Vanessa Williams has a very simple philosophy about why she continues to say yes to the most deliciously difficult women in television and theater, and it comes down to one thing: not being afraid.
The 63-year-old appeared on The Happy Adults Podcastwhere host Hal Rubenstein got straight to the point: “Why do you keep playing bitches?”
Williams laughed and got straight to the point.
“You know, I think you shouldn’t be afraid, because some people say, ‘Oh, I want to be loved.’ Well, why have a career if you just accept roles in which you want to be liked? It’s ridiculous.”
The list of wonderful women she lived with is long.
There was Wilhelmina Slater, the gloriously self-centered creative director of Fashion on Ugly Betty.
Then came Renee Perry, the sneaky troublemaker she played with. Desperate housewives.
She currently plays Miranda Priestly in The devil wears Prada musical in London’s West End.
And she traces the trajectory further, to the 2000 TV movie A Diva’s Christmas Carolin which she played a gender-reversed Ebony Scrooge.
“A Diva’s Christmas Carolit was probably the first,” she said.
Beyond attitude, Williams says these characters give him something that most roles just can’t.
“They always have the most delightful lines. I mean, every day I read a script, I’m like, ‘This is hilarious. Oh, this is really terrifying. I want to do that.’ It’s fun for me.”
She also credits having the “chutzpah” and “gravitas” needed to realize these larger-than-life characters.
“I take risks. I think you have to put yourself out there when you’re going against someone who’s larger than life and isn’t afraid to step up and be a big hitter.”
Williams first came to public attention in 1984 as the first black person to be named Miss America, before turning to a music career and earning 11 Grammy nominations, including song and record of the year for her number one hit in 1992. Save the best for last.
She made her Broadway debut in Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1994 and received a Tony nomination for The witch during the relaunch in 2002 In the woods.
