She may not have seen the show before being offered the part, but Alfre Woodard (Betty Applewhite) said she soon came to realize why Desperate Housewives was a cut above the rest.

"They sent me some episodes on tape, and I liked the fact that it breaks form," she told Orlando Sentinel. "As a viewer, and a performer, I always wonder, 'Why is it that I know, without looking at the clock, that this story is at the midway point, or is at a commercial break?' You shouldn't sense that. This show hides that stuff."

She also spoke about her new film, Take the Lead, where she plays the principal at a school where the pupils are given a new energy after learning ballroom dancing. "Since the '60s, we don't touch when we dance," she said. "In the club, we're 'droppin' it like it's hot.' Every dancer is starring in his or her own movie. But with ballroom, you have to look at the other person. You have to touch them. You have to look at the people around you, consider them, their needs and feelings. It becomes this communal exercise in good manners. Kids take to it, lap it up."

Woodard also revealed her favorite role to date. "I have to say Popeye Jackson, in Miss Firecracker. Out of all the people I've ever played, Popeye would be the one I want to hang with. I get her. I like her humor, her unselfconsciousness."

The full interview can be found at Orlando Sentinel.

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