Ten years ago Teri Hatcher was just starting her successful flight with the Man of Steel in the hit TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, and was engaged to actor Jon Tenney. Now divorced, she has a six-year-old daughter, Emerson. Oh, and she's also got a leading role in the TV series many say is the next Sex And The City.
Hatcher plays a divorcée and a single mum in Desperate Housewives, but that's as far as the similarity with her character in the series, Susan Mayer, goes.
'We are similar in some ways,' admits Hatcher. 'But I think where we most relate is that I can be incredibly well intended, try very hard to get something right, and it just goes wrong. You know? I'm unlucky that way and I think she's very unlucky.'
The rest of Susan, it seems, is all acting. 'It begins when a hot guy moves in across the street,' Hatcher goes on to explain. 'You know, she's really insecure and shy and she hasn't begun to see how to get a date or go on a date or dress for a date or anything.'
Desperate Housewives has already proved a hit in the States and has taken Hatcher back to prime-time TV for the first time since 1997 when Superman ended and she concentrated on raising her daughter.
The show is described as Sex And The City with a suburban twist. 'It has drama, a lot of heart and some laughs thrown in,' adds Hatcher of the steamy series, which chronicles the ups and downs of several married and divorced domestic divas. Because Desperate Housewives is an ensemble cast, Hatcher has the added bonus of not having to carry the show by herself or endure a gruelling work schedule.
'My daughter just started in first grade and I didn't want her feeling like mommy had disappeared,' says the California-born beauty. 'I feel like I'm a stay-at-home mom, which I was for the five years before this. She's absolutely been my focus. That's the choice I made. Desperate Housewives is perfect for me. I get to go back to work and still be able to take my daughter to school and pick her up.'
