The Stars and Real-Life Wives

Marcia Cross is best known for her starring role on Melrose Place. Marcia took some time off from acting to get her Masters in Psychology and now she's back as a desperate housewife. Her character Bree is part Stepford, part Leave it to Beaver, but her obsession with being the perfect housewife is tearing her family and marriage apart.

Marcia says she is nothing like her character. "Oh, honey, there's nothing about me that's perfect. Trust me. … When your producer called, I was late to work, I didn't know who was shooting…no, there's nothing perfect."

Although Marcia says trying to be perfect is "frighteningly tiring," Bree does have something she envies. "My joke is that I'm desperate to be a housewife," says Marcia. "I'm missing the husband and the kids and the nice house."