Bree Van de Kamp

Bree Van de Kamp is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. She was played by actress Marcia Cross, who received multiple awards and nominations for her portrayal, including an Emmy Award nomination, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Cross' portrayal of Bree was widely praised by critics and fans.

Cross auditioned for the role of Mary Alice Young, but series creator Marc Cherry thought she was better suited for the role of Bree. Dana Delany, who was eventually cast as Katherine Mayfair, was chosen for the role but turned it down, saying it was too similar to her role in Pasadena.

Bree Van de Kamp is one of the four main protagonists in Desperate Housewives. Bree's main struggle throughout the series was her attempts to maintain a perfect life despite various obstacles such as widowhood, divorce, and alcoholism hindering her. She married Rex Van de Kamp (Steven Culp), Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan), and Trip Weston (Scott Bakula) and had relationships with various other men.

Character profile

Bree Mason grew up in Rhode Island when her father married a woman named Eleanor, after her mother's death, with whom she did not get along. In order to escape her stepmother's demands, Bree left for Lake Forest College near Chicago. Bree also mentioned on one of Eleanor's visits that she had to work for every kind word she was ever given by her stepmother. Bree met Rex Van de Kamp at a meeting of the Young Republicans. After they graduated, they married and had two children, Andrew and Danielle, and moved to Fairview.

Bree was very much written as an exaggerated version of the characteristics often attributed to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants; she has been called a "hyper-uptight WASP". Bree is recognized for her perfectionistic attitude and work ethic, which at times bordered on neurosis. Her perfectionism may stem from when her mother was killed in a hit-and-run; a 10-year-old Bree cleaned her blood off the road outside the house. She said that once everything was spotless, she felt much better.

Bree is known for her homemaking talents at the level of Martha Stewart, particularly her gourmet meals, breakfast treats, and pineapple bran muffins. She's also well versed in firearms; she owns 4 guns and is a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association. Bree supports the Republican Party, as stated in the season 3 opener, and was also known for being a member of the local Presbyterian church, as seen in the episode, Sunday. Her neighbors, Angie Bolen, Gabrielle Solis, and Renee Perry, nicknamed her "Nancy Reagan" on occasions.

Bree lived at 4354 Wisteria Lane in Fairview since 1994 and was also said to have a timeshare residence in Aspen that she never uses. Bree is based on creator Marc Cherry's own mother, and the Van de Kamp family is based on the family in which he grew up. Bree's family was based on Marc Cherry's teen years, while Lynette Scavo's family was based on Marc Cherry's childhood years. Bree and her first husband, Rex, were both named after the overtly vain characters on two of Marc Cherry's previous failed sitcoms, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans (Bree) and The Crew (Rex).

Both of Bree's marriages broke down and ended in divorce (however, Rex died before their divorce was finalized); following their requests for divorce, both of Bree's former husbands attempted reconciliation with her. Rex succeeded, whereas her second husband, Orson Hodge, did not. During the breakdown of her second marriage, Bree had an affair with Karl Mayer, her divorce lawyer and the ex-husband of her friend, Susan Mayer. However, Bree did remarry in the series finale to her lawyer, Trip Weston, making him her third husband.

Bree is the only one of the main four housewives to not appear in every episode. Appearing only as a stand-in in "My Husband, The Pig", Bree is totally absent in its six following episodes ("Dress Big", "Liaisons", "God, That's Good", "Gossip", "Into the Woods", and "What Would We Do Without You?") due to Cross' pregnancy.

Storylines

Backstory

Bree Mason was born on February 11, 1962. When she was 10 years old, her mother taught her a lesson about "masking" so she could hide true feelings and emotions, which prevented her from being able to be hurt by men. During Christmas 1972, her mother died in hospital after a car accident. Bree stayed at home and cleaned her mother's blood from the driveway. She felt relieved after that. Her father then married Eleanor (Carol Burnett). Bree had to earn respect from her stepmother and so worked very hard. Her dad took care of his daughter and tried to raise her to be a classy lady.

Bree was first engaged to her boyfriend, Ty Grant, but after she met Rex Van de Kamp, the two fell in love during their college years. Bree gave birth to their son Andrew in 1988 and daughter Danielle in 1989. The family moved in 1994 to 4354 Wisteria Lane, Fairview. She gave a bad first impression to Mary Alice Young and Susan Mayer, local neighbors and friends, after Andrew stole a ceramic frog from the Youngs' backyard. Bree, Susan, and Mary Alice later become close friends. In 1998, Lynette Scavo joined the group. Five years later, after a short and difficult first impression of Gabrielle Solis, all four women accepted the ex-model as their friend. In a review of the pilot, Tim Goodman from the San Francisco Chronicle called Cross "almost too perfect as uptight Bree" and applauded her for "managing to give the character more shadings than merely insanely perfect".

At the commencement of the second season, Bree was widely considered the series' most prominent character, following the first year's emphasis on Susan Mayer. Though a drop in quality was noted in the second season, Bree's battles with alcohol, her teenage son, and her murderous pharmacist lover, while continuing to deal with the death of her husband, were well received and considered the focal point of the series in light of the lagging Applewhite mystery.

Cross retained her center-stage position for the show's third season, which widely focused upon the mystery surrounding her new husband Orson. Critics noted an improvement in quality from the second season to the third, and many deemed Bree's storyline to be the most satisfying of the season, as well as noting a "loss of steam" during Cross' maternity leave at the latter part of the season.

Season 4's "fake pregnancy" storyline continued to satisfy critics, with one calling it the series' most "hysterical [storyline] yet" and singling Cross out for praise. Her friction with Katherine Mayfair was also noted as a highlight. Following the five-year leap, a new direction was taken with Bree's character as she made the transition from housewife to author/businesswoman, a development which received positive reception.

This change in character development was continued into season 6, with another side to Bree's personality being shown, which includes an affair with Karl Mayer. Critics lauded the comic relief provided by these developments,

In Season 7, Bree finds herself newly divorced and embarks on a relationship with Keith Watson, a move which was praised for allowing "the for-so-long uptight Bree letting her hair down and having some fun for a change." By the climax of season 7, Bree is central in covering up the murder of Gabrielle's stepfather, a move which was praised as a sound set-up for the final season.

Awards

Marcia Cross has received widespread acclaim for her portrayal of Bree. For her work on the second season of the show, she garnered the Satellite Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy (her second nomination) and also received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series twice as part of the cast (being nominated a further three times).

In 2005, Cross was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance in the season one episode, "Running to Stand Still". She also made the Top 10 Pre-Nomination Finalist listing for the same award three subsequent times, for her work on the second-season episode "Next", third-season episode "Listen to the Rain on the Roof", and fourth-season episode "Now You Know". She received three nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, for Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, for her work on the first three seasons of the show and also received three nominations at the Prism Awards (for Performance in a Comedy Series, in relation to Bree's alcoholism) and a nomination from the Television Critics Association for Individual Achievement in Comedy in 2005.

Cultural influences and impact

Bree is spoofed in MADtv Desperate Housewives parody, in which they mock the character's plastic exterior and demeanor. In a 2006 interview with Charmed Magazine, Michelle Stafford admitted that her character Mandi in Charmed episode "Desperate Housewitches" was almost entirely modeled after Marcia Cross as Bree. Looking at pictures and episodes of Bree to gain a sense of her posture and body language, she laughed, "I'm just mimicking her. I'm just ripping her off."

In 2007, Madame Alexander released a line of 16-inch fashion dolls of the series' main characters, including Bree.

<!--==Notes==

Bree Van de Kamp's character is based on the creator Marc Cherry's mother. In fact, the whole Van de Kamp family is based on Marc's family.
Marc Cherry immediately knew Marcia Cross was Bree when she walked in for her audition.
Bree is the only main housewife who doesn't appear in every episode.
Bree has been accused of murder three times:
first, with her husband Rex;
then, with her ex-boyfriend Chuck Vance;
and again, with Gaby's stepfather Alejandro.
Bree is the only housewife who remains financially stable throughout the entire series.
Bree was the first housewife to become a grandmother.
Bree has spearheaded the cover-up of a murder three times, in "Guilty", "Free", and "Come on Over for Dinner".
Bree is tied with Edie Britt in having the most husbands. Bree married Rex Van de Kamp, Orson Hodge, and Trip Weston while Edie married Charles McLain, Umberto Rothwell, and Dave Williams.
However, Susan Mayer married both of her husbands (Karl Mayer and Mike Delfino) twice, making her married the most times, that is, four times. Meanwhile, Gabrielle Solis married Carlos twice, making her married thrice as well (she married Victor Lang in Season 4).
Bree is the only main housewife not to be pregnant while on the show. Ironically, Cross is the only one of the four leading actresses to have gotten pregnant when the show was filming.
Bree and her ex-husband, Orson Hodge, have both been accused of killing their previous spouse.
Bree has been asked not to marry someone three times:
first, to George Williams, by his ex-fiancé, Leila;
second, to Orson Hodge, by his neighbor, Carolyn;
and third, to Karl Mayer, by his ex-wife, Susan.
Bree and Katherine, often depicted as rivals, share many similarities beyond their excellent cooking:
both have first husbands who are now dead along with second husbands who left them;
both have daughters who have children of their own (however, in Katherine's cases, to her adopted daughter);
both have been romantically involved with one of Susan's (ex-)husbands (Bree with Karl and Katherine with Mike);
both have red hair (however, in Bree's case, it's unnatural);
and both wed doctors.
Bree, Edie Britt, and Susan Mayer are the only three housewives who have slept with Karl Mayer.
Bree and Gabrielle Solis are the only housewives who have cheated on their husbands.

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References

External links

Bree Van de Kamp at What's on TV