A pescatarian who drove a Prius "until it got totaled," Dana Delany has an electronic way of being green. "I use my iPad now instead of printing out paper, which is great. I love my iPad," says the star of the new ABC procedural drama "Body of Proof," which premieres March 29. After three seasons on "Desperate Housewives," Delany is in the center spotlight as Megan Hunt, a neurosurgeon who becomes a medical examiner when an accident renders her unable to operate. "I miss my friends at 'Housewives.' It really became a family, but I'm always up for the next adventure," says Delany, who was eager to play the "smart and complicated" coroner.

 

"She was addicted to the job, addicted to the power, and then she lost it all. It's almost like she now needs to redeem herself. She's been driven her whole life by work and she's realizing that that may be not be everything she needs in life. I see her as Charon, the guy who ferries the bodies across the river Styx," Delany says. "She sees that as honoring these people and what their lives were, and letting them go."

 

Admittedly nervous before she spent the day with a medical examiner, Delany loved the experience. "I got to hold a brain in my hands. But the coolest thing to me was the pituitary gland. It runs everything. And it's safely nestled in this little box of bone underneath the brain. Really beautiful." Learning medical terminology, however, was a bit daunting, "but we have a great tech advisor," she notes.

 

Although she's good at her job, Hunt failed at marriage and wouldn't win the mother of the year award, and Delany thinks that personal life deficiency will continue. "I'm hoping she's really bad at romance," she says.

 

"Body of Proof" is set in Philadelphia but shot in Providence, where the cast moved for the duration of production. "The great thing about being on location is it really makes the actors form a team, because we're all new in town," Delany notes. "We've all been to the mall a lot together."

 

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