Desperate Housewives: Behind Closed Doors.
The Desperate Housewives book is now available and can be purchased
at most major book stores. The book has several pictures of Steven
as well as comments and quotes. We recommend it to any Rex/DH fan.
Here you will find the parts that mention Steven and/or Rex.
An Interview with Steven Culp
"The show works because it's really entertaining. Beyond that, I think there
are things that resonate in people's lives. Rex and Bree's relationship is
about: "How do you keep love alive?". As far out as we get, there's truth in a
lot of what we do.
That's true of Rex little peccadillo- you go on the internet to chat rooms and
you realize there are a lot of people out there who are like Rex, who have
fantasies or things that they're afraid to tell their partners.
From the beggining, Rex's character has been confused. All he knows is he
doesn't want to be where he is. He doesn't know where he wants to go and
wouldn't know how to get there if he did. He's got these secrets that he's
compartmentalized or denied and now he's finally acting on them. The more the
character has unraveled, the more I've been digging it.
Marc and I had discussed early on, "What is Rex thinking about when he is by
himself?". About five episodes in, he gave me this assignment to see if I
could find a fetish. So I was googling around, looking at sexual fetishes and
I came up with the idea that he was into drag kings, women dressed as men. But
Marc finally decided on S&M, and I think it turned out to be the best decision.
At the beggining you thought Rex and Bree were just one thing, but their
relationship has taken on the levels of a real couple that's been married for
18 years. In some ways, they're really made for each other, but through the
pressures of marriage and kids, they became distant.
Sometimes I joke that we could be doing exactly what we are doing but if you
called it 'Desperate Husbands", people might be a little more sympathetic to
Rex. But that is just part of the package.
What I like about Rex and Bree is that we're able to go from the episode where
she gets the secret out of him, to watching the tape, to trying to do it and
pick a safe word. We go from really intense dramatic moments to high comedy
and back again. It's really exhilarating."
Marcia Cross on Steven:
"Steven is wonderful as Rex. I can't imagine anyone else doing that part. He
has been a complete delight and a great, steady partner through all of this.
We've had to deal with a lot of dark things. He's a hard worker and he's so
committed to Rex and trying to find new colors for him, which is not always
that easy. At some point I knew that the key to Bree was loving Rex, no matter
what or how he came off. She just loves him and wants his love. It's written in
the pilot"
From the section dedicated to Rex:
Rex Van DeKamp
The sexually submissive, cheating, wasp-y doctor.
"Over the first season, Rex and Bree had ups and downs, but each time Bree
pulled away, Rex reeled her in, and vice versa. Though Rex tried to buy his
children's affection, solicited prostitution, hid his sexual fetish, and
meddled in Bree's dating life, he always seemed oddly right for Bree. This
is what made their strange love affair so captivating.
"I feel bad for him" says Cherry, "because he has done so many horrible things
to Bree. He is so reviled across the country. But Steven Culp, fortunately,
has had a really good time doing it, and I've always been very appreciative of
that."
When Bree lost him at the end of Season One, the audience couldn't help but
feel sad for her. A new chapter was about to begin, but she had lost her first
and only love. She might find other men, but she will never find another Rex."
Rex Van DeKamp has surprised us more than any other men on Wisteria lane. The
staid, WASPy doctor has turned out to be a submissive john with a penchant for
being handcuffed to bed.
Complex and troubled, Rex was nonetheless in love with Bree, even though he
couldn't admit it sometimes. At first it seemed all of their marital problems
were Bree's fault, but quickly it became clear Rex was the truly elusive partner.
Rex was the one who could not open up sexually, because he was afraid to tell
Bree what he liked. Her openness and persistance forced him to admit his
preferences-and when he did he seemed like a liberated man.
Episode comments:
"Running to Stand Still"
Marcia Cross: "If I told you how many times we had to squeeze that burrito
and get the cheese to fall on the floor, you would not beleive me., We're
all staring at the burrito and there was a burrito special effects man who was
behind it with a plunger and he would push it forward while we were kissing."
"Suspicious Minds"
Steven Culp: "When I read that scene where Bree throws the urine on Rex, I
went to Marc and said: "Look, I'm really trying hard not to be just a one
dimensional foil for Bree and its hard enough without having piss thrown at
me." He explained that he didn't want it to be a bad joke in Rex. We talked
about what the moment was about and then it was an intense moment between these
people. My wife actually gasped when she saw it. The moment was funny, but it
had all this intense stuff in it."
"Come Back to Me"
Steven Culp: "We did two versions of that S&M scene, one that was a little
darker and a little edgier, and one wher we didn't see any paraphernalia. Rex
and Maisy are having this conversation and ultimately, she starts tying him to
the bed. A couple of weeks later, we shot the scene again and it was much
better. We're having a conversation about what's going on with the kids and
the family, and she's handling all this weird paraphernalia. When I watched it
I thought, God they're so sad and lost about this. He's confiding in her. He
can't tell his wife about his fetish and he obviously loves his wife. It was
sadder than I thought it was going to be."
"Move on"
Steven Culp: "It was so much fun to shoot that scene where George picks up Bree
for their date. We're such a great team, the three of us. I actually did a
couple of rehersals with the director where he just told us: "Do it really fast."
It felt like we were doing some Howard Hawks movie, like Cary Grant and Irene
Dunne. We ended up slowing it down but it was great to do it like one of those
comedies because it made it less precious. We were just having a good time."
"Love Is In The Air"
Steven Culp: "This episode had a great line that had to be cut. I don't think
it got by ABC. Rex says something along the lines of "I want to be dominated."
Bree says "Huh?". He says "I want to be dominated sexually." She says, "Well I
can get on top, just as long as I wear my bra". It really was funny, but I
don't think they were able to get it past Standards and Practices."
Useless Trivia
If you read the book fromcover to cover, you know the answers to these two questions:
1- How old was Rex?
2- What was Rex's home address?
3- Why does his house look familiar?
Give up?
1- 40 years old.
2- 4354 Wisteria Lane
3- It was Tom Hank's house in "The Burbs" (1989) and in the TV show "Providence." (1999-2002)