06 Mar Intervew with Kyle Maclaclan (Desperate Houswives)
The striking Kyle Maclachlan first hit our TV screens as Agent Dale Cooper, in the twisted TV series Twin Peaks. Throughout his career he has played the role of many a warped and morally ambiguous characters, ranging from Jeffrey Beumont in Blue Velvet to Trey McDougal in Sex and the City, and most recently – Orson Hodge in Desperate Housewives.
Kyle seems to have a knack for playing the role of innocent guys who are interested in the mysteries of life. David Lynch, who directed him in Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks and Dune (1984) says that MacLachlan is ‘… the person you trust enough to go into a strange world with.”
He now lives between New York and Los Angeles where Wisteria Lane – the set of Desperate Housewives is located. His wife Desiree Gruber runs a media business from New York. They have a one year old son called Callum Lyon, and two very spoilt Terriers.
He spoke to Alison Bezzina about his career, life, and about his characters being invariably hen pecked.
You’ve been acting as Orson Hodge for a good number of years now. Do you believe you know the character?
One of the beauties of television is that the characters continue to develop over time. I have continued to understand and learn about this character throughout the years and I believe that I have a pretty good sense of who he is, but the writers always surprise me with new directions. Who thought what kind of craziness would manifest itself in kleptomania?
Do you ever get bored?
No, I really don’t. My character is slightly off kilter so he can go anywhere. I enjoy the process of working with Marcia Cross (Bree) and Sean Parker who plays her son. We’ve had a couple of really nice scenes early on in the series. I’m not too interested in talking about how the bullets left the body in some crazy episode, and how the bones went through this and that. It’s the dynamics between people that keeps me interested.
How long do you think Desperate Housewives will go on for?
They had originally intended it to be seven years but now, provided of course the audience is still enjoying it, we’re going to do nine seasons.
What about you personally? There are rumours that you will leave?
You’ve been reading that Sun, haven’t you? The Sun paper, don’t read that paper. What I said was that I have a little baby boy now, and that it is difficult for me to leave him to go to Los Angeles. My wife has a business in New York and I go back and forth quite frequently.
In Sex and the City you play Trey MacDougal. In Desperate Housewives you play Orson Hodge. Both characters are dominated by women – Trey with his mother, and Orson with Bree. What is your take on that?
Trey tends to be a little more of a clown or a buffoon, and hence the audience tend to laugh at him a little bit and his kind of craziness. With Orson there’s a little bit more uncertainty and I think the audience is sort of laughing with the comedy that Marcia and I make of the situations. On a show like Desperate Housewives, there is the ebb and flow of characters – the stronger characters and weaker characters, and when Orson first came on the show he was almost taking over Bree. That eventually evolved into a partnership, until this past year, she had more power. Orson has been on a kind of slippery slope because he’s supposed to be going to prison, he can no longer hold a job because he’s a felon and he’s been trying to find his way back. I have a feeling that in season six he’s going to come back up again.
What’s it like working so closely with female co-stars?
I’ve been really lucky, because in both cases I had a great chemistry. I felt the same way with Kristin Davis (Charlotte) on Sex and the City. We had a fun relationship. It was a good, easy, somewhat silly intense dynamic between us. And Marcia (Bree) – you know Marcia is a Julliard trained actress. We come from similar backgrounds. I was also theatrically trained intensely for regional theatre, and so we share that. She’s really smart. She understands script and story amazingly well. And she’s very clear about what her character should and shouldn’t do, and she fights for her stuff. I respect her tremendously. There’s a lot of give and take that has to happen, and she seems really comfortable and cool with that, so … I’m lucky.
Do you ever try to change what’s written for you?
No, not really. It’s fun to be challenged as an actor, to try and make something work. That’s how I approach it. Some people would say, “No… I would never do this”. I tend to embrace it and say, “Oh, how can I make this work with this character?” There’s an old rule in improv comedy that you never say ‘no’. So whatever comes up you say, “Yes, yes”, and you keep going forward and this drives the action forward. So I embrace that, that sort of theology.
How does it feel to be watched by so many women around the whole world?
It’s very nerve racking. It makes me very nervous. I knew when they contacted me with the name ‘Desperate Housewives’ that I was in for trouble. It was very flattering to be asked to join a cast of something that is already very successful, and you feel the pressure immediately. You don’t want to come in and upset the chemistry that’s already there, but you also have to add your own kind of colour to something.
What kind of dad are you?
What kind of dad am I? Oh, I hope I’m going to be a dad like my dad was. Right now, my son can really do no wrong. He’s a year old so he’s just like at a perfect age. I’m really comfortable in the kitchen, I like to cook, I enjoy that, so I’ve been cooking as much as I can. It’s difficult now of course because we’re on the road. At the moment he’s with my wife in Paris. I will join them tonight. We have a terrific nanny as well. It’s absolutely essential for our lifestyle to have someone there who is hands on.
I read you have an interest in wine; is that true?
I have a small cellar in LA. I have a lot of Washington wine from Washington State. I’m making wine with a friend up there in Walla Walla and we released a 2005 called “Pursued by Bear” – from the Shakespearian stage production. We’ve got some really nice numbers on it. We made about 300 cases and I sell it online and it’s going very well.
Do you think it’s harder to deal with fame nowadays than when you first started out?
Back in the day of Dune or Twin Peaks there was an interest but today with the camera phone and video phone, there’s just no privacy. I think young people just coming into it must find it harder to deal with. I think I am probably lucky that it’s not happening to me now.
What did you dream of becoming when you were a child?
I wanted to be a professional golfer but I wasn’t good enough. I realised that early on and then I didn’t really have anything particular in mind. I wasn’t interested so I tried a few different things. There was something in communications but not necessarily advertising. I was interested in architecture, and then I thought the acting thing was something that was fun to do and it was kind of a hobby, but it was never the intention to do it professionally.
You are quite involved in a cancer charity. How did that come about?
My mom passed away from ovarian cancer years ago, and so I’ve been involved with them to greater or lesser degrees over the years. I’m not an activist in the way as some of the people I know are, but I do try and lend my name, my support, you know. Sometimes it is just coupling the celebrity with the message. I remember I did a press tour with Beth Kaplan, who is a doctor. It was about her getting the message out about ovarian cancer and I was just there kind of also speaking about it. The message is the most important. It’s a terrible disease because it’s so very difficult to detect early enough to make a difference.
How many interviews can you take in a day?
In Monte Carlo it must have been like 40, I mean, it was ridiculous. It was every five minutes. This is a luxury.
First published on Pink Magazine February 2010 Click here to view
