People: She really got into the spirit of things
Television fans know Eva Longoria Parker as Gabrielle Solis, the high-strung beauty whose me-first temperament makes life difficult for the people around her in “Desperate Housewives.”
So they’ll no doubt be surprised at her performance in her new movie, “Over Her Dead Body,” in which she plays Kate, a high-strung beauty whose me-first temperament, well … you can guess the rest.
“That’s my whole challenge, separating Kate from Gabrielle Solis,” Parker said recently from a hotel room in Chicago, where she was keeping a wary eye on an approaching snowstorm.
Of course, there is one distinct difference: Kate is dead.
That’s both the premise of the film – Kate is killed on her wedding day, and comes back to ensure that her fiance (played by Paul Rudd) doesn’t get together with another woman (Lake Bell) – and one of the things that first interested Parker in the project.
“That’s what drew me to the script,” she says. “She was a ghost, and she was kind of limitless in what she could do.
“As an actor you always want those outside-of-the-box roles. I feel like Kate was definitely that for me.”
There are other differences between Kate and Gabrielle besides their pulse rate.
While Gabrielle is basically just selfish and spoiled, Kate truly does think she’s doing the right thing. She’s just a little misguided, not self-centered.
“Kate was way more justified in why she is the way she is than Gabrielle is,” Parker says. “She’s not ready to move on. It makes it more real. …
“She just can’t let go. This is the man she loved. She’s going to stake her ground and protect her territory.”
The role calls for a lot of physical comedy. Though she can walk through walls and appear and disappear at will, Kate is still a bit of a goof.
Yet she also has moments of introspection. That gave Parker a chance to play a range of emotions – something she credits her TV role with preparing her for.
“Doing ‘Desperate Housewives,’ it really gives me the experience of the drama to the physical comedy to the slapstick comedy,” she says. “It’s easy when you have the experience of working on a show as great (as that).”
Despite the differences between Kate and Gabrielle, Parker is aware of the similarities, as well, and the danger of being typecast.
She points to her roles in the films “Harsh Times” and “The Sentinel,” both much darker fare, as proof that she was guarding against that.
“As an actor you want to play all kinds of characters,” she says, “and spread your wings and do everything that comes your way.”
The birthday bunch
Comedian Shelley Berman is 82. Actress Blythe Danner is 65. Singer Dennis Edwards (The Temptations) is 65. Singer Melanie is 61. Actress Morgan Fairchild is 58. Actor Nathan Lane is 52. Actor Thomas Calabro (“Melrose Place”) is 49. Actress Michele Greene (“L.A. Law”) is 46. Actress Maura Tierney (“ER”) is 43. Singer Daddy Yankee is 32. Singer Jessica Harp (The Wreckers) is 26. Rapper Sean Kingston is 18.