By Antony July 4, 2005 - 9:05 PMAs one of the most chilling characters in season one of Desperate Housewives, George brought tragedy to the life of Bree when his medication tampering led to the demise of Rex. Roger Bart, who plays the sinister pharmacist, said that he was informed early on where his character would be heading.
"After I had shot one or two scenes [in my first episode], Marc [Cherry] took me aside and said, 'Do you know where George is going? He's going to become a stalker,'" Bart told Playbill. Cherry isn't known for giving many plot details to the cast, but this pivotal piece of information allowed Bart to guide the direction of his character. "I said, 'A stalker!? Okay, let me rethink the scenes I just did.'" It's a role that Bart relished in six episodes last season. "Playing someone as psychotic as George has been really, really fun. I get these juicy little scenes that are just a tad menacing. It's refreshing; I've been used to a different kind of role."
Bart, who will join the main cast in season two (story), believes that fans were fooled by George at first, but he is scared by their reactions now that his character's intentions are known. "One of the reasons I was hired is that, for the few people who knew me [among TV viewers], the last thing you'd expect is for me to turn horrifying," he said. "For the public that doesn't know me, I don't think I look like a menacing, scary person. So it's sort of nice to think that the neighborhood pharmacist who wears the big grin and is sort of affable would turn into such a lunatic. Based on what I've read on the internet—I don't go there anymore; it scares me—if they wanted to make America loathe me, they succeeded."
In the Playbill article, which takes an in depth look is taken at Bart's theatre career, Bart said that acting on the stage is his first love. "I love doing stage!" he said. "I don't need to be doing The Producers. I love it! I think it's good for you; as my uncle would say, 'It keeps your chops up.' My home is theatre. I see it as the most challenging, most wonderful, most immediate medium. More than any other, it's really the actor's medium. Television is more a writer's medium; movies, a director's medium."
The full interview can be found over at Playbill. Discuss this news item at Talk Desperate!
Add Get Desperate! RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo! Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!
|