Kind of ruined Susan for me. I loved her when I watched this in my teens, when I didn't know she was so disliked by the other ladies. Now when I rewatch it I cant really let that go and I see her character less likeable than the first time around.
I think that was the case for many people with Marissa in The OC. She wasn't a bad character but she got a lot of hate cause of Mischa being a b****.
Why do you believe it's true?
shareI don't say that I believe it's true. I'm saying that they still made some impact on me even though I don't want them to.
shareThat is unfortunate if you are so easily influenced by rumors you can't enjoy a character. Lots of actors are truly questionable people (instead of just here where it's possibly true but maybe not) but you should be able to separate the two and enjoy a fictional character without the baggage of the person portraying them.
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Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that I'll be over here looking through your stuff.
Of course, I agree, and I've always been able to separate the fictional char from the actor/tress. For example, as I mentioned in my OP, I've never thought of Marissa in OC as a b*tch even though Mischa is considered to be one.
So what I meant in this case is that it kind of shined through Susan. Teri didn't do a good acting job to make me able to separate it as I can in other situaions.
Kind of ruined Susan for me.
She was just a stick staring into space during her scenes. There was very little acting from her.
Teri's acting was completely different in seasons 7 and 8 compared to seasons 1 - 6. Seasons 1 thru 6 Teri put a lot of effort and life into her scenes. She was very enjoyable during her comedy scenes. Once season 7 started it was slowly drifting to where in season 8, she just looked bored in her scenes. There was a dramatic change in Teri's acting in season 8. I don't know if it was the type of storyline they were doing because of what happened with her uncle, but she does not look or act the same like she did the first 6 years of the show.
shareWhat happened to her uncle?
shareWhat happened to her uncle?]I believe the poster is referring to the fact that Teri's uncle sexually abused her in her childhood (and at least one other girl), and how Susan's character deals with that material in Season 8. I personally don't think that would have affected her acting, at least not for the worst. I'm sure she was supportive of the storyline; they wouldn't have done it if she were that uncomfortable with doing the work.
Yes, I was referring to her own history of being molested as a child. She spoke out at her uncle's trial where he was sentenced to prison. Her real life story is completely different than how her character handled a murder of a child molester.
What I did notice, however, is that in the later seasons, it seemed like Susan was largely isolated from the other women and would generally have more solo scenes whereas the other women interacted more. That, to me, was a good indication the rumors of the women not getting along with her had a little truth to them.
You reminded me of what Shannen did on Charmed when she was fighting with Alyssa. Shannen's last two episodes had her isolated from Alyssa to the point where Shannen's character was a dog in one of the episodes. They got creative finding ways to keep peace. I never would have thought about that with Susan's scenes where she's away from the girls. That's a good point you brought up though and now I wonder if that's why. She did have a lot of small storylines in the last two seasons that didn't involve the other housewives now that I think about it.Shannen was also isolated from the rest of the cast during her last season on 90210. Albeit it was to a lesser degree, but they wrote storylines for her character that alienated her from the friend group.
Charmed never came up with reasons to isolate Doherty and Milano. In fact, the two were constantly acting opposite one another when their hatred was at its worst in season 3. Prue becoming a dog was done to allow Shannen time to prepare for directing the finale. She was also cursed into a sleep in Bride and Gloom to allow her directorial preparation for The Good, The Bad and The Cursed and was trapped in an alternate plane in Apocalypse Not to prepare for directing Be Careful What You Witch For. Those actresses never let their differences interfere with storytelling. With Housewives, the character of Susan was isolated later on in the show, but Hatcher still shared many scenes with her costars separately. Kathryn Joosten also stated that Teri was the nicest and most friendly member of the cast on set to be around and they virtually never acted opposite one another. She also spoke of Teri's appreciation of the crew on the show and she seemed to get along very well with James Denton. If there were problems, they lay entirely with the other lead women and not with her attitude to the entire production. As much as I admire the 4 leads equally as actors, it is possibly they weren't happy with Hatcher's first billing, higher salary and being placed at the forefront of the majority of publicity images. Her unofficial star-or-the-show status (she was the star in season 1 though) was bound to irritate the women who had the same amount of screen time and work to do on the show.
If you want to talk about personality clashes on a set interfering with the direction of a show; look no further than Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi on The Good Wife.
Here's an idea: next time, instead of being late, just *beep* on my face-Emma Stone
As much as I admire the 4 leads equally as actors, it is possibly they weren't happy with Hatcher's first billing, higher salary and being placed at the forefront of the majority of publicity images. Her unofficial star-or-the-show status (she was the star in season 1 though) was bound to irritate the women who had the same amount of screen time and work to do on the show.
I must have totally ignored the media telling me she was supposed to be the star of the show. I always saw the core 4 as equal leads (though we all have our personal favorite).
shareI think this is just it and what usually causes tensions on these shows - Desperate Housewives were more or less initially marketed as the Teri Hatcher show because she was the only one who had headlined a long-running show before, which for sure left some of the other ladies feeling sour.
The difference between Teri and Marcia is that Teri was the co-star of Lois & Clark, while Marcia was the 10th billed actor in an ensemble cast. At the time Teri was 'a media darling' and had a strong following. So when they cast Desperate Housewives, she had name appeal. She had the name appeal to draw viewers that probably never gave Melrose Place the time of day. When I started watching DH I had never heard of Marcia Cross.
But what was very apparent from the start is that Desperate Housewives was an ensemble cast and if anything, all of them were equally strong in their own right. Probably the one cast member that surprised everyone was how strong Felicity Huffman was, which is why she won an Emmy in 2005.
At the time Teri was 'a media darling' and had a strong following.
Probably the one cast member that surprised everyone was how strong Felicity Huffman was, which is why she won an Emmy in 2005.
The only good thing about American Crime is Felicity!!!!!
shareTeri wanted to be a comedic actress, that's what inspired her as a child and what she wanted to excel at. By that I mean she probably didn't care about utilising her looks to get publicity for herself. Every actor has to do it, even the ones who go on and on about "the craft" and "the art". I love that Hatcher can do material that has you laughing out loud at the situations she's put through, do physical comedy and also completely nail emotional scenes where she has to cry her eyes out. She does all of this without ever being a acting snob or referring to herself as craftsman or artist or anything obnoxious. She used her looks to create more opportunities for herself- her role in Seinfeld wouldn't have came her way if she wasn't okay with doing so. But talent speaks for itself, and Hatcher had more than enough to prove herself.
Also, Felicity was a Golden Globe nominee for Sports Night before DH, so she wasn't completely unknown. Ironically enough, it was Eva Longoria that was the newcomer. And Felicity is brilliant in American Crime!
Here's an idea: next time, instead of being late, just *beep* on my face-Emma Stone
I love that Hatcher can do material that has you laughing out loud at the situations she's put through, do physical comedy and also completely nail emotional scenes where she has to cry her eyes out.
Also, Felicity was a Golden Globe nominee for Sports Night before DH, so she wasn't completely unknown.
There is no doubt that Teri was placed front and center in the marketing for this show at the beginning. There's a Season 1 poster that literally has Teri front and center, with the other women standing behind a hedge. Not only was Teri the most recognizable at the time, but Susan was supposed to be the emotional anchor of the show. I imagine tensions arose from that. After all, nobody really denied altogether those Vanity Fair rumors.
I'm also now just remembering that I once met the photographer who did the promo work for the last season (and possibly a few others before), and he said that Teri had to be photographed separately from the other women. I imagine the same thing happened with that Entertainment Weekly cover from 2012. The other three women are holding hands or linking arms, and Teri looks like she was photoshopped in after the fact.
I don't think she was a bitch. A lot of other actors who have worked with Teri in the past including Dean Cain have only had good things to say about Teri in interviews and it was Marc Cherry (The Show's Director) who was said to be the one who was difficult to work with and Nicollette Sheridan claimed he abused and assaulted her on set and other cast members spoke of similar abuse.
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It don't matter if it's raining
Nothing can phase me
I make my own sunshine
And if you think you can break me
Baby, you're crazy
I make my own sunshine
Not really sure of the full story. It could be that Terry was very unpleasant.
It could also be that the other women of the cast resented her being the lead in a sense, so naturally bonded over that and made her an outsider.
I'm sure it's not completely any one person's fault, just as I'm sure it wasn't a full-blown rivalry. Nobody says you have to be best friends with your coworkers, and a TV cast is no different. But Teri being at the center of conflict, whether or not it was her fault, has been documented from the start of the show. There was the overblown Vanity Fair photo shoot story, where after a season of Teri being placed (sometimes literally) front and center, the other women reacted negatively. After that, for Season 2, every cast photo had 5 versions, with each woman getting her chance to be in the middle. If you google promo images from that season, you'll see it's true. And it was very intentional.
Teri reportedly angered Eva Longoria when she signed autographs at her wedding to Tony Parker, whereas the other actresses waved to fans but didn't interact. Teri also negotiated her contract and salary separately from the other female leads, who opted to negotiate together. Eva called Teri a "lone wolf" in an interview toward the end of the show, and Nicollette Sheridan said she was the meanest woman she knew in some of her court documents. When the show wrapped, Marcia, Felicity, Eva, and Vanessa went in on a group gift for the crew; for one reason or the other, Teri wasn't included. Teri published that letter in which she basically said she would never disclose what happened between her and the other women.
Make with any of that which you will, but there was obviously some tension. Whether there was truly ill feelings or if it was just a simple case of people not being each other's cup of tea, we might not ever know. But I don't think this had an any bearing on her performance.
I'm just now watching this show...but I kinda figured with these 4 or 5 egos on the set there had to be tensions and now I'm reading all about it here. To be honest, I like the character of Susan...but there is just something about Teri Hatcher that I don't really care for...I mean I could believe she'd be a huge bitch if she wanted to be.
shareYeah, I just re-watched the pilot and I actually liked Susan and her funny performance, but it's just sad that Teri was disliked by other actresses.
share