DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - CROSS: 'DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES FINALE MADE ME ILL'

Actress MARCIA CROSS spent days recovering from shooting the harrowing finale of the first season of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES -because tapping into such painful emotions made her ill.

The redhead, who stars as uptight BREE VAN DE KAMP in the hit show, had to play a woman on the verge of a breakdown as the programme wrapped - as she mourned the death of her husband, played by STEVEN CULP.

And she admits the finale was especially tough on her.

She says, "By the time we shot it, I was so happy to be finished. I don't dial anything in. I definitely go there, and I was really exhausted.

"If you really tap into that feeling of loss, it's just horrible."