'Housewives' Hunk Happy to Be a Hit
(Sunday, January 30 12:07 AM)
By John Crook
ABC's Sunday smash "Desperate Housewives" has emerged as
one of the TV season's bona fide phenomena, a bracingly original
water-cooler show that has been embraced by critics and viewers
across the country.
All the ensuing hoopla is great fun, says "Desperate"
cast member James Denton, but it pales next to something else every
actor craves -- job security.
"To tell the truth, it's more relief than anything else,"
says the 42-year-old actor, who plays hunky Wisteria Lane plumber
Mike Delfino on the tongue-in-cheek soap. "I've been on so many
shows that were always 'on the bubble,' where you're constantly
looking over your shoulder, waiting for the suits to arrive on the
set and pull the plug.
"'Desperate Housewives' is a whole different paranoia for the
actors: Everybody is scared they're going to get killed off, which
is kind of different. Otherwise, it's just nice to go to work knowing
that the network is behind us 200 percent."
So far, only one prominent character -- Martha Huber, the neighborhood
busybody played by Christine Estabrook -- has actually met her maker
on the show. This is not counting Mary Alice Young (Brenda Strong),
whose startling suicide launched the show with such a literal bang
last fall.
While there's a distinct undercurrent of menace and possible violence
to the series, however, Denton is optimistic that Mike is going to be
around for a while. For one thing, his romance with neighbor Susan
Mayer (Teri Hatcher) is a front-burner story line. For another --
well, series creator Marc Cherry finally told him what's in store
for Mike.
"For a long time, Marc resisted telling us what was going to
be happening with our characters, partly because he didn't want us
to feel awkward in interviews where we couldn't reveal certain things,"
Denton says. "But a couple of situations have come up in Mike's story
where I needed to know some things that haven't been revealed to the
audience or the other characters, so Marc finally just sat down and
told me everything."
Denton doesn't want to spoil any surprises, but he's willing to clarify
some important plot points. For example, Mike really is a plumber,
although viewers will soon discover that he does have a somewhat darker
side in upcoming episodes.
"When they aired the pilot, which ended showing Mike with a gun
and having a questionable phone call, a lot of viewers understandably
jumped to the conclusion that he was a cop or an FBI man or something,"
Denton says. "That's what I love about Marc Cherry's sense of humor.
Nope, Mike's just a plumber with a gun."
He also has some surprises due to unfold any week now, the actor adds.
"There are a couple of huge bombs to be dropped about Mike and
the big story line about Mary Alice's suicide, although I'm not going
to say they're connected," Denton says. "I was happy to hear
that, because any time you have an audience going along for the ride
with you, you want them to be satisfied, so you don't want the payoff
to be: 'I was in the shower all year.' No, this payoff is very smart,
and I think everyone will be well-satisfied."
He's also grateful to add some new layers to his character, who has
been Susan's knight in shining armor in many respects. That may win
him sighs from female viewers, but bland niceness doesn't give an actor
a lot to sink his teeth into.
"It's actually kind of interesting, this delicate balance we have
to maintain, because you want Mike to be edgy enough to be interesting,
but he also has to be a good enough person that the audience wants him
and Susan to end up together."
Don't look for their romance to get smoother anytime soon.
"We had thought the triangle, which includes Nicolette Sheridan's
Edie, had pretty much played itself out, but that hasn't proven to be
the case, which is great because Nicolette is so much fun to work with,"
Denton says. "That leaves us free to play with the TV convention of
bringing Mike and Susan together, then breaking us up, then bringing
us back together."
Denton's amorous exploits with television's housewives aren't limited
to his ABC gig, either. On Friday, Feb. 4, he guest stars on The WB
sitcom "Reba," playing a marriage counselor who gets the
title character (Reba McEntire) and her nemesis, Barbra Jean (Melissa
Peterman), in a romantic lather.
He agreed to the gig largely because "Reba" executive producer
Kevin Abbott hired Denton for one of his first major Hollywood gigs: a
busted 1998 sitcom pilot.
"When Kevin asked me if I would be interested, I jumped at it,
because I love him and I'm a big fan of Reba's, being a Nashville kid,"
says Denton, a native of the Tennessee capital. "I had an episode off
[on 'Housewives'], so the timing, everything, was right.
"We had a lot of fun, and I look forward to seeing it," he adds.
"Reba is just very good, naturally. But then, all those actors are
just fantastic. It's a real shame that show doesn't get more promotion,
because those actors are doing some really good work. I had a great time
with them."
Otherwise, Denton is enjoying the fact that the large cast on
"Housewives" means that even a major player like him gets
ample time off to spend with wife Erin and their son, Sheppard, who turned
2 in March, the same month they await the birth of a daughter.
"And that will be it for us," he says. "We're really
fortunate in that we were hoping to have one of each, and our family
will be complete in March. With 10 series regulars and so many story
lines, this show is just a perfect scenario when raising kids."
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