Marcia Cross

The Fake Wound of Melrose Place

In front of a mirror in 1994, Marcia Cross took off a reddish wig and revealed a huge scar on the head of the most sinister character on Melrose Place. The scene caused mass hysteria at Fox. Nobody expected an actress trained at the strict Juilliard school to end up blowing up an entire apartment complex in front of millions of viewers.

She was born in Marlborough in 1962, and her original plan was classical theater in New York. Juilliard gave her the tools of blank verse and a degree in 1984 that pointed to Broadway stages. But the realities of the industry imposed immediate bills. So she agreed to join the daytime circuit with daily soap operas such as The Edge of Night and One Life to Live.

There she learned to memorize thirty pages of dialogue a day.

Her role as Dr. Kimberly Shaw was originally planned for a single episode. Aaron Spelling saw the raw footage in the editing room and decided to sign her to a multi-year contract that turned her into the most unsettling face on 1990s television. And while she filmed wildly twisted plots of blackmail and revenge in prime time, Cross was coping off set with the loss of her partner, actor Richard Jordan, who died of a brain tumor in 1993.

The Perfect Corset of Wisteria Lane

When the series ended in 1997, she decided to step away from the cameras for a while. Because she needed to understand the mechanics of behavior away from the rush of the set, she completed a master's degree in clinical psychology at Antioch University in Los Angeles in 2003. She treated patients in supervised internships for several years before accepting supporting roles in dramatic productions such as Everwood.

Then the pilot script written by Marc Cherry landed in her hands. The creator of Desperate Housewives was looking for an actress who could keep a flawless smile while her family life fell apart on camera. Cross read Bree Van de Kamp's lines and saw a pressure cooker where others saw only light comedy.

And the gamble paid off.

Between 2004 and 2012, the series drew millions of viewers week after week on ABC. Her portrayal of Bree earned three consecutive Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination in 2005. The actress calibrated every blink and the stiffness of her neck to capture an anguish that never let a wrinkle show on her dress.

The pace at Universal's studios in Los Angeles demanded fifteen-hour days. During the third season in 2007, a complication in her twin pregnancy forced doctors to order complete bed rest. The production moved cameras, crew and lighting into her own bedroom so they could shoot the scenes of her character bedridden.

Real-Life Diagnoses and Canceled Network Shows

After the end of Wisteria Lane in 2012, she applied strict filters to her career choices. She turned down contracts that demanded long-term commitments to the industry. In 2015, she joined the cast of Quantico as Vice President Claire Haas, a political role in which she again drew on a chilly, controlled physical restraint.

In 2017, doctors diagnosed her with anal cancer caused by the human papillomavirus. Cross decided to speak publicly about her treatment in 2018 to break the social stigma surrounding gynecological and rectal conditions. She channeled her energy into medical organizations and hospital conferences without asking Hollywood studios for favors.

The health taboo gave way to unfiltered activism.

She returned to the cameras in 2021, playing Jean Peck in the third batch of episodes of You for Netflix. In 2022, she shot three episodes of the musical series Monarch on Fox. The show averaged a weak 0.3 rating points among younger viewers, and network executives ordered the sets dismantled just ten weeks after its premiere.