Desperate Housewives: Interview with Josh Moore

Desperate Housewives is currently in its seventh season, and while the ladies of Wisteria Lane are desperately driving each other mad, there’s a new young star who’s catching Hollywood’s eye. Josh Moore may be more commonly known to Housewives fans as Parker Scavo, youngest begotten son of Lynette and Tom Scavo, but Moore’s career began long before his addition to the Housewives cast. In fact, at 16 Moore is already an established comedian, a movie star, as well as being on one of TV’s hottest series. And I was lucky enough to have the chance to talk with him. In an interview with Poptimal.com, Moore talks his Housewives role, Clint Eastwood’s style, and the terrible side of waffles.

So, you play Parker Scavo on the tv show Desperate Housewives, can you tell me more about how you got that role?
JM: “It took a lot of auditioning. The opportunity came up to audition for it and I went in and they liked me. And I got a call back and went in again and got another call back. It was a long process of auditioning and re-auditioning. And they liked me so I got the part.”

Parker is one of the more reserved of the Scavo children, what do you think accounts for that?
JM: “I really think with how much everybody else puts out emotionally and all the brothers being so crazy and everybody else taking up so much spotlight he just kind of prefers to keep to himself.”

And also, I heard that Felicity Huffman had a role in that; can you tell me about that?
JM: “On the first day I went in to film, I had gone in and we were doing the first scene ever and Felicity …was sitting in a room and my character Parker was trying to explain a computer program to her and the way they had written it he rolls his eyes, kind of like ‘you should know this.’ So I started to do that in the scene and Felicity says, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, Parker can’t roll his eyes, he’s the good one. We have two older twins that are crazy; we ought to have one good kid here.’ So that all just carried over from that.”

And are you happy about that change or do you wish you could be more boisterous?
JM: “It’s on and off, sometimes it’s nice to just go in and stay quiet, but every once in a while it’s cool to have a storyline that’s kind of crazy.”

Are there any storylines you wish your character Parker could get into?
JM: “There’s such a wide variety, I’m not sure what I would pick… I think I would definitely have Parker do something that made him a ton of money, so that we would never have to worry about financial stuff again and he’d be like Big Pimpin’ and everything; like in the cool car and all that.”

Can you tell us what your character Parker will be up to for the rest of the season?
JM: “In the next few episodes, he’s getting involved in one of the more political situations on the street with Paul Young, so watch out for that. “

Are there any scenes or situations you have gotten into on the show and you think about them in the real world, in your actual life, and they make you laugh. Can you share some of that with us?
JM: “A lot of times more than the scenes it’s the things that happen while we’re filming the scenes. I always remember this one day, every time I see a waffle it makes me sick … one day, it was five o’clock in the evening and it was a breakfast scene and they gave us these waffles and they said, ‘okay you have to eat these waffles, act like you’re hungry and actually eat.’ And we ended up eating like 15 waffles each and they were cold and gross. Every time I look at waffles, I’m repulsed by it.”

What are you most looking forward to for this season?
JM: “I’m hoping that Parker will really develop as a character so that at the end of this season or the beginning of next season, he can really start to become a serious part of the show.”

You got your start doing stand-up, like many of today’s top actors do. How do you think that prepared you for acting?
JM: “It’s very do or die, there’s no cut. It’s very in the moment. It’s actually great preparation because everything after stand up seems easy. It’s not as nerve wracking. Stand-up always makes you want to just throw up in the bathroom or something. It’s very scary.”

Do you have any plans to step into any other aspects of the industry?
JM: “I’ve been studying cinematography lately and I’m real interested in that, some behind the camera work so look out for that, and directing and producing as well.”

Where would you like to see your career go in the future?
JM: “I’d really like to stick with the dramatic film roles and just continue with that. Because it’s my favorite thing to watch so I can’t imagine how awesome it’s been to participate in. That’s kind of where I want to go… I want to get involved in everything.”

Desperate Housewives has been confirmed for two more seasons and although nothing has been set in stone, Moore hopes that the principal casting will remain the same with a few special guests. “I think it would be really cool if Bill Macy, Felicity’s husband, came on the show. He’s hilarious.”

More from Moore

• Of working with Clint Eastwood on the set of Changeling, Josh calls him “one of the coolest people I’ve ever worked with. He’s just laid-back, chill. When we started the scene he wouldn’t say action he’d just move his fingers in the air and everybody knew that meant start… he just knows how to run a set.”
• On his professional wish list, Josh would love to work with Martin Scorsese on a mobster film. I think we can all agree this is always, always a rockin’ idea.
• Josh is pretty much hazardous on any vehicle that is not a car. ATV, golf cart, he’s crashed them all and even managed once to drive off a cliff and was only saved by crashing into a tree and climbing back up 40 feet. Yet, in spite of that, he is actually working towards his learner’s and is a pretty good driver.

On a personal note: I’ve never hit anything and no one will let me near their car, with good reason. Yes, I’m officially hating.

You can catch Josh Moore on Desperate Housewives, Sundays at 9/8c on ABC.

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Images courtesy of NATHANIEL TAYLOR.