Dana Delany on 'Housewives' Lesbian Romance, Kissing Jennifer Beals and Coming Out

Dana Delany sat down with The Advocate to discuss her Desperate Housewives character's newfound affections for Julie Benz, her near-kiss with Jennifer Beals on the set of The L Word and the Meredith Baxter storyline connection.

On this Sunday's episode of Desperate Housewives, after Katherine Mayfair's release from the loony bin, she journeys into a world of self-discovery and takes up with her stripper roommate, Robin (Benz).

Advocate: How did you respond when the writers brought this idea (of a lesbian romance) to you?

Dana Delany: Oh, I loved it - I thought it was a great idea. A lot of the ladies on the set have said, "Why has this not happened before?" I think everybody wanted to be the one who got to do it.

So far, we know you share an intimate moment with Julie Benz, and I've read that it develops in to something more. I know story lines there are a closely guarded secret, but is there anything else you can tell us?

Yeah, Julie moves in with me. She is totally an openly, out lesbian, and she's very up-front about that. She moves in with me because she needs a place to stay. And then I think it makes Katherine question things about herself.

I thought it was interesting how you compared this story line to Meredith Baxter's recent coming-out - she was very specific that she'd never ruled it out, it just wasn't something that had ever occurred to her. Is that kind of the way we're going to see things play out with Katherine?

Yeah, I think it's going to take her by surprise, the feelings she's having. I think that she's still so emotionally vulnerable from getting out of the loony bin [laughs], and I think she and Robin [Benz] connect on a kind of wounded, emotional level. And I think if anything, she's feeling this kind of emotional solace with her, and that draws her to Robin in a physical way, and that's confusing to her.

And I just have to put it out there - if you're going to play gay, Julie Benz is a pretty hot way to kick things off.

Oh, my God. Well, and not only is she gorgeous, she's a really good actress. I think people get so lost in her looks that they don't realize how good she is.

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