‘Devious Maids’ Alum Rebecca Wisocky Says Husband Is the ‘Only Good Love Decision I’ve Ever Made’

After many years of working on off-Broadway stages, Rebecca Wisocky became a star of the small screen in 2013 when she was cast as boss lady Evelyn Powell on Lifetime’s comedic soap Devious Maids. “It happened late enough in my career that I knew what good fortune it was,” Rebecca, 52, exclusively tells Closer, admitting that she’s always considered herself a “character actor,” never a leading lady.

In 2021, Rebecca’s TV fame ascended to a whole new plane when she began playing the haughty chatelaine Hetty Woodstone on CBS’ Ghosts. “I love pompous buffoons,” she confides. “It’s my favorite kind of comedy.” As she prepares for her fourth season on the hit sitcom and for a new recurring role on Max’s quite different The Sex Life of College Girls, Closer asked the fiery redhead for some insights into ghostly Hetty and the actress inhabiting her signature blue Victorian gown.

How did you find acting?

“I was a very shy kid, and my mother, bless her, had the great idea to take me down to the local city theater. I auditioned for one of the children’s plays, and just instantly loved it and came out of my shell. I spent my whole childhood there.”

Was your family supportive of your dreams of acting professionally?

“I am so incredibly grateful. I was an adopted only child, raised by two people who had absolutely no experience in the arts at all. My parents drove me back and forth to rehearsals all through school, nearly every night of the week. My mom and dad worked full-time jobs, too. They were selfless in the way in which they supported the thing that made me happy. They are now in their 80s, and when anything good happens, they’re the first phone call I make. Because it’s their win, too, and they’re my biggest fans. I know how fortunate I am.”

What does playing Hetty mean to you?

“When I read the Ghosts pilot, I instantly fell in love. I felt an affinity for the role and the type of comedy. I don’t know what it says about me that this character is 100 percent deep in my wheelhouse — probably nothing good!”

Hetty and another one of your characters, Devious Maids’ Evelyn, are both funny in an uptight way. Where do you find that within yourself?

“At NYU, I was cast as Mrs. Malaprop in the play The Rivals. And I remember thinking, ‘Come on, you gave me the old lady to play?’ But I took to the character, who had so much privilege and was also so ridiculous and so confidently wrong. My acting teacher said, ‘This is going to be your thing.’ And it turns out that prediction was true.”

What do you like most and least about Hetty?

“My favorite trait is that she has a childlike quality, a glee about discovering new things. My least favorite is that she’s so quick to judge. It takes really special writing to be able to get away with having this kind of character not be hateful. She says some wretched things, but you want for her to grow and change. It’s a wonderful tool to be able to say some provocative things about American history, which I’m proud that we’re doing.”

Have you heard from any viewers who’ve been touched emotionally by the show?

“Absolutely. In the episode where we discover how Hetty died, we took very seriously the fact that there will be people in our audience who have struggled with despair, with dark thoughts, or directly with suicide. I’m very grateful for and really moved by the response we received. I feel great that we’re on a show that can make people laugh, but can also handle some darker themes.”

Of course, a lot of people remember you from Devious Maids. How did it change your life?

“I had done pilots before, but Devious Maids was the first that actually went to series. So that was thrilling, to have a regular job and not have to hustle. People still recognize me for Evelyn Powell more than they do for Ghosts. I became great friends with my costars, as I have on Ghosts. Ana Ortiz was in my wedding party, and Tom Irwin gave a speech at my wedding reception in character as my TV husband, giving me away to my actual husband. Everybody got a kick out of that.”

Do you consider it your big break?

“My first big TV job was a guest star role on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. That was a really juicy role. People actually still stop me for that, too. That character was the very opposite of an Evelyn or a Hetty. I was in my early 20s, but I played a strung-out heroin-addicted mom who has her son rob jewelry stores to support her habit. They end up killing the son’s girlfriend. I really got a chance to let loose, and it was very scrappy and raw.”

You’ll also be seen on ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ this season.

“It’s not a large role, but it’s a very fun little arc. I play opposite one of the new series regulars, a new student at Essex College played by the actor Gracie Lawrence, who’s a wonderful singer and musician. I play her overbearing drama professor. I think that show is great. The writing is really fun, and all of the young actors on the show are spectacular.”

You married Broadway lighting designer Lap Chi Chu in 2015. What is your secret to a happy partnership?

“I cannot recommend enough marrying your best friend. My husband is possibly the only good love decision I’ve ever made in my life. And it took me a whole long time to figure out that I deserved it. We got married late, in our early 40s. We have three dogs that we adore, an exciting life, and I get to be married to someone I admire and respect and who makes me laugh and gets my jokes.”

Where’s home?

“We live in L.A. and New York. In L.A., we have a 1925 Spanish house that we fell in love with because there’s a big, old sycamore tree in the front yard that has twin trunks that have spread downward across the whole front yard. It’s creepy and weird and very beautiful. It’s very peaceful.”