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COVER STORY One last dish with the 'Desperate Housewives' By Jacqueline Cutler © Zap2it secrets, affairs and lies one admits only to closest friends. Through marriages, divorces, births, deaths — accidental and intentional — illnesses, triumphs, children and crimes, one bond remains indestructible: the wom- en's friendship. ABC's "Desperate House- Behind the wisteria lurk the I was terrified (thinking), 'She should have been Bree!' Not only did that go away, actors are dif- ferent. Additionally, I absolutely fell in love with Dana, and she is one of my favorite people ever." Best "Desperate Housewives" quote: "I hope if nothing else it advances the age of the work- ing actress," Cross says of the show's legacy. Longoria as Gaby: Though a wives" comes to what will un- doubtedly be an over-the-top two-hour finale Sunday, May 13. Even as the actresses head into their final weeks after eight sea- sons, they don't know what will happen, but they respect creator Marc Cherry's cloak of secrecy. Three of the four original house- wives — Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria (Teri Hatcher declined to participate) — and Vanessa Williams, who joined two years ago, reflect on the show in long, separate inter- views with Zap2it. Huffman as Lynette: She's the housewife most women relate to. She loves her husband and kids, but they drive her crazy. She's had jobs, but taking care of her family trumped career. Lynette vanquished cancer, and this sea- son saw her separate from Tom (Doug Savant) after 20 years. Reflections on "Desperate shallow narcissist, Gaby is self- aware and a great friend. After her early dalliance with a young- er gardener (Jesse Metcalfe), she has stayed true to Carlos. Reflections on "Desperate Housewives": "It broke the mold for a lot of things," Longoria says. "For dramedies, we were never a comedy, never a drama. We always rode the hyphen. Marcia, Felicity and Teri were over 40 and leads of the show, and for four female leads to be on the No. 1 show in the world said a lot about the movement and progress women have made in television." Little-known tidbit: "Felicity and I both sew in our trailers," Longo- ria says, "and I will miss that." Best "Desperate Housewives" quote: "I am trying to steal my Andy Warhol pictures of Gaby on the wall," Longoria says. Williams as Renee: She has the moxie to take a gun out of Housewives": "I have enjoyed every minute of it," Huffman says. "Just the other night I was talking to Bill (husband William H. Macy) and trying to work on something and said, 'Maybe I can practice doing this better.' It is such a lux- ury to get eight years of acting." Little-known tidbit: "I wanted to play all of the parts," she recalls of reading the pilot. "I wanted to play Gabrielle Solis! I want to be a Latina supermodel. That's the good thing about good writing. Who wouldn't want to play that part?" Marcia Cross stars in "Desperate Housewives," which ends its eight-season run Sunday on ABC. quote: "I can't tell you what a total pleasure and honor it has been to work with Doug Savant for eight years. Eva gets to work with Ricardo (Chavira, as Carlos Solis), Teri got to work with Jamie (Denton, as Mike Delfino), and Marcia got to work with most of the men this side of the Missis- sippi." Best "Desperate Housewives" Bree's hand and talk about be- ing beautiful with Gaby. Renee, rich from her divorce, used her money to help her beau, Ben (Charles Mesure). Reflections on "Desperate Cross as Bree: With her mani- cured gardens, twin sets and pearls, Bree seems unflappable. She made and lost a huge busi- ness based on her recipes and has gone through a couple of husbands, and this season alone, many men. Reflections on "Desperate Housewives": "Some of her is based on his mother," Cross says of Cherry's mom. "At some point a penny dropped — it is not just his mother — it is him! And what I mean about that, in spite of all of the craziness in the press, in my eight years with Marc, he is never anything but pleasant. That is something that he lives by." Little-known tidbit: Though Money tied up in old furniture? Sell it in the Classifieds!!! Cherry initially wanted Dana Delany as Bree, she turned down the role. "I knew her vaguely socially, and she came to work on the show," Cross says. "At first 855-5898 1 x 5.5" ad Expressions North 2 – MAY 13 - 19, 2012 – BRAINERD, MN/DISPATCH Housewives": "One of the great- est compliments has been most fans think I should have been there from the beginning, and just consider me one of the cast," Williams says. Little-known tidbit: "I have gone to Felicity Huffman's game night, and she plays a mean run- ning charades. Marcia singing Rihanna's 'What's My Name?' in her gardening gloves and twin set. Eva is always dragging you to some crazy thing. Once she filmed us dancing to 'I Like Big Butts' — me, her and Felicity. Teri invited me to two of her Hal- loween parties. She just had a 'Chopped' thing at her house" Best "Desperate Housewives" quote: "This is the easiest gig in the world. I work maybe two days a week. It is an ensemble show. They greet you at the door with my chai soy latte. I could not get taken care of any better than that. I have a fantastic trailer that Dana Delany tricked out, and all of my kids moved out to L.A., so I will miss the whole machine." 1 x 4" ad Tender Care Nursing 2 x 4" ad Crosslake Drug

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