Thank God for long valet lines at the Beverly Hilton Friday night. I had gabbed with all of the stars of "Melrose Place" who were present for a big DVD launch party except for the one I really wanted to talk to : Doug Savant, who played the role of openly gay Matt on the show. But waiting for my car, I spotted him out of the corner of my eye and made a dash right over. He could not have been nicer. I asked Doug, now one of the stars of "Desperate Housewives," if he was disappointed that his character didn't have much of a romantic life on the show. Even his one on-screen kiss got reduced to him leaning in then the camera cutting away to Billy (Andrew Shue) astonished that Matt would be kissing his best friend!
"We actually filmed a kiss but they didn't show it," Doug says. I asked if it was the first time he had ever kissed a man. He laughed and said: "Yes!" (In real life, Doug is married to his former "Melrose" co-star Laura Leighton who played the scheming Sydney).
"I understood it then and I understand it now," he said of the deleted kiss. "Matt was a blip on the map of the evolution of gay characters on television. I liken it to the Lucy and Ricky days when they had separate beds. What I focused on was having the audience understand what was common to our humanity, the gay people fall in love just like straight people and try and break down stereotypes. Matt was a character who was your brother or co-worker or neighbor. He was important in that regard."
OK, so enough about "Melrose." I wanna know who is getting killed off of "Desperate Housewives" on Sunday night. I say to him: "Is it that annoying woman you had the one-night stand with who had your baby? I hate her!" He laughs and for a second I think he's gonna spill it, just for me. No dice.
He says: "Hey, I like keeping my job!"