Casting for "Desperate Housewives" began in February 2004. Director Charles McDougall reported seeing around 150 "very good and determined women" audition for the four leads. Eva Longoria was the first actor cast in a lead role, landing the role of Gabrielle Solis, a materialistic ex-model, after two auditions. Longoria, an unknown soap opera actress at the time, stated that prior to her audition, she had not read the entire script. She recounted, "Marc Cherry asks, 'So what did you think of the script?' like the whole thing. And I said, 'Well I didn’t read the script. I only read my part.' And Marc Cherry goes, 'I knew you were Gabrielle at that moment because it was such a Gabrielle thing to say.'" Roselyn Sánchez also auditioned for the role. Teri Hatcher was cast in the role of Susan Mayer, a single mother looking for love, after a second audition for ABC network executives. Cherry commended Hatcher's audition, calling it "the best audition I've ever seen in network name="cherry on audition">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXYk3TARnmw ABC.com's "Ask "Desperate Housewives": Season 6, Part 12". YouTube. May 4, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2011.</ref> Actors originally considered for the role include Courteney Cox, Calista Flockhart, Mary-Louise Parker, and Sela Ward. Julia Louis-Dreyfus also expressed interest in the role, but network executives felt she was not right for the part.