Teri Hatcher: Doing theatre alleviates the aging issue for actresses

Teri Hatcher has said doing theatre “alleviates the aging issue” for actresses because they do not have a camera in their face like when doing film or TV.

The Desperate Housewives star, 61, has taken on the role of feared magazine editor Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion Theatre in London.

Hatcher has relished the opportunity to do theatre and appreciated the freedom it affords to actresses.

She told the Press Association: “It definitely alleviates the whole aging issue because it’s not like having a camera right in your face. Television is very beauty forward, obviously.

She added: “The space of live theatre, the adrenaline of it, the brain power. All the real time, the interaction.

“The fun when there’s a mistake and getting through the mistake in live time. It’s very life affirming. It’s good at my age to be doing something like that.

“I think it allows women specifically to explore acting in a way that isn’t totally obsessed with the physicality because you don’t have a camera right here the whole time.

“That’s sort of a relief. I like the idea of being in that arena.”

Hatcher was told by her agent she had been offered the role after going to dinner with a friend in Los Angeles, where she had been wondering what her next job would be.

Although the character was made famous by Meryl Streep in the 2005 movie and its sequel, Hatcher deliberately did not re-watch Streep’s performance after accepting the part.

She said: “After I got offered the part, I would not look at the movie because the last thing I want to do is try to repeat anything that she did.

“I’m taking it on in the same way I would any other character.

“You look at the scenes and you’re trying to figure out what your character wants and what they’re trying to do.”

Asked about playing a role made famous by an actress as highly regarded as Streep, Hatcher said: “The gift that Meryl gives us, I would watch her read the phone book, no-one is ever going to be as iconic as her.

“She brought to life this character who is so singularly passionate about what she wants and feels at home in demanding excellence.

“That’s not a character trait that people think of as associated with women, normally, so I think it’s a gift for the next woman to step into it.”

Hatcher was recommended to the producers by her former Desperate Housewives co-star, Vanessa Williams, who finished playing Priestly in the musical in September.

Hatcher made her West End debut on October 20 and, when she made her entrance through the stage floor, the audience broke into a huge round of applause.

She said: “There was a little tiny part of me that took it in, that will be a memory that I have for a long time of what that was like, and then you just have to get on with it.”

Hatcher will spend the festive period in London, but her schedule is full. She will have just Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off before getting back to work.

The actress found fame playing Lois Lane in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman (1993-1997) and played Bond girl Paris Carver opposite Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).

She later portrayed Susan Mayer in Desperate Housewives (2004-2012), a role which won her a Golden Globe Award.

She will star in The Devil Wears Prada until February 6 and the show will run at the Dominion Theatre until September 25 2027.

Tickets can be purchased on devilwearspradamusical.com.