Desperate House wive's Cast and Characters
Cast and characters
During its premiere season the show featured thirteen starring actors, all credited in the opening sequence. For the show’s second year, several actors, mainly child and teenage ones, who had guest starred during the first season, were promoted to series regulars without having their names included in the opening sequence. Instead they were billed as “also starring” during the first minutes of each episode, together with episode guest stars. This practice continued for season three and four.
The thirteen starring actors for season one included four leading actresses: Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, a divorced mother with a sense for humor for drama and in search of love; Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, a former businesswoman turned stressed out stay-at-home mother of four; Marcia Cross as Bree Van de Kamp, the seemingly perfect mother struggling to save her marriage; and Eva Longoria Parker as Gabrielle Solis, an ex-model whose unhappy marriage has had her beginning an affair with her 17-year-old gardener. Furthermore, Nicollette Sheridan played Edie Britt, Susan’s arch rival, described by her as “the neighborhood slut”, who since then slowly had grown to become somewhat of a fifth lead until Episode 5.23. Steven Culp played Rex Van de Kamp, Bree’s frustrated husband with secret sexual desires, while Ricardo Antonio Chavira portrayed Gabrielle’s spouse Carlos Solis, a rough business man who regarded his wife mainly as a trophy, and James Denton acted as Mike Delfino, the mysterious new neighbor who becomes Susan’s love interest. Brenda Strong portrayed the show’s narrator Mary Alice Young, who generally doesn’t appear in front of the camera, and whose unexpected suicide in the first episode remained a mystery throughout season one. Mark Moses played Paul Young, Mary Alice's widower, who went to extremes not to have the reason for his wife’s suicide revealed, and Cody Kasch acted as Zach Young, the troubled teenage son of Paul and Mary Alice, who eventually turned out to be Mike's biological son. Finally, Andrea Bowen took the part of Susan’s caring and kind-hearted teenage daughter Julie Mayer, and Jesse Metcalfe played John Rowland, Gabrielle’s teenage gardener/lover.
For the second season, Culp and Metcalfe left as show regulars, as Rex died from a heart attack and Gabrielle had ended her relationship with John. Several actors who had appeared as guest stars during the entire run of the first season were promoted to regulars for the second year, including Doug Savant as Tom Scavo, Lynette’s husband who for the second season quit his job determined to become a stay-at-home dad; Brent Kinsman, Shane Kinsman and Zane Huett as Preston, Porter and Parker Scavo, Lynette and Tom's rascal boys; Shawn Pyfrom as Bree’s complicated gay son Andrew Van de Kamp; and Joy Lauren as Danielle Van de Kamp, Andrew's hardheaded sister. Alfre Woodard and Mehcad Brooks joined the cast as Betty Applewhite and her son Matthew, who moved to the street in the middle of the night in order for the neighbors not to discover that they had Betty's other son Caleb – originally played by Page Kennedy, but soon replaced by NaShawn Kearse – locked up in the basement. Also joining the main cast for the second season, after guest starring in a few season one episodes, were Richard Burgi as Karl Mayer, Susan's ex-husband who becomes engaged to Edie, and Roger Bart as George Williams, Bree's pharmacist, and later obsessed fiancé, who had caused Rex's death. Bart, however, left the show mid-season, due to the suicide of George.
As the Applewhite mystery was solved in the second season finale, Woodard, Brooks and Kearse all had left the show when the third season began, as had Mark Moses, as Paul was framed for murder and incarcerated; Cody Kasch, due to Zach's becoming a millionaire after causing his ill biological grandfather to die and thereby inheriting his entire fortune; and Richard Burgi, following Karl being dumped by both Susan and Edie. Two additions were made to the main cast for season three: Kyle MacLachlan as Orson Hodge, who marries Bree and whose dark family history serves as the main mystery for most of the season, and Josh Henderson, playing Edie's bad boy nephew Austin McCann, who starts a relationship with Julie, but ends up getting Danielle pregnant and left the series mid-season.
For the fourth season, after having appeared as a guest star during season three, Rachel G. Fox was added to the main cast playing Kayla Huntington, Tom's daughter from a previous "one night stand". Also joining the main cast were Dana Delany and Lyndsy Fonseca as Katherine and Dylan Mayfair, a mother and teenage daughter who lived on Wisteria Lane twelve years earlier, but had left the street. Dana Delany's character is married to Dr. Adam Mayfair played by Nathan Fillion. Joining the cast in the fourth episode were Kevin Rahm and Tuc Watkins as a gay couple, Lee McDermott and Bob Hunter, who move in next door to Susan. Actor Gary Cole joined the cast as a recurring character in the eleventh episode and played Wayne Davis, the ex-husband of Katherine Mayfair, Dana Delany's character.
Neal McDonough joined the cast of Desperate Housewives as a series regular in season 5. He is Dave Williams, the new husband of Nicollette Sheridan's character, Edie Britt.Max and Charles Carver have been cast as Porter and Preston Scavo, Joshua Moore as Parker Scavo and Kendall Applegate as Penny Scavo. Gail O'Grady, Peter Onorati and Gale Harold have also been confirmed to join the show as recurring characters.Storylines involving Gale Harold's character needed to be placed on hold after he sustained injuries in a motorcycle accident. Madison De La Garza and Daniella Baltodano also joined the cast as Juanita and Celia Solis, respectively, the young daughters of Carlos and Gabrielle Solis.
The show also features a large number of recurring guest stars, the most prominent being Kathryn Joosten and Pat Crawford Brown as elderly neighbors Karen McCluskey and Ida Greenberg. Others include Christine Estabrook as Martha Huber, blackmailer of Mary Alice Young, sister of Felicia Tilman (Harriet Sansom Harris) and murder victim of Paul Young in season one and one episode of season five, Dougray Scott as Ian Hainsworth, Susan's season three love interest; Harriet Sansom Harris as Felicia Tilman, in search for her sister’s murderer during the first two seasons; Ryan Carnes as Justin, Andrew's boyfriend during season one and two; John Slattery as Victor Lang, former mayor of Fairview and Gabrielle's husband; Bob Gunton as Noah Taylor, the wealthy father of Mike's deceased fiancée and the biological grandfather of Zach, appearing during the first two seasons; and Gail O'Grady as Anne Schilling, a real estate agent who is having an affair with an underage Porter.
Shawn Pyfrom quit his regular role as Andrew Van De Kamp and only makes guest appearances in the current season.
In the show's sixth season, Andrea Bowen re-joined the series' cast as a regular. After appearing as a guest star in the fifth season finale, Maiara Walsh was made regular. Drea de Matteo, Jeffrey Nordling, and Beau Mirchoff joined the cast as Angie, Nick and Danny Bolen, respectively, being the season's mystery. Kathryn Joosten was promoted to a series regular, after being a recurring guest star for five years. Madison De La Garza, who plays Gabrielle's eldest daughter, Juanita, and Mason Vale Cotton, who plays Susan and Mike's son, M.J., were also promoted to regulars. Max Carver wasn't on the show until his character, Preston, returned from an extended trip in Europe with a girlfriend, Irina.
Mark Moses is returning to Desperate Housewives to reprise his role as Paul Young, widower of Mary Alice Young, in the season six finale.
Vanessa L. Williams joined the cast of Desperate Housewives as Renée Perry, an old rival of Lynette's from college.
Kyle MacLachlan is leaving Desperate Housewives.
As of the seventh season Tuc Watkins wıll be upgraded to a series regular.
Maiara Walsh is not returning for the 7th season of Desperate Housewives.
The character of Penny Scavo is being recast.
Harriet Sansom Harris is returning as Paul Young's arch-nemesis, Felicia Tilman.
Brian Austin Green will be a new cast member in the seventh season. The actor will portray Keith, a ladies' man arriving on Wisteria Lane.
Emily Bergl will play Paul Young's new wife, Beth.
Rebecca Creskoff is coming to Desperate Housewives to play Susan Mayer's adversary.
Darcy Rose Byrnes is coming to Desperate Housewives to play Penny Scavo.
Casting
Eva Longoria Parker was the first reported to have landed a starring role, on February 9, 2004, followed by Felicity Huffman (February 10), Teri Hatcher (February 18), James Denton and Ricardo Antonio Chavira (February 26),Marcia Cross (March 1),Sheryl Lee, Mark Moses, and Cody Kasch (March 3), Andrea Bowen and Kyle Searles (March 4), and Michael Reilly Burke (March 8).On May 18, 2004 ABC announced their 2004–2005 lineup, with Desperate Housewives as one of its new shows, starring an ensemble cast of these twelve names.
On July 2, after having shot the first pilot, ABC announced that Lee, Searles and Burke were to be replaced by Brenda Strong, Jesse Metcalfe and Steven Culp, respectively. While Lee was turned down after producers rethought the character of Mary Alice,Searles was replaced because of the lack of chemistry between him and his onscreen lover, Eva Longoria. Steven Culp had been the producer's first choice for the part as Rex Van de Kamp, but as he had missed a meeting with the ABC executive to complete shooting for another television show, Star Trek: Enterprise, the part had been offered to Burke instead. After the original pilot was filmed, Culp was off the Enterprise cast, and when asked again Culp accepted the part, and Burke was let go.