Vanessa Williams -- The Real Thing

Play a role too convincingly, and there's a price to pay. In this case, the price is my fear: I'm terrified of Vanessa Williams.

Okay, not exactly. The subject of my abject terror is actually Wilhelmina Slater, Williams's Emmy-nominated role on the television show Ugly Betty. Slater, for the few uninitiated, is a fashion magazine executive with a stare that pierces like a thousand knives and a barbed tongue to shred the strongest of egos. She's a praying mantis in Manolos, and worlds apart from the public personality of the real Williams, the multi-platinum recording artist behind smooth ballads and R&B grooves like "Save the Best for Last," "Love Is," and "The Sweetest Days." Indeed, ever since the early '80s, when Williams, the first African-American to win the Miss America crown, rose above the indignity of a nude photo scandal and famously resigned her title, her success has been nothing short of a Class Act.

So when the phone rings, I answer it like a dead man walking, wondering what kind of diva will be on the line: the Machiavellian magazine mogul, or the refined R&B queen who holds herself with pageantry posture?

"Hello, it's Vanessa Williams."

Her speaking voice is as unmistakable as her velvety vocals. Already I can feel the image of shrewish Slater melting in my mind. Williams has called to discuss The Real Thing, her first studio album in more than four years and her first for the jazz label Concord Records. Released on June 2, The Real Thing took so long, says Williams, because of her hectic shooting schedule and a change in Ugly Betty's production location from Los Angeles to New York - "Though thank God I've got a job," she chimes. But the record, a swinging collection of Brazilian inflected beats, bossa nova rhythm and smooth jazz, was worth the wait.

"I'd love to do another dance record, I'd love to do a complete big band record, there are so many things I love and can do," says Williams, when asked about the diverse genres in which she's worked. "But I'm happy with this kind of combination. A little of everything." Among the album's standouts is "I Fell In," a new tune by Phil Galdston, who penned Williams's hit "Save the Best For Last."

"I opened up my show last weekend in Tropicana [Atlantic City]," says Williams, who performed there in May. "It was glam, it was in your face, but it was also [saying] I'm here, welcome back to my show. The thing about my career is that I'm so grateful to have such a tremendous role in a show and a cast to work with, but on the weekends I get to do my show and be another entity. I'm so happy to have this livelihood."

Still, given that she's been on television more often than in the recording studio lately, I ask the obvious question: has anyone else started to confuse her for her onscreen persona?

"Certainly young fans kind of view me from afar before they approach," chuckles Williams. "They don't really know anything else [besides Wilhelmina]. I get a real big kick out of that. I've been in this business forever, 25 years, and it tickles me. We definitely have a young, adolescent girl audience and they're the ones who really don't know my recording career. They only know my Wilhelmina career."

And what about the gay fans? Surely they'd hope Williams was as catty as her character?

She laughs. No response, but lowly and sincerely, she laughs. I made Wilhelmina - I mean, Vanessa! - laugh. I'm safe.

Of course, the gay community does hold a special place among Williams' diverse fan base. She's widely regarded as an outspoken advocate of LGBT rights, and recently received the Human Rights Campaign "Ally for Equality" award in 2008. She'll also appear on the Logo New Now Next Awards 2009, airing on the gay network on June 13. Even in the liner notes for The Real Thing, she thanks songwriter Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds for cranking out tunes for her to record "in the studio between my two gay weddings that I attended that weekend."

"It's always been a part of my life," explains Williams of the gay community. "I've grown up in the theater and as a dancer. I had gay friends in high school. I've lost four people, people who came to my wedding, from AIDS back in the '80s. I've always been affected by the gay community. My mother had gay friends, and it's a part of my life. The fact that it is now a hot-button issue... it's a good thing, because dialogue always creates change. But it's not a new thing [to me]."

"I've lost four people, people who came to my wedding, from AIDS back in the '80s. I've always been affected by the gay community. My mother had gay friends, and it's a part of my life. The fact that it is now a hot-button iss
Still, she's glad that recent headlines about gay issues like equal marriage will at least raise conversation with others. "Hopefully it means more people will be getting the dialogue," says Williams.

Of course, one of the most rancorous bits of dialogue in recent months has revolved around Miss California USA Carrie Prejean's comments opposing equal marriage. Given Williams's history as a groundbreaking Miss America, one who also shared in media scrutiny and tabloid scandal, we ask for her take on the controversy. Williams sees little cause to compare their situations.

"It's like apples and oranges," she says. "I went through a whole different thing. I was from New York, I was outspoken when I was crowned. I said I was pro-gay, pro-choice, back in the day when people weren't really outspoken about that. But I was never given a sit-down saying, this is my platform and this is what you have to say. My drama didn't happen until six weeks before I was supposed to give up the crown to the next person, anyway. I had a full year of wearing a title. I had done my job. This is a completely different situation so it's hard to compare the two. She didn't win Miss USA, [the pageant at the time] never had anything to do with Trump."

"And really, who cares?" Williams continues. "Who matters, is the bottom line. I'd much rather pay attention to legislators, pay attention to what's going on in New York, and see what the Governor has to say and think about who we can persuade to move things like legislation."

And really, is there any value in entertaining a political question that Perez Hilton is allowed to ask?

"Exactly," laughs Williams. "Exactly."

Another laugh, and another layer of that icy Slater persona peels away to reveal the real thing beneath. In the background, a dog barks - Vanessa Williams owns pets! - and soon we're chatting about her other career as a mother of four: the headaches of dropping the kids off to school, things like that.

Don't you have your own Marc to take care of that for you? I ask, referring to Wilhelmina Slater's supremely coiffed personal assistant.

"Oh, I do have my version of Marc," says Williams. "Brian Edwards. He's spectacular. Really dedicated, if not more so than Marc."

Is his hair just as fabulous?

"He's lacking the hair," laughs Williams. Another guffaw! "But his attitude is right up there."
And speaking of attitude, it's time to settle this once and for all. Finally, I feel comfortable enough to ask, who's the bigger diva - Vanessa Williams, or Wilhelmina Slater?

There's an extended pause before she responds, with the measured cadence of a singer and the deliberate, regal air of a queen.

"Well, Wilhelmina gets away with murder, absolutely. She's the biggest diva," says Williams.

The biggest diva, perhaps. But certainly not the real one.