vanessa williams – welcome to hollywood
the highlife
Actress
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Although her character was written off after only one season, actress Vanessa Williams admits that she is still open to reprising the character of “Rhonda” on the CW’s revamped version of “Melrose Place.”
“It would be exciting … it put me on the map in terms of my first kind of ‘welcome to Hollywood’ moment,” she admitted at the recent VH1 Black Girls Rock! Awards. Williams appeared on the debut season of the original “Melrose Place” in 1992, but was written off after appearing in 32 episodes.
“They didn’t invite me back for the second season. It wasn’t anything about my work, but they decided to go a different route,” Williams reveals. Rather than dwell on the lost job, the Brooklyn native instead focused on finding new ones. “Right after that, I went to Spain and did a television show. I was only able to do it because I had that time off. [Getting fired] eventually became a godsend,” she says.
Most recently, the former star of the hit series “Soul Food” reunited with her “Melrose Place” co-star Heather Locklear in the upcoming Lifetime Television movie, “Flirting with 40.” “It was a real lovely reunion. Heather’s so great; she’s fantastic,” says Williams. She also has a role in the upcoming Eddie Murphy flick,Nowhere Land, which is slated for a June 2009 release date.
Even with so many new, exciting projects on her plate, Williams is still grateful for her eye-opening beginnings. “Sure it was completely devastating, but I’m just glad to be have been part of that originating idea,” she states contentedly. “It was a powerful experience. It was definitely a marker of time and phenomenon.”
–ivory m. jones.
“Flirting with 40” premieres on December 6, 7 & 8 at 9 p.m. (EST/PST) on Lifetime.
