Today, she lives in L.A. with her husband, stockbroker Tom Mahoney, and they are expecting twins. But here Cross takes us back to Boston, the big, diverse, and historic city where she first saw her future, and where Marcia Cross and Bree Van De Kamp can both feel quite at home.

Where would Bree Van De Kamp go in ­Boston?

She would go to Filene's Basement. She would be more in the upscale parts of the town. Maybe she would live on Beacon Hill, a beautiful street that runs along the Back Bay. It has gorgeous brownstones and is a very coveted place to live. I'm thinking that would be a good place for her, yes. She could afford to shop on Newbury Street, where, when I was younger, I couldn't. She'd also be at Copley Place, which has Neiman Marcus and very high-end shops. There is a Restoration Hardware, which she would be crazy about. If you're into antiques, you have to walk along both sides of Charles Street and over to River Street. That's the antiques district, and you'll find everything. Bree would buy things for her home there. She would meet her girlfriends for tea at the Bristol, just off the lobby of the Four Seasons. If she were drinking, she would go to the Ritz Bar, which has great martinis.

You grew up in Marlborough. When did you first see Boston, and what were your ­impressions?

When I was a kid, Boston might as well have been New York. We just really weren't the kind of family that - on a moment's notice - drove to the city. So it was like the big city, but it was really not that far away from Marlborough. On field trips, we would go to the New England Aquarium, which was fantastic, and the Boston Museum of ­Science. Then, as I got older and became interested in theater, our drama teacher took us to see A Chorus Line. That was probably one of the greatest highlights of my life. Actually, I should talk about my mother taking us to Fenway Park; that's better.

Okay, tell me about Fenway Park.