Desperate Housewives’ Kathryn Joosten has spunk … and lots of it! – Interview

Scandalous affairs and taxing situations may continue to abound during the final season of ABC’s Desperate Housewives, but one spunky character always manages to steal the spotlight every time she graces the screen. No, not Renee Perry, surprisingly — but Karen McCluskey, Wisteria Lane’s resident busybody. Played to perfection by two-time Emmy award winner Kathryn Joosten, Mrs. McCluskey has become something of a fan favorite, but what’s interesting is that her off-screen alter ego is every bit as spunky if not more so.

It’s no secret that Joosten has been battling lung cancer in real life, and while some individuals may shudder at having to go through such an ordeal, Joosten seems to laugh in the face of it. Perchance that is what makes her all the more fascinating. I was blessed to be able to catch up with the actress to chat with her about her battle with the disease in addition to her work on one of television’s hottest shows.

How does it feel to be a part of a successful program that has lasted so long?

It’s fabulous! This is my second big program. I started off on The West Wing. It was a fabulous program [but] it didn’t last more than two years for me. I got killed off. I’ve enjoyed so much being a part of a show like Desperate Housewives. It’s like family. It’s like home. I’ve been here for eight years.

You certainly have. So, let’s talk about Mrs. McCluskey. She got a love interest in season six, and now she’s succumbing to cancer. Say it isn’t so! What’s up with that? Who came up with that idea?

That was a joint idea between myself and [creator] Marc Cherry. I have cancer. I’ve had cancer for years, and so it was an opportunity to put the stories together. It was a chance to get the public talking about lung cancer, and to get them talking about different kinds of treatments and for them to recognize that lung cancer is something that people can have. It’s been a wonderful opportunity. I’ve been so grateful to the show for willing to go along with it.

Yes, ma’am. Well, I know that your character had it in season six, and she beat it off in a matter of episodes. Why was there the need to revisit the storyline exactly?

I’m not entirely sure. I think that it gives them the opportunity to do something with the character. They know that I have been very active with cancer advocacy issues, and I think they took the opportunity to explore some of that — to be a little more serious at times, and to give me something to do. All of the other ladies are sleeping around. I can’t very much be sleeping around with guys, so they had to have something for me to do.

That’s pretty funny. Tell me about your own battle with lung cancer.

It’s been pretty good. I’ve had lung cancer for ten years basically. I’m working. I’m healthy. I’m quite capable of living my life everyday. I’m just doing fine.

I know that you use your role as a celebrity to benefit those that are suffering from cancer. You’ve been very active. What have you been doing to help people with this disease?

My latest project, I’ve been working with the Pfizer pharmaceuticals. Pfizer has launched a program to inform the public as well as to re-inform the oncology community of the new frontiers in tumor identification. Everybody’s cancer is different. There are as many different kinds of cancers as there are people. It’s very, very important for cancer survivors to have their tumors analyzed and biomarked. Advancements are being made every day. I’m going to a conference in June in Chicago where they will be discussing the new drugs and new mutations and such.

That’s excellent! I did read that you don’t like it when people ask if you smoked. Why is that true?

Well, it continues the stigma. Lung cancer has a tremendous stigma to the general public. The first thing out of anyone’s mouth is, “Did you smoke?” [This] means did you do it to yourself? Right off the bat that pronounces that [you have] your disease because you did something wrong and that you’re now paying the price. First of all, I think that that is erroneous. People that have never smoked are getting lung cancer at rapid rates. Smoking is going down, down, down, and lung cancer is going up, up, up! I’m 72. Sure I smoked! You show me another 72 year old woman that didn’t smoke and didn’t think it was so glamorous when they were 25.

Do you think that other celebrities that may be dealing with lung cancer should be doing more as well to help those affected by the illness?

Absolutely. I can’t be the only person in all of Hollywood that has had lung cancer and has been public about it. I mean, yeah there was John Wayne, okay. I don’t know why others — I’m not sure why others won’t come out in public. I think they buy into that whole stigma of somehow they’re going to get blamed for it. They think they’re not going to be able to work. That’s foolish. I’ve been working all the way through, and I’ve been getting Emmys in the process. I don’t know why they won’t come out in public. I guess that’s their own privacy issues. I would hope that some celebrities would feel that because of their positions, they would have more [of a] responsibility to be a spokesperson.

Any words of wisdom for those that may be going through this, Ms. Joosten?

Yeah! Cancer is a process. If you get the diagnosis once, it doesn’t make any difference whether it’s been removed, or if you had it fifteen years ago. You’re always living with it — either with your emotions or the fear that it might come back, or some other aspect. It may become a chronic disease. I know many people that are diagnosed with stage four cancer who are leading lives and doing things and are just living with their cancer, and I would encourage that and I would encourage people to be public so that the rest of the world can understand that this is not something that you have to run away from.

Well said, Ms. Joosten. So, back to Desperate Housewives — is Mrs. McCluskey going to be okay? Is she going to make it to the finale?

I don’t know. They haven’t told me!

That’s unacceptable! I want you to make it! You have to be in the series finale, Ms. Joosten!

I would imagine that I’m going to be in the finale, you know. But I don’t know what shape or size or whatever. I don’t see the script until they show it to everybody.

My mother and I watch the show every Sunday, and we’re really rooting for your survival, so if you don’t make it in the finale, it’s really nothing for us to fly up to California and raise a little hell.

(Chuckles) I’m glad to hear that! Alright!

Do you have any plans for after Desperate Housewives wraps up?

Yes, I’m working on a webisode. I just bought a horse. It’s not trained, so I’m going to train her and we’re going to film it! I don’t know anything about training a horse. I have a trainer who’s going to train me to train the horse!

I understand completely. My father actually owns a horse. You’re in for it. You’re in for some fun. That’s all I’ll say.

I’m going to enjoy it tremendously. I’m looking forward to that. I don’t know, we’re going to put it on YouTube. I don’t know what we’re going to do with it, but we’re going to have some fun playing with it.

Great! Final question — any fond memories?

Oh, gosh, yes! I was sitting on my porch at my house [on Wisteria Lane] the other day with some of the crew. Here I am sitting on my porch having a coke in the sunshine with all of these beautiful phony flowers around us, and you know, it’s eight years. I’m going to miss it tremendously, and I’m going to miss the crew tremendously as well. They are like family. That’s just the way it is. You move on. It’s like graduating from college.

Desperate Housewives airs Sundays on ABC at 9/8c. For more information on Kathryn Joosten and her battle with cancer, visit lungcancerprofiles.com.