Ugly Betty's Marc: 'I was meant to be fired!'

Ugly Betty star Michael Urie has revealed he was originally only hired to appear in one episode of the hit US comedy.

But the 28-year-old actor - who plays Wilhelmina's gay assistant Marc St James - managed to befriend Vanessa Williams, who plays Wilhemina, and so his character became a permanent fixture.

Michael said: "The original idea was for Wilhelmina to fire her assistant every week and hire a new one.

"I only had a few scenes in the pilot but I decided to do as much as I could with the part and Vanessa Williams, who plays Wilhelmina, was a major support from the beginning.

"She would tell me to stand closer and suggest funny things for us to do together. Oh, and she had this funny thing where she'd bark my name, so in the end they couldn't cut me out of the scenes!"

Michael says he's looking forward to developing his character further.

He said: "I'd say it's limiting as an actor to play a character that's so specific. Marc was very two-dimensional at the beginning but I think that's because the writers didn't have a plan for the character.

"I was simply the flying monkey to Wilhelmina's wicked witch. But his actions have begged the question, why does he act the way he does?"