Vanessa Williams has a very simple philosophy about why she keeps saying yes to the most beautiful tough women in TV and theater, and it comes down to one thing: Not being afraid.
The 63-year-old appeared The Happy Grownup Podcastwhere host Hal Rubenstein cut right to it: “Why do you keep playing b–ches?”
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 liked’. Well, why have a career if you’re just taking roles that you want to be liked? It’s ridiculous.”
The list of formidable women she has inhabited is long.
There was Wilhelmina Slater, the gloriously self-absorbed creative director of Fashion on Ugly Betty.
Then came Renee Perry, the wily troublemaker she played Desperate Housewives.
She is currently playing Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada musical in London’s West End.
And she traces the path further back, to the TV movie from 2000 A Diva’s Christmas Carolwhere she played a transgender Ebony Scrooge.
“A Diva’s Christmas Carolit was probably the first,” she said.
Beyond the attitude, Williams says these characters give her something most roles simply can’t.
“They always have the best lines. I mean, every day I read a script, I’m like, ‘That’s funny. Oh, that’s really scary. I want to do that.” It’s fun for me.”
She also credits having “chutzpah” and “gravitas” to pull off these larger-than-life figures.
“I take risks. I think you have to put yourself out there when you’re playing someone who’s larger than life and isn’t afraid to step up to the plate and be a heavy hitter.”
Williams first came to public attention in 1984 as the first black person to be crowned Miss America before transitioning to a music career and earning 11 Grammy nominations, including Song and Record of the Year for her 1992 number one hit Save the best for last.
She made her Broadway debut in Spider-Woman’s Kiss in 1994 and received a Tony nomination for The witch in 2002 the revival of Into the forest.
