Former 'Ugly Betty' star Vanessa Williams is the new face on 'Desperate Housewives'. The RTÉ Guide’s John Byrne reports on her arrival to Wisteria Lane as the show returns for its seventh season.
"There's a new sheriff in town", says 'Desperate Housewives' creator Marc Cherry of Vanessa Williams' Renée Perry, the latest newcomer to Wisteria Lane. "You're going to love to hate her." What wonderful news!
Since Nicollette Sheridan departed a couple of years ago, things just haven’t been the same down Fairview way. As well as being a good laugh, her Edie character provided a big dollop of competitive sexual tension. But the arrival of Williams looks certain to bring a little bitchiness back to a show that was short on it last season. There’s a new bitch in town!
Dana Delaney may be gone, along with last season’s newcomer Drea De Matteo, but the arrival of Vanessa Williams – last seen playing vampish Wilhelmina Slater in the now departed 'Ugly Betty' – has set tongues wagging positively about the show in a way we haven’t seen in years.
After six years and many changes of personnel, 'Desperate Housewives' was reaching a critical stage in its run, maybe even creaking a little, but if anyone can shake up this tongue-in-cheek soap with their acting chops and sheer presence, it’s Vanessa Williams.
Hugely talented in several areas – she can act on stage or on screen, sing and look fantastic, and has just finished a hugely successful run on Broadway, starring in Sondheim on Sondheim – she has what it takes to get Wisteria Lane really swinging once again.
Tuesday’s season seven opener on RTÉ Two sees her arriving as Lynette Scavo's rich friend Renee Perry, in town on an unexpected visit. On top of that, Paul Young (Mark Moses), last seen heading to jail for murder, returns with his new wife after his release from prison, and they move into Susan's old house.
Meanwhile, Susan is offered a job by the manager of the apartment building where she and Mike now live; the newly single Bree is tempted by her handyman, Keith Watson (played by Brian Austin Green); and Carlos and Gaby are keeping secrets from each other.
"She is married to a New York Yankee", says Williams, when asked about her character. "She comes to the lane because of marital problems and visits her old friend Lynette, Felicity Huffman's character, and ends up liking it so much she stays."
And yes, Renee will have something of Wilhelmina Slater about her. "I think they are playing to an audience that expects something like that", she adds, delighted to have landed a role in a major TV show so soon after Ugly Betty was dropped. "I think they want to make it as interesting and get as much bang for their buck in bringing people who are fans of mine and what I brought [to Ugly Betty] for the last four years to the Lane. She is certainly not Wilhelmina, but she is no shrinking violet either."
Williams is carved from the same type of human granite. She survived scandal (being stripped of the Miss America crown), to build a new career as a Broadway singer and chart-topper. That led to Hollywood and a variety of roles, until she landed the part of Ugly Betty’s publishing diva, Wilhelmina Slater.
That show wrapped for the last time earlier this year, and Williams signed up for a return to Broadway, before the suits at ABC came calling to offer her a part on Desperate Housewives. Bingo!
I recall meeting Drea de Matteo (who played Adriana La Cerva in The Sopranos) on the Housewives’ set just after she joined for season six, and she admitted that she was "a nervous wreck" on her first day of shooting because she was such a fan of the show. No such problems for Vanessa Williams.
"They have been so nice and so welcoming", she says of the rest of the cast. "They are genuinely happy to have me on board. They are a well-oiled machine at this point; their careers are firmly established, their characters are known and loved, and they are welcoming my new energy. It has been wonderful and easy."
But there’s always a downside, isn’t there? For Williams, the end of Ugly Betty also meant no more access to what was probably the most impressive wardrobe on TV since Sarah Jessica Parker’s on Sex and the City.
"Well, it certainly will never be like Wilhelmina again", she says of her Wisteria wardrobe. "I certainly miss the racks and racks of couture that were available on a per episode basis [on Ugly Betty]. There is really no comparison. On Housewives, we try to make Renee seem like she has money and make her different from the gals on the Lane."
Despite a waistline that’s as narrow as any of the other stars’ on Desperate Housewives, and looking a lot less curvy than she did on 'Ugly Betty', Williams feels that, with her 50th birthday not too far away (she’s a pretty impressive-looking 47), keeping slim ain’t like it used to be. But she’s not pushing herself that hard, she insists.
"Not daily, but I have to work out", she says, when asked about her fitness regime. "I mean, I train. I weight-lift. I try to get to the gym at least twice a week with a trainer. If I don’t, I try to get on the treadmill at least an hour a day and I try to eat as well as I possibly can, because it’s not that easy. It’s like from 38 on, you know, normally you can stop eating for a couple of days and you could see – you knock those few pounds off and my tummy will go down. The older you get, it’s hard. You still do the same regimen, but you don’t see any difference."
From Tuesday you can make up your own mind about her regimen – and her impact on Wisteria Lane.
John Byrne
