Interview Outtakes, Part 3

Most of the time when I am conducting an interview with a soap star, I have more interview material than space for printing the interview. Here are some blurbs from stars that did not make it to the print version of the interview, but were too good not to publish.

Vanessa Williams (ex-Elizabeth, “South Beach,” pictured left) on the possibility of Wilhelmina and Daniel every getting together on “Ugly Betty”: “That would be bizarre. I can’t even say it’s a love/hate relationship, because I don’t think she’s ever really loved. She’s tolerated and hated him. Maybe if the show were to end and then they had the two of us get together — I don’t even know how the fans would react, but that would definitely be something completely unexpected.”

Taylor Spreitler (Mia, “Days of Our Lives”) on where she’d like to see herself in 10 to 15 years: “I just still want to be working. I don’t really care what else happens — yeah, winning Emmys and stuff like that, that’d be nice — but as long as I am working, I don’t really care.” On pursuing a musical career: “If I did do that, it probably wouldn’t be for a while. But that would be fun. I love singing, but I am kind of scared. I get nervous when I have to sing.”

Jane Krakowski (ex-Tonya, “Another World”): “Here’s a little bit of trivia for you: Tina Fey’s husband, Jeff Richman, writes all the songs and all the music on ‘30 Rock’ — the incidental music, the theme song, ‘Muffin Top,’ all the Janis Joplin-type songs we did this past season, the musical event on the season finale, etc. Jeff writes incredible songs. He is such a talented musician.”

Michael Easton (John, “One Life to Live”) on playing vampire Caleb Morley on “Port Charles” from 2001-03: “That was so much fun. We had a lot of fun with that. That story line had passion and humor, and so many things that you don’t often get. We were very fortunate to get such good story lines.”

Melora Hardin (of “Gilmore Girls” and “Once and Again”) on filming the feature film “You,” her directorial debut: “It is quite a family affair. My husband wrote it, I directed it, we co-produced it, and we both star in it with our children and my parents (both actors, my Dad is well-known character actor Jerry Hardin). We also work with lots of good friends, who are also wonderful actors, like Brenda Strong (“Desperate Housewives”), Joely Fisher (“Till Death”), Allison Mack (“Smallville” and Amy Pietz (“Caroline in the City”). We made the film in 18 days with our own money and in our own home, as well as many locations donated by friends and family. One of my best friends, Paula Cole, wrote the title song for the movie, and lots of other great musicians contributed to our fabulous soundtrack.”

Interview: Vanessa Williams Helps Others Express Success

Perhaps it was during her turn as a cut-throat hotel owner in the nighttime drama South Beach where Vanessa Williams first honed her skills as a business woman to be reckoned with. Nowadays, Vanessa is sharpening her claws in her current Emmy-nominated role of Wilhelmina Slater on ABC’s hit show Ugly Betty.

However, the real woman behind those ball-breaking ladies is nothing like those characters. Aside from being a television superstar, Vanessa is also a Tony-nominated stage actress, a multiple Grammy-nominated singer, a movie star and a vocal spokesperson for BOTOX Cosmetic.

Vanessa tells me: “I started using BOTOX after I turned 40. I’m 46 now. I did it because I wanted to maintain the way I look — not particularly to look younger, but to look refreshed. I think that has been my secret weapon for the past six years. I do not want to look like anyone else; I want to be myself. I’ve had such great success with BOTOX.”

Vanessa is presently helping to promote the launch of Allergan’s “BOTOX Cosmetic: Express Success” campaign. Allergan has teamed up with Dress for Success to help promote workplace education and to distribute professional attire to women who cannot afford it to help them on their job searches.

Vanessa explains: “I signed onto this campaign, because it is a win/win situation. I am a working mother, a person who is in front of the camera all the time and who wants to look my best. This was an opportunity to team up with a fantastic product that I use and to give back to the community as well. The nonprofit Dress for Success is an opportunity for women who don’t have the means that I do to get proper training for the workforce, get some amazing clothing and be able to start on the path toward becoming a successful woman in business.”

Vanessa herself is the epitome of success in business — as a singer and an actress. Her latest album, The Real Thing, was released June 2 on Concord Records. Vanessa describes the album as “kind of jazzy, a little bit of a Latin feel, a little bit of R&B. I went to my friends who are producers and who I’ve worked with over the years — Babyface wrote two songs and produced; Keith Thomas, who produced “Save the Best for Last” and “Colors of the Wind,” produced about five tracks; and Rob Mathes, who produced my two Christmas albums, produced as well. I basically went back to people who know my musical taste.”

Vanessa was thrilled to have recently sold out two performances in Atlantic City at the Tropicana. “It’s always great to do new performances and feature new music, so that was a lot of fun. The good thing about it is I’ve always been able to do these one-off performances while I’m shooting a role. I’ve kept my live performances going, but it’s always great to introduce new music, and the audience really responded to it.”

Vanessa is now hard at work back on the Ugly Betty set, which moved back to New York at the beginning of the previous season. Like most fans, Vanessa feels the move was great for the show.

“I love it. When we originally did the pilot, it was a New York show. The shock of moving to L.A. for two years definitely was a transition. And once we finally relaxed and enjoyed where we were, that’s when they pulled the rug out and moved us back to New York. But it’s great to be back, and now all my kids are on the same coast. I think the show is completely authentic now — we are walking the streets of New York, you can see Manhattan, our casting is local, and I think a lot of people enjoy seeing New York as a character of our show, like it was in the pilot.”

If you want to help Vanessa with Allergan’s Express Success campaign, go to ExpressSuccessCampaign.com to find out how to donate professional clothing or money to this great cause.