Vanessa Williams has addressed the upcoming Desperate Housewives reboot after appearing in the beloved original for two seasons as Renee Perry.
The actress, 62, who was 47 when she was first cast in the mystery comedy-drama, admitted she knew next to nothing about plans for a revival.
However, Vanessa did mention that she believes producers will pick a ‘younger cast’ for the series, which is called Wisteria Lane in a nod to the iconic setting of the show.
When asked about the reboot on the red carpet at the Variety Club Awards by Daily Mail, Vanessa said: ”I saw that! I know as much as you because I’m reading it.
Confessing she hasn’t been asked to appear, she said: ‘I think Kerry Washington is producing it. That’s all I know.
Before pointedly adding: ”I’m sure they’re going for younger housewives, like we were 20 years ago!’
Vanessa Williams has addressed the upcoming Desperate Housewives reboot after appearing in the beloved original for two seasons as Renee Perry
The actress, 62, who was 47 when she was first cast in the mystery comedy-drama, admitted she knew next to nothing about plans for a revival (pictured with her co-star Felicity Huffman)
Vanessa also touched on some of the current cast of her West End show, The Devil Wears Prada, leaving the show to pursue other opportunities.
Speaking on whether she was ’emotional’ during their last performance, Vanessa said: ‘Well I still have rehearsals on Tuesday. But for the cast members who are leaving it was definitely emotional. They had to make a decision months and months before.
‘It’s a gamble, you don’t know what’s going to happen in eight months time. But I’m excited for everything that’s coming their way.
‘I’ve always dreamed about coming to London and being on stage.’
Vanessa played Renee, a glamorous and outspoken woman who moves to Wisteria Lane after her marriage end when her husband cheats on her.
She’s an old college friend of fellow Fairview dweller, Lynette Scavo, which is how she becomes friends with the other women on the lane.
It has been reported that the plot for Wisteria Lane will be similar to the ABC original, and the logline states it will be set around five friends and occasional frenemies who live in the same cul-de-sac.
Vanessa played Renee (pictured), a glamorous and outspoken woman who moves to Wisteria Lane after her marriage end when her husband cheats on her
While on the surface they are living the dream, behind their apparently perfect lives many are holding secrets which are yet to be revealed.
The news of the upcoming reboot sparked backlash after it was announced that Desperate Housewives is being reimagined at Onyx Collective, with Kerry Washington listed as one of the executive producers, as per Variety.
The original show, which aired from 2004 to 2012, was also set in the suburban neighborhood of Wisteria Lane.
It followed Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), Bree Van de Kamp (Marcia Cross), and Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria).
Following the news of the reboot, fans took online to express their disappointment, with one writing, ‘Nobody asked for that, original is perfect’;’Desperate Housewives 2.0 – now with 100% more desperation!’ someone else chimed in on X.
The comments continued: ‘If Teri, Eva, Felicity, and Marcia aren’t the stars, they can 10,000% keep buried in the drafts’; ‘Did we completely run out of original ideas?’; ‘We don’t need a new cast. We want a return of our own ladies.’
Someone else simply asked: ‘Why?’; ‘Getting a new team to do a reboot is almost rarely a good idea, just don’t do it if the OG team doesn’t want to’; ‘Hard pass’.
The original ‘Desperate Housewives’ was the brainchild of Marc Cherry. He is currently not attached to the reboot.
The show ran for eight seasons and nearly 200 episodes on ABC from 2004 to 2012.
Vanessa did mention that she believes producers will pick a ‘younger cast’ for the series, which is called Wisteria Lane in a nod to the iconic setting of the show
During its run, the show earned 38 Emmy nominations, with Felicity winning lead actress in a comedy in 2005 and Kathryn Joosten winning guest actress in a comedy twice.
Natalie Chaidez is attached to the new project as writer and executive producer, and Pilar Savone will serve as executive producer via Simpson Street. Stacey Sher of Shiny Penny is also set to executive produce.
It came after Eva spoke about the possibility of a revival while appearing on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, to promote her show Searching For Spain.
Eva has said in the past that she would be interested in a Desperate Housewives reboot or revival series, which prompted a question from a fan.
The fan wrote into WWHL to ask who might be standing in the way of a Desperate Housewives reunion.
The answer may surprise some fans, with Eva revealing it to be none other than series creator Marc.
‘Marc Cherry, our creator. Yeah. He feels like we’ve exhausted the characters,’ Eva said, which stunned host Andy Cohen.
She added, ‘It’s unlike Sex and the City, which was only, like, six episodes, eight episodes a year. We did 24 episodes a year. For a decade.’
‘So I can’t sleep with any more people on that, right? Like I have slept with every single person on the street,’ Eva joked of the show’s infamous Wisteria Lane.
The news of the upcoming reboot sparked backlash after it was announced that Desperate Housewives is being reimagined at Onyx Collective, with Kerry Washington (pictured) listed as one of the executive producers, as per Variety
The original Desperate Housewives was the brainchild of Marc Cherry. He is currently not attached to the reboot (pictured Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman)
Eva was also asked by another WWHL guest, comedy legend Sandra Bernhard, if Eva’s Gabrielle ever slept with any women on the show.
‘No, I didn’t… wait, did I?’ Longoria said, as Bernhard joked they could do a ‘half season’ on that.
‘We got to convince Marc Cherry,’ Eva insisted of the show’s creator and executive producer.
When Andy asked if she still gets, ‘healthy residual checks’ from the show, she would only offer a smile and add, ‘I do well.’
Desperate Housewives would also serve as the inspiration for Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise, drawing from, ‘real life desperate housewives.’
The show also spawned global adaptations in Argentina (2006–07), Colombia/Ecuador (2007), Brazil (2007–08), Turkey (2011–14) and Nigeria (2015).
It was even one of many soap operas banned from North Korean television, with the government allegedly executing upwards of 80 people for watching banned South Korean soap operas, of which Desperate Housewives was the most popular.
