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by Scott Juba Published: October 20, 2004
In its first three weeks on the air, “Desperate Housewives” has emerged as the top rated new show of the season, enhancing ABC’s already strong fall lineup. James Denton, one of the show’s cast members, isn’t surprised by the success of the series or the overall strength of ABC’s programming schedule. “I give ABC a lot of credit,” he tells me. “I believe in Steve McPherson, who took over ABC. I think he’s got a great idea of where he wants the network to go.”On “Desperate Housewives”, Denton stars as a plumber who has just moved into the neighborhood and quickly draws the attention of the two single women on the block. “The show is really hard to put in a box,” he says, “because there’s really nothing else on like it. It’s most often compared to the movie ‘American Beauty’, because the neighborhood seems sort of idyllic and normal and then you get into the dark, ugly stuff in people’s families and personalities. The biggest difference is, Desperate Housewives is really funny, because Mark Cherry, the creator, is a really great comedy writer.” “My character is the only single guy in the show,” Denton explains. “As an actor, when you get a script called Desperate Housewives and they ask you if you want to audition, you start thumbing through to see if there’s a single guy, because you know he gets lucky [laughs].” Acting on a successful television show is nothing new for Denton. He has made numerous guest starring appearances on some of TV’s most acclaimed shows, including “Jag”, “The West Wing”, and “Ally McBeal”. “The best experience was probably The West Wing,” he tells me. “Working with Rob Lowe was a lot of fun. He was very professional and really prepared. The West Wing was at the height of its popularity at the time. It was just such a great fun set to be on and watch those other actors work.” Denton also starred as the sociopath, Mr. Lyle, on the popular NBC drama, “The Pretender”. Portraying a calculating killer was a distinct change of pace for Denton, but the show’s tongue-in-cheek nature made the subject matter easier to prepare for. “Luckily the show wasn’t really heavy,” Denton comments, “so it wasn’t as tough an acting job as it might be to play that role in a film. The Pretender was just a great job, because it was such a great cast. We were like a family, and we really hated to see that one go. I obviously thought Mr. Lyle was the best role in the show, because he was so audacious in what he would do.” While all of Denton’s projects have not enjoyed longevity, his talent as an actor has always led him to one quality role after another. “You just assume or hope or trust that you’re good enough at what you do that’ll you continue to work and that there will be another job,” Denton says, “because obviously there are no guarantees. I still treat every job as if I might never get hired again as far as the way I save money and live really modestly.” Denton’s solid foundation as an actor can be traced to his extensive background in theatre. “Real acting is realistic no matter what the medium,” he says. “I think theatre helped, only because it was acting experience. I got to work with a lot of directors. I never had any classes or went to theatre school like a lot of actors, so all of my training has been on stage with different directors. That was a pretty good school room.” With the Presidential election looming, Denton describes himself as a “political junkie” and claims to be addicted to the election coverage of the cable news networks. “In this case, I can’t imagine sending the rest of the world the message that we’re okay with what’s been going on,” he comments. “I think it’s important that the rest of the world know that we’re not all the same and that we don’t all have the sort of arrogance it feels like they’re perceiving from our leaders. It’s not that I’m particularly anti-Bush or pro-Kerry. It’s just that it’s time for big changes. I think it’s a real critical time for our country. I wish John Edwards were running for President.” Speaking with Denton is starkly different from conversations with many other Hollywood celebrities. Although his knowledge of the industry is impressive, his outlook on life remains strongly rooted in a far more important area, his family. With his wife out of the house and having just put his son down for a nap, he jokes about playing “Mr. Mom” and talks of his newfound respect for stay at home moms. For a successful actor to be happily grounded in the most basic aspects of family life is a fitting portrait of his class and character. On The Web Official Site Sir Linksalot.net | Ultimate Desperate Housewives |
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