Ugly world of fashion
Last updated 11:46, Saturday, 27 September 2008
Marc St James, the scheming, slickly-dressed assistant to villainous magazine boss Wilhemina Slater, is much-loved by fans of Ugly Betty.
But when Texan actor Michael Urie auditioned to play the “bitchy, gay assistant” in the US series, the role wasn’t going to exist beyond the pilot.
“The original idea was for Wilhelmina to fire her assistant every week and hire a new one,” 28-year-old Michael explains.
“I only had a few scenes in the pilot but I decided to do as much as I could with the part and Vanessa Williams, who plays Wilhelmina, was a major support from the beginning.
“She would tell me to stand closer and suggest funny things for us to do together. Oh, and she had this funny thing where she’d bark my name, so in the end they couldn’t cut me out of the scenes!”
For the uninitiated, Ugly Betty follows the high jinks at fictional fashion magazine Mode.
It’s been phenomenally successful, but went off air for nine months during the Hollywood writers’ strikes.
When we left them, Daniel and Alexis were recovering from a car “accident”, Betty was getting over the fact the love of her life had got his ex-girlfriend pregnant, and receptionist Amanda discovered her mother was the notorious former Mode editor, Fey Sommers.
Michael says there’s lots of juicy stuff ahead for his character.
“There’s more drama, particularly between me and Wilhelmina as we try and concoct a new plan to make her editor.”
When we last saw Marc, his mother hadn’t reacted well to him coming out to her and there was the romance with boyfriend Cliff.
“I find their odd-couple romance fascinating,” he says.
“They cast this loveable oaf, someone you’d least expect Marc to fall for, so I’m looking forward to exploring that.
“But then the show’s really about masks. The Mode staff are wearing masks all the time but there has to come a point where they fall off or we choose to take them off. Then there’s Betty and her family in Queens who don’t wear masks but need to occasionally to get things done.”
Marc gets some great lines, but Michael is looking forward to developing the character further.
“Marc was very two-dimensional at the beginning but I think that’s because the writers didn’t have a plan for the character. I was simply the flying monkey to Wilhelmina’s wicked witch. But his actions have begged the question, why does he act the way he does?”
Fortunately Michael often has his best friend Becki Newton – who plays Amanda on the show – by his side.
“We hit it off immediately. I suppose we went in at the same level. Becki had done a bit of TV work and lots of commercials and I’d done a bit of theatre but neither of us had been on anything on a similar scale to Ugly Betty. We ad libbed from the start and would take three or four lines and extend it to eight or nine. The writers saw us as a team and decided to work with it.”
Marc is a fabulously flamboyant dresser on the show, but Michael is a little more low-key in real life.
“I’ve learnt a lot about fashion since working on the show. Before I knew nothing. I’d wear a brown belt and black shoes. That’s wrong, isn’t it?
“I wear exactly what wardrobe tell me to wear ’cos it’s usually funny. I mean how many times do you get to play a character who’s funny before they even say anything?”
Fans of the show have some famous faces to watch for in the new season, namely Lindsey Lohan and Naomi Campbell.
Did the supermodel live up to her reputation?
“There was a joke in the script that alluded to her antics with a cell phone, but she was very cool and fun to work with. She was completely at ease playing a version of herself and happy to make fun of herself too.”
The Ugly Betty cast have played host to several celeb guest stars, including Victoria Beckham.
“Posh Spice loves the show and everyone loved her. When she appeared, she brought David and her three children along with her.
“We have about 300 people working on the show and on any given day you might see about 50 of them. That day, everyone came to check the Beckhams out.”
So no diva behaviour?
“I don’t think anyone could get away with that on our set because there’s no room for it. We’re having too much fun. I’ve not even seen anyone lose their temper.
“The material is so silly or loving, I suppose you could say we get all our diva behaviour out in front of the camera.”
As for those rumours regarding Ugly Betty – The Musical, Michael is keeping mum.
“I’d love for it to be true but I really don’t know whether it will happen. There’s definitely been talk of a musical episode though. I’m not a great singer but I’d love to sing in the show. A duet with Vanessa Williams, now that would be the ultimate!”
n Ugly Betty screens on Friday nights on Channel 4.
