Brenda Strong Ready For Dallas & Last Season Of Desperate Housewives

By Jolie LashBEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- It was one of the biggest television moments of all time when Bobby Ewing appeared in a shower on Dallas in May 1986, returning to life as the show rolled back an entire season via Pam Ewings dream. And no one is happier than actress Brenda Strong, who plays the legendary TV characters new wife in the upcoming TNT reboot. Oh thank God, thank God [she] woke up and [he] came out of that shower, otherwise I wouldnt have a role, Brenda joked on Sunday night at ABCs Television Critics Association bash at the Beverly Hilton. The Emmy nominated Desperate Housewives actress (for Outstanding Voice-Over), has begun filming the Dallas reboot, playing Ann Ewing, and the project reunites her with Jesse Metcalfe, Eva Longorias DH Season 1 love interest. On Dallas, however, Jesse plays Christopher Ewing, the adopted son of Bobby, and stepson of Brendas character. Hes my new son-in-law and I have to say, Jesse really showed up for the pilot, she told Access Hollywood. His acting has gotten so incredibly detailed and rich and I think people are gonna be surprised about how good he is in this. South Fork, Texas, the central location for Dallas, is a departure for Jesse, who spent Season 1 of DH as Gabrielle Solis sexy gardener-turned-lover and its also a big change for Brenda who played the heard, but not often seen, late Mary Alice Young in DH. I am the new Mrs. Bobby Ewing, I am Ann Ewing and Im not replacing Pam, Im not replacing Victoria Principal. Ive been married to him for seven years, she explained of her new character. I come back as a very strong equal and come from a moneyed family and shes definitely entrenched in Dallas society, but shes grounded and earthy at the same time. Shes kind of like the new Miss Ellie [Ewing]. Dallas is actually in production, but because DH is officially now entering its final season, Brenda is about to get very busy, as creator Marc Cherry revealed at the TCA session on Sunday that the last run for the show would reexamine DHs original story line the tragic suicide of her character. Weve heard that Mary Alice will have more of a presence and I do know that Marc Cherry said whatever our last season is, theres some tension that should bring Mary Alice back more to kind of bookend it, she said. So we have Mary Alice getting us off to a bang at the start and were fishing with a bang as well. The actress said shes filmed several scenes already on Wisteria Lane that look back on themes from the shows debut year, 2004. I actually just worked on the set last week and I had to go back to the day I killed myself, and talk about recapitulation. Its like, Enough, already! Its so depressing, she said of the heavy material. But really, whats great its kind of like Groundhog Day. You can go back to the same day, but once you do that, theres so much nuance emotionally that you can start to reveal and it actually talks about without giving too much away that I wanted to call my friends but then decided not to and so I think its a very emotionally charged subject and Im hoping that I get to see a lot more of the ladies with me. Desperate Housewives ends its Season 8 run in 2012. Dallas premieres next summer on TNT. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.