EXCLUSIVE : DEVIOUS MAIDS Scoop: Rebecca Wisocky Interview

Bodies and body parts seem to be cropping up everywhere on Lifetime’s DEVIOUS MAIDS.  Lifestyles of the rich and famous has never been more salacious, and for Evelyn and Adrian Powell, it is the perfect lesson of be careful what you wish for.  Looking for things to spice up their sex life, Adrian (Tom Irwin) decides to take a walk on the wild side at a local S&M club and poor Evelyn (Rebecca Wisocky) finds the last thing she would ever want in her precious rose garden — a severed leg.   After their maid was murdered in their home in the first season and the killer of their son was revealed in the second season, there had been some hope that the Powells would get a chance to relax in season three.  But, alas, fate has other plans for the tormented Powells.

In an exclusive interview, star Rebecca Wisocky talks about the latest mystery to embroil the Powells and how much delicious fun she is having playing Evelyn as the storylines keep getting juicier with each season.

How crazy is this season?! I’m just loving all the craziness that is going.  So wicked!
REBECCA:  (Laughs) Thank you! I think Season 3 is going to be the best one yet.

It seems like the show is intent on having fun with its mysteries.
REBECCA:  Definitely.  The pace is great and there’s some characters back that we know and love from the first season.  We’re really happy with it.

In last week’s episode, we saw the Powells visit the Velvet Whip and they seem to be experimenting.  Are we going to see more of that or is Evelyn fed up with it?
REBECCA:  She has been through so much with this man and she is willing to try just about anything.  But we know Evelyn has a problem with weakness in Adrian and that kind of dings a bell for her that is very complicated.  They persist on not being able to make their way back to one another.  I don’t think Adrian is going to let go of that brand of sexual ecstasy any time soon.  But it remains to be seen whether he finds a way to get that with Evelyn or whether he finds it with someone else.

There was a second there where Evelyn looked a bit intrigued before she felt embarrassed.  So there seemed to be some hope with that.
REBECCA:  She loves Adrian desperately, despite all evidence to suggest that perhaps she shouldn’t.  I think it is a great, weird, twisted love affair.  Now that they have a little bit of closure about their son Barrett, I think they are kids emotionally again.  They are trying to find a way to come together and I think it is interesting for a man who is so powerful and has so much control in the world that the thing that he found really turns him on is to be put in a position of no control.  That is an interesting insight that the show is making and I think you’ll see poor Tom Irwin as Adrian go down that road pretty far.

Is Tom game for that?
REBECCA:  (Laughs)  Oh, Tom is game for anything!  We both are.  Can’t you tell?

It does seem like your characters are having the most fun sometimes.
REBECCA:  We do have a great deal of fun with one another.  We have become very good friends and it is a joy to play with Tom as we go to work.  We both feel really lucky.  We both have dogs and we are both really obsessed with our dogs.  So we hang out a lot and we go to the dog park and go over the scenes together while the dogs chase each other around. It’s a fun ritual.  We have a lot of fun working out the stuff and trying to ground it in a way.  The behavior is outrageous, but we want these characters to feel like real human beings involved with pretty extreme circumstances.  Hopefully, the reason that you like them or you find them funny is because you really do believe that they are these people.  That’s what we are shooting for.

I have always felt like there was an under-current of love between Evelyn and Adrian.  That isn’t something we ever doubted between them.
REBECCA:  Good!

What have you enjoyed about portraying Evelyn?
REBECCA:  All of the above.  It’s a dream job.  It’s such a fun character. She has such a musicality about her.  The writers have been very, very kind to me.  I think they really enjoy writing for the character, as well.  She gets away with saying outrageously reprehensible things and yet you still find her endearing because she strikes a real nice balance of a big heart that has been mutated by pain and blinded by privilege.  Also, it is attractive that she is continually punished.  So you don’t feel too bad about rooting for the “rich bitch” on the show.

Do you think Evelyn has grown and changed since the first season?
REBECCA:  I think she is trying desperately to be a good, happy person.  She is just going about it in some pretty twisted ways. But I definitely think she has grown.

Last season we saw that Evelyn looked outside her marriage for entertainment.  Will we see her doing that again or she done with extramarital affairs?
REBECCA:  I don’t know.  There are lots of ways for Evelyn to get into trouble that don’t necessarily involve sex. She was pretty burned by that experience last year and that relationship had so much more to do with Adrian, than it had to do with the person she was sleeping with.  Those two will continue to drive one another crazy while being desperately in love — as well as being each other’s best friend and worst enemy.  That’s what makes that wheel go around.

Is that the secret to their success?  Their willingness to place this game.
REBECCA:  I don’t think they are willing to play the game, I just think they can’t help themselves.  They are destined to be partners ’til the bitter-end.

If you could sit Evelyn down and give her some advice, what would you tell her?
REBECCA:  Because I know more about her than you do at this point, I think Evelyn is actually doing okay.  I know that sounds weird.  But she finds her way towards actually taking a stand and demanding the thing that she believes will make her happy. The Powells go down a whole new road this year. The wound that will never heal left by Barrett has softened a bit and it makes way in Evelyn’s heart to love in that way again.  Perhaps she will have the desire to be a mother again this year.

Another thing we are starting to see more of is Evelyn having real friends.  Is she allowing people into her life or is it more of just social circle friendships?
REBECCA:  I love the friendship between Marisol (Ana Ortiz) and Evelyn.  Marisol certainly gets into a lot of trouble with her other friends, but I think it’s delightful.  I love Ana Ortiz so much.  We are also very good friends and that has been really fun.  So I hope we get to see more of that and I think she is a real friend.  Marisol and Evelyn have a lot in common.  They are both mothers with lots of complications.  There’s a simpatico there and that’s a real friendship.  Evelyn also has a lot of frenemies in her life in the social circles of Beverly Hills.  But, ultimately, her one true friend is Adrian.

What does Evelyn think of Taylor (Brianna Brown)?  Taylor seems to be in the thick of it this season.
REBECCA:  I know! Aren’t you so excited about that?  I love the Staffords so much.  I love Brett Cullen and Brianna Brown.  They are back in a big way with Katie and that whole thing.  A lot goes down.  The Stafford household is “ground zero” for some major deviousness and confusion and mystery this year.

Is Evelyn cluing in that may be where the mystery lies or was finding that severed leg in her garden enough for her and she doesn’t want to delve any further into that mystery?
REBECCA:  I think she is mortified because she tries so hard to keep up appearances and disembodied legs in your front yard makes that very difficult.  The Powells are a highlight on the Beverly Hills Murder House Tour — you’ll see that in the next episode.  It’s ridiculous and I think it’s really fun to see a character like Evelyn squirm.  So her uncomfortability with being discovered at the Velvet Whip and being the Murder House of Beverly Hills — it’s delicious to watch her squirm, for sure.  And you would have be questioned quite a bit for people to keep getting killed at your house.

Evelyn has also gone through a number of maids.  Given her track record, should Evelyn be allowed to have a new maid?
REBECCA:  (Laughs)  They don’t have to take the job. I certainly would never want to work for Evelyn Powell.  But Carmen is in a desperate situation and Adrian is in a desperate situation, and that’s how Carmen comes to be the maid at Chez Powell — and lots of fun things happen.  I was really excited when I heard that we were going to get to spend a lot of time with Roselyn Sanchez this year, and we had a blast.

Have you been able to work with everyone on the show yet?  It feels like there are little separate circles sometimes for the characters.
REBECCA:  Pretty much.  I don’t get to work with Susan Lucci enough and I love her.  She’s an icon and I worship her.  She is so truly lovely and kind.  The life that she has led is pretty amazing.  You forget all the amazing things she has accomplished and lived through in her life.  She looks so astonishingly good.  I love that character.  I love her relationship with Zoila (Judy Reyes).  I wish I got to work with Susan more.  But I have pretty much worked with everyone, at this point.  I have one scene with Naya Rivera this year.  She is new to our show and awesome.  It would have been nice to work with her more.

Who at this point has been Evelyn’s favorite maid?
REBECCA:  I don’t think Evelyn thinks in those terms.  They have all been problematic for her, certainly.  I think probably Marisol.  There is a real relationship that developed there.  The seeds were planted when Marisol was deep under-cover and trying to figure out who killed Flora at the Powell’s house.

When you get the scripts, do you ever raise your eyebrows over any of the outrageous dialogue?
REBECCA:  No, it feels very musical, very natural. For the Powells, especially, I think these scenes play themselves.  We love working on them and grounding the characters to make them feel like real human beings as they are saying and doing these extraordinarily outrageous things.  But the musicality of the dialogue is a testament to how strong our writer’s room is.  They really, really are and we love them.

Have you ever caught yourself picking up and using anything Evelyn says and using it in your real life?
REBECCA:  (Laughs) I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy turning a phrase.  I love her.  I love her tone.  I love her ridiculousness.  I love that she is kind of in on the joke, yet she is really blind at the same time.  I am certainly not like Evelyn Powell, but I have a great deal of fun climbing into those Palazzo pants.

And the wardrobe!  That fabulous wardrobe she wears.
REBECCA:  Oh my gosh! The wardrobe department, and the hair and the make-up.  The look of the show is so wonderful.  Huge shout-out to Emmie Holmes, who is our costumer designer.  I’ve never enjoyed costume fitting so much.  She’ll have a rack of things and every single one of them is wonderful.  It’s not all incredibly expensive things.  She makes the Powells look like they have more money than God, but on a very modest budget.  They are just really great crafts people across the board.  And the sets.  We are very lucky.

For you, what has been the most fun of working these past three seasons on DEVIOUS MAIDS?
REBECCA:  I love Evelyn.  I love working with Tom Irwin so much.  It’s been so nice to be able to have this longevity with a show and have a following and enthusiasm from people that allows you the privilege of portraying a character for three years.  It’s been really fun.  We also have such a wonderful work environment.  Our crew in Atlanta and the whole cast, we really enjoy one another’s company.  So it’s been a wonderful experience for me.  It’s a great year.  I’m getting married this year and it’s lovely.  I’m having the time of my life.

Congratulations!  Sounds like an amazing year for you.  What kinds of teasers would you like to share with the fans about what’s coming up on DEVIOUS MAIDS?
REBECCA:  With a leg must come a body, and whether or not it is parceled out in pieces or whether or not we discover a corpse somewhere remains to be seen.  Who that leg belonged to will unravel several people’s lives in the show.

To find out just whose leg was found and what part the Powells have to play as the Season 3 mystery unravels, tune in for all new episodes of DEVIOUS MAIDS on Monday nights at 9:00 p.m. on Lifetime.