Desperate Housewives star had ‘big behavioural problems’, series creator claims in letter of support for Felicity Huffman

‘Everyone tried their darndest to get along with this woman over the course of the show’, Marc Cherry recalled

Adam White
Wednesday 11 September 2019 16:12 BST
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One of the stars of Desperate Housewives had “big behavioural problems” and refused to speak to her fellow cast members, series creator Marc Cherry has claimed.

Writing in a letter of support for Felicity Huffman, one of the TV show's lead stars who is currently awaiting sentencing for her role in the US college admissions scandal, Cherry recalled having a “problematic cast member on [the] show".

The letter, published by the Boston Globe, read, “She was a big star with some big behavioural problems. Everyone tried their darndest to get along with this woman over the course of the show. It was impossible. And things went from bad to worse.

“At some point during season seven this woman decided she would no longer speak to fellow cast members. She would only communicate with the directors who were then forced to pass on her thoughts to her co-stars. This was alternately maddening and hilarious."

The letter continued: “Felicity still insisted on saying, ‘Good morning’ to this actress, even though she knew she wouldn’t get a response. I found out about this and asked Felicity about it. She smiled and said, ‘Just because that woman’s determined to be rude, doesn’t mean she can keep me from being polite.’”

Cherry did not name the actor in question, but Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria joked during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s US talk show last year that “99%” of the show’s cast remained friends, mentioning by name Huffman and fellow Housewife Marcia Cross. Teri Hatcher and Nicollette Sheridan were noticeably excluded from Longoria’s response. Sheridan left the show in season five.

Cherry was one of 27 individuals to send letters defending Huffman’s character to the judge in her case, another being Longoria.

Federal prosecutors have recommended that Huffman serve a month in jail and be fined $20,000 after she pleaded guilty to committing mail fraud and honest services fraud. It was exposed earlier this year that Huffman had paid $15,000 to have someone take a college SAT exam in place of her daughter, therefore boosting her chances of being accepted into elite universities.

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