Is Syd dead for good this time, or is there hope for another revival?

I
think their intentions are that Sydney’s really dead. I serve a purpose
to link the past to the present, and I also bring a noir mystery
quality to the first season. But they really want focus on the new cast
of characters, and I’m sort of a nod to the past.

The last actress to play dead in that pool, Kristin Davis as Brooke Armstrong, went on to star in Sex and the City.

I forgot that someone else died in that pool. What season did that happen… I guess I should ask you, right?

Season
4! Ashlee Simpson-Wentz plays Syd’s long lost daughter Violet in the
new series. Did she and the other younger actresses look to you for any
motherly guidance and wisdom?

Well, girls in their 20s don’t exactly
turn to a woman in her 40s for advice. [Laughs] I do have a different
perspective and certainly a different life than most of the other cast
members; I’m juggling a family, so my mind is on that when I’m not
working on set. Right after we shot the pilot we were in New York for
the upfront presentations, and it was our first time all together as a
cast. We were meeting some magazine editors, going from office to
office, and I did find myself turning to the cast in the lobbies of
office buildings and going, “OK, does anybody need to go potty? Because
now’s the time.” And I’m the one they came to if they needed Chapstick
or hand sanitizer.

Josie Bissett’s Jane, Thomas Calabro’s
Michael, and Daphne Zuniga’s Jo are all scheduled to appear in the new
series. Is there another original Melrose character you’d like to see
brought back -- if for no other reason but to find out what became of
them?

It’s been very nostalgic for all of us returning cast members,
so we want all the old characters back -- we’re very biased. Thomas and
I were talking the other day about the period of time when Sydney,
Michael, and Peter, Jack Wagner’s character, were all working in the
doctor’s office together when I was the receptionist. We were
remembering how the three of us were always laughing and goofing around
when we shot those scenes, so we thought it would be fun to find out
what Peter’s doing and if Peter, Michael, and Sydney could mix it up
again.

Should producers pay Heather Locklear whatever
outrageous amount she’s currently demanding to get her back on the show
as Amanda Woodward?

[Laughs] You probably know more about all that than me. I’m always the last to hear.

Your
husband Doug’s character, Matt Fielding, technically died during the
original series as well, but we never saw his corpse either. Though he
currently stars on Desperate Housewives, would Doug do a Melrose cameo
if Marc Cherry and ABC allowed it?

Doug’s a great sport and always
up for anything, but when I introduced Doug to our producers at our
premiere party, they said, “Well, we don’t think we can have more than
one character return from the dead.” Doug kind of went, “Oh, OK. So I
guess I won’t be coming back.”