17th. And then I’m off to Europe for the Monte Carlo Television Festival and press in London. I’m planning on making a stop in Paris also with my sister. Then a vacation just for me on a beach somewhere with a lot of good books. I need it! By the way, I spent my first night in the New York apartment and I love it!”

Now time to explain why she’ll be at each place:

Chicago, 17th May: More Magazine event.

6 – 10 June: Monte Carlo Television Festival. She was there in 2008 and I swear I almost died every single day. She’s going to be there to represent Desperate Housewives, but you see… Castle’s also gonna be represented by Nathan Fillion – reunion anyone?! – AND! Dexter will be represented by Julie Benz, too! Anyone follows my traint hought here or am I alone?!

Now the London press bit is something that caught me off guard so I have no idea what that will be for, maybe to promote DH some more, or Multiple Sarcasms opening there or to promote Body Of Proof if it’s picked up.

Dana Delany’s kooky and entirely crazy ‘Desperate Housewives’ character, Katherine Mayfair, may currently be ensconced in France with her new lesbian lover, but we may not have seen the last of her. Delany is waiting to find out if her new show, ‘Body of Proof,’ will be picked up, but she isn’t closing any doors to Wisteria Lane. PopEater caught up with Delany to chat about ‘Housewives,’ as well as the ‘Body’ pilot and her new movie, ‘Multiple Sarcasms’ with Timothy Hutton, where she gets the chance to act like a grownup while the men behave badly … quite the role reversal.

In ‘Multiple Sarcasms’ Timothy Hutton plays your hubby, who is going through a midlife crisis. That had to be a switch for you, allowing someone else to bring the crazy for once.
Yes, on ‘Desperate Housewives’ it is the women who behave more like children, and we’re the ones who are having the midlife crisis.

Timothy’s character in the movie is trying to find himself. Don’t you think it’s a pain for women to constantly deal with men who can’t just grow up?
It’s the classic thing that women constantly have to play the mommy. I don’t want to be in that role in a relationship. The minute I become someone’s mother in a relationship, it becomes so unsexy to me.
Why did you choose to do ‘Multiple Sarcasms’?
A lot of it had to do with Timothy. He called me and said there is a script you just have to read. I grew up in the seventies and this script has that kind of feel to it. It was a film about human beings that was both dramatic and funny.

What can we as concerned citizens do to eradicate this epidemic of toxic man-boy syndrome?
It is what happens in real life. I’m not a mother, but I would urge all mothers to raise their sons differently and tell them they need to take responsibility for their actions.

Your character Katherine has gone crazy on ‘Desperate Housewives’ and headed off to Paris with her lesbian stripper lover (that’s a mouthful). Is she gone for good? That will make us sad.
I just finished a new pilot for ABC, so I’m waiting to hear whether or not I’ll be doing my own show. It’s very different. Very different. I’d be playing a medical examiner. But there is always the opportunity of bringing Katherine back, and Mark Cherry has been really open to the idea. It would be great have her come back at some point as a changed person.

You play crazy so well on ‘Housewives.’ Is there a trick to getting crazy just right?
I do go looney toons. The trick is to keep is real. The danger would be playing to the snake pit, because then you lose the audience’s sympathy. The second you go too Joan Crawford they stop relating. I wanted women viewers to realize that any woman could be Katherine, given the circumstances.

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Dana Delany has revealed the current season of Desperate Housewives will end with plenty of drama for Lynette.

Fresh from the final day of shooting, Dana – who plays Wisteria Lane’s Katherine Mayfair – hinted Felicity Huffman’s character features prominently in the last episode.

She said: “I just came to visit because it was the last day. Felicity was in the last [episode] – it was a very dramatic scene and I tell you she did an excellent job.”

Speaking at the LA premiere of her new movie Multiple Sarcasms, the actress also revealed how John Barrowman is fitting in on the show.

She laughed: “I met him in the trailer yesterday – I’d never met him before. He is funny, he is irreverent and, oh my God, the stuff coming out his mouth! I just met him and I was like ‘who is this guy?’ – he’s great!”

She went on: “We tend to say that the men are the beta males on the set – the women are definitely in charge.”

Dana admitted she wasn’t sure if she would be returning next season.

“I find out in two weeks whether I have a new show or not,” she explained. “It’s called Body Of Proof. I think it’s pretty good, we’ll see. Otherwise I’ll be happy to be back on Desperate Housewives.”

So there we go, BOE is finally BOP – kind of lame title to me, I liked more BOE even if it had to be changed, or even M.E. more but oh well. Now let’s see if it gets picked up or not!