Jesse Metcalfe and Eva Longoria filming ‘Desperate Housewives’ scenes in the 2000s. Photo:
Danny Feld/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
“There was a lot of making out … [but] we didn’t take it too seriously, that’s for sure,” the actor says
It’s been nearly 20 years since the iconic “the lawn hasn’t been mowed” moment in Desperate Housewives’ first episode almost exposed the affair between Eva Longoria’s rich housewife character and her young gardener.
Now, Jesse Metcalfe, who played gardener John Rowland opposite Longoria’s Gabrielle Solis, is remembering the show fondly as the 20th anniversary of Desperate Housewives’ premiere approaches in October.
Metcalfe, 45, exclusively reveals to PEOPLE at Boohoo Collective’s launch party in Los Angeles on Thursday, Aug. 29, that his favorite memory of his Desperate Housewives era involved his sex scenes with Longoria, 49.
“Every day was an out-of-body experience, honestly, because you got to drive onto the Universal Studios lot where Wisteria Lane was,” Metcalfe recalls. “There was a lot of making out. There were a lot of sex scenes and a lot of making out between Eva and I.”
“And although those scenes could be awkward at times, we were always laughing. So, we always had a great time. We didn’t take it too seriously, that’s for sure,” he adds.
Jesse Metcalfe and Eva Longoria filming ‘Desperate Housewives’ season 4, which aired in 2007.
Danny Feld/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Metcalfe also says that being part of Desperate Housewives, which ran from 2004 to 2012 for eight seasons on ABC, was a “crazy” experience.
“Oh, I feel old. I had the best time on that show,” the John Tucker Must Die star remembers. “The show was huge. I had everything thrown at me under the sun. I mean, all the perks of new fame and being 24, 25 years old, just riding that crazy wave. Everything was amazing.”
Jesse Metcalfe and Eva Longoria at the Emmy Awards in 2005.
Kevin Winter/Getty
Now, busy producing movies such as upcoming horror film The Possession at Gladstone Manor, Metcalfe recently reunited with Longoria at the premiere of her directorial debut for Flamin’ Hot in June.
Jesse Metcalfe on Aug. 29, 2024; Eva Longoria on Aug. 22, 2024.
Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Longoria also reflected on Desperate Housewives’ legacy that same month during an appearance on Today with Hoda and Jenna.
“It was a decade of my life and it was the No. 1 show in the world, so I just remember the first time I went to London … and there was a big crowd of people outside the hotel,” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘Gosh, who’s here? Is Bono here? Somebody important must be here!’ And the driver was like, ‘You.’ And I was like, ‘No, somebody like, big. Like a big deal!’ ”
“And he didn’t understand that I didn’t understand the global reach of that show at the time where there was no streaming,” she explained.
When asked by PEOPLE at the Boohoo Collective event how fans would react to the Desperate Housewives cast reuniting for the upcoming 20th anniversary, Metcalfe thinks, “People would go crazy for that.”
