'Bebe' seeking new identity 'Desperate'ly
Ex-'Frasier' agent says she's clueless about her role in the hit mystery-soap.
By Ann Oldenberg
USA Today
January 11, 2005
Harriet Sansom Harris, who recently joined the cast of
"Desperate Housewives" as Mrs. Huber's sister,
has no idea where the plot of ABC's hit mystery-soap is
headed.
The actress who may be most recognized as Bebe Glazer, the
agent on "Frasier," made her first appearance on
the show Sunday playing Felicia Tilman, who arrived just
as Edie was organizing a search for the missing Martha Huber.
"I can't even necessarily tell you what I'll be doing
in the broadest possible strokes," says Harris, a
veteran of Broadway and TV.
"I'm still waiting to find out who I am, what kind of
personality I am."
She already has shot two episodes.
But she doesn't yet know where she's from or whether she has
children or whom her character "voted for in the last
election," she says, laughing.
"Normally, you read the thing and think, 'Am I right
for this?' It was really a step that was bypassed."
Harris had worked with "Housewives" creator Marc
Cherry years earlier, on "The Five Mrs. Buchanans."
The 1994 comedy series was about four women who share a
meddling, manipulative mother-in-law. Harris was a Mrs.
Buchanan; Cherry was an executive producer.
As luck would have it, just as Harris got the call about
"Desperate Housewives," she also was offered a
role in a play in London.
It was a tough decision. "I couldn't do both. It was
an either/or thing." So she decided she'd rather be
closer to home in Los Angeles and be part of "a phenomenon."
Wisteria Lane, she says, is like a fairytale place.
"That street -- the first time I drove up to the set,
I thought, 'This is ridiculous. It really is like giant
dollhouses, and we're the dolls.' "
And they're being manipulated by unseen hands.
"As far as I know, I'm there through the rest of the
season. But I don't know. It's like turning over an 8-ball."
© USA Today 2004. All Rights Reserved.
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