Susan Lucci as Genevieve DelatourYou're a massive name in the world of acting - when you started out did you ever think you'd see so much success?
I certainly hoped and dreamed, and had good teachers! Very lucky, I was very lucky.
What challenges did you have to overcome to get to where you are today?
Well, let's see, I got lucky early but I will tell you that I didn't know anyone in New York. I started my career in New York and went to New York right out of college. I didn't know anyone in the business or anyone in New York, except I went to a girl's college, and when we would cast the male parts, we would cast them in Manhattan with professional actors - one of those actors was also a director and he was the only person I knew, and he was looking for work too! (laughs) He sort of took me under his wing and told me about making rounds, and getting pictures taken, and my resume and all of that - my resume was written by hand, and that tells you how far I had to go, and how much I had to learn.
You've now taken on the role of Genevieve Delatour in 'Devious Maids' - how is the experience of playing that character?
Oh my goodness, it's just spectacular on every level. The writing - Marc Cherry's writing - the characters that he has created, the storytelling that he does... to be handed this material as an actress which is hilarious in some ways, and intriguing in other ways, and surprising in other ways is very exciting - I feel very lucky.
Your character's a very lovable one but she does make some mistakes with sometimes hilarious consequences - how does she compare to Erica Kane who you played in 'All My Children'?
Oh well thank you for asking. I would say that Genevieve - as Marc said to me when I met him the first time - he said that Genevieve and Erica were cousins under the skin. But Genevieve he felt and I feel as well, is more vulnerable, she's actually a bit of an innocent, whereas Erica Kane was more street-smart, and a little stronger (laughs), and she didn't always wanna take care of herself but she could (laughs) and did!
How is the chemistry when you're on the set of 'Devious Maids'?
Susan Lucci with co-stars Judy Reyes, Edy Ganem and Drew Van AckerOh - it's what it should be - it's the stuff dreams are made of, truly Daniel. This is a love-fest all around. The material's incredible, and then every actor is so wonderfully cast and just such a joy to watch, but also when actors have a day off, they still show up at the table read, because they just wanna hear the material and watch everybody's performance even at the table read, so it's just great and actually, every airing night - which in the States is Sunday nights at 10 on Lifetime - the entire cast tweets live, and there's so much admiration all around for each other's work, and it's just great.
(Judy Reyes who plays the character Zoila in Devious Maids will be tweeting live tonight - December 4 along with the UK airing of episode 9, at 10pm on TLC. Follow her at twitter.com/ItIsJudyReyes)
We've only got a few more episodes left to air in the UK - can you give us some hints about what to expect from the finale?
Well I can't give anything away obviously Daniel (laughs) but I can say there'll be surprises, there'll be things I think you didn't see coming, there will be some satisfaction in finding out about who killed Flora, but as one door closes another one opens and tonnes of stuff going forward, and it's all laid into place.
Well as you mentioned going forward a second season has been confirmed, have you had any details about that yet or is it still very much in the works?
Oh, I think it's still very much in the works. I saw Marc Cherry actually several nights ago, and he was telling me I believe that a number of the first - maybe the first four episodes, maybe the first six episodes - are already written, but they're always works in progress. Marc is very hands-on, he's on the set, he's watching the first rehearsal, he gives notes and they're always brilliant. Whatever choice notes he has to say are just the ticket, just what I was hoping to hear - needing to hear.
Eva Longoria's also working as a producer - how is she in that role?
Eva Longoria also works on the showShe's lovely, warm and experienced in the industry and working with Marc, and she's actually gonna be directing our very first episode this year - this is her directorial debut - so that's very exciting.
Do you personally have any other projects going on that you can share some details about?
Well thank you - I do a show actually for the Discovery Network - one of their off-shoots called Investigation Discovery - which is so addictive that network that there is (and my show) that there's a website for! (laughs) It's called 'Deadly Affairs' - it's a show that is about real-life crimes of passion - love triangles and sometimes quadrangles that have gone completely as bad as they can go, and I host the show as a character, and I narrate the show in the voice of that character. But in addition there are real-life interviews with the people that knew the victim, knew the perpetrator, some of the investigators, and so it's really quite fascinating. We're on in 130 countries in addition to the United States, we're here in the UK too!
Devious Maids is on TLC, every Wednesday at 10pm.
Susan can also be seen hosting 'Deadly Affairs', which premieres on Investigation Discovery in the New Year.
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