Speaker 1: Welcome back to Viva Betty. How have you been fine?
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm really excited about today.
Speaker 2: Are you excited?
Speaker 1: I'm excited about Vanessa icon mother f ing Williams that
Speaker 1: we somehow managed to get all the week from one
Speaker 1: day down. We did promise you last week that you
Speaker 1: were going to have an extended interview. You're getting it.
Speaker 1: You're getting it right now.
Speaker 3: We're talking wigs. Oh god, we're talking drama. The devil words, Brana,
Speaker 3: I don't even want to know.
Speaker 2: Are you ready?
Speaker 1: I don't know, roll the click.
Speaker 2: Get into it.
Speaker 3: Did you have any sort of vibe on Wilhelmine and
Speaker 3: what it would mean to be sort of so as
Speaker 3: a black woman, like playing the lead of not only
Speaker 3: of a of a network show, but also as sort
Speaker 3: of like this iconic and she wasn't at the point,
Speaker 3: I mean, you made her such, but like just to
Speaker 3: be this editor of this big fashion magazine. Was there
Speaker 3: any sort of like what did you feel when you
Speaker 3: were like, oh, I know this character or do did
Speaker 3: you know this character?
Speaker 4: Well? Well, Sylvia who was our creator, that's right, he
Speaker 4: saw me, he loved me. And at Diva's Christmas Carol
Speaker 4: where I play you know, iconic. Yeah, and uh so,
Speaker 4: uh you know, she's throwing fits and he knew that
Speaker 4: I could do the diva part of it. So that's
Speaker 4: why I get her. I want her. She'll nail it.
Speaker 4: And again, this is a pilot, that's right, pilot nobody
Speaker 4: had like it was not there was no prototype or
Speaker 4: what it wasn't so it wasn't you know er it
Speaker 4: was just a whole new genre.
Speaker 1: That it didn't seem like anyone particular liked it or
Speaker 1: wanted it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it kind of gave us the freedom might this
Speaker 4: is fun, Wow, this would be cool. But you know,
Speaker 4: and then we picked up that May I was like, okay,
Speaker 4: let's get it on too. It was always like, what's
Speaker 4: the next step. Let's see if we can get it on.
Speaker 4: It's a Friday night, let me we can get it on,
Speaker 4: you know. And then when we were at the TCA's
Speaker 4: that the Television Critics Association, and we had to do
Speaker 4: that panel that's right and doing interviews and all the
Speaker 4: writers are like, this is the best thing that ABC has.
Speaker 4: I hope you know that. And we were slotted for
Speaker 4: like Friday night, you know, kind of not a throwaway but.
Speaker 1: But not not not not.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and in front of bras anatomy. I mean we
Speaker 4: you know, we blew up because they valued what we
Speaker 4: created in the in the.
Speaker 3: Pilot, when Uglybody hit your desk, were you sort of
Speaker 3: like I'm gonna I want to do this it like
Speaker 3: I'm going to do this and I'm.
Speaker 1: To bring what about her?
Speaker 3: Like like Willelmina, Like how did you sort of approach it?
Speaker 4: Honestly, I never know what I am going to do.
Speaker 4: You know, that's the first day on set. You don't
Speaker 4: know what I mean. You think like I'll try to
Speaker 4: do my best, but you're kind of figuring out. I've
Speaker 4: got an approach and let's see whether it works. So
Speaker 4: I it wasn't a calculated thing.
Speaker 2: I mean I think amazing.
Speaker 4: I was in dead.
Speaker 3: I think with your first scene with Hot by the way,
Speaker 3: so you.
Speaker 4: Boobs hairs I'll toss on themselves, was like, okay, this
Speaker 4: is a funday work.
Speaker 3: When Terry told us, when Terry told us that that
Speaker 3: was your first scene, I was completely because I have
Speaker 3: no idea. America's first scene was the photo shoot where
Speaker 3: she's in the late latex, and your first scene was
Speaker 3: You're in bed with Frind she by the way so
Speaker 3: fucking hot, I mean, the two together, excuse.
Speaker 1: Me, by the way, and I you know, the annoying
Speaker 1: bit about this too is that all of you guys
Speaker 1: look exactly the same and I'm the only one that
Speaker 1: looks different. So the reboot's gonna look great? Am I
Speaker 1: getting recasted? We can go back to twenty ten according
Speaker 1: to the ways in which you all look. But oh
Speaker 1: oh oh oh, we also do you know, we're obviously
Speaker 1: talking about fashion.
Speaker 2: We get the fashion. So Season one is a little
Speaker 2: weird for all of us.
Speaker 1: Sure it was. It was an adjustment. But I want
Speaker 1: to just talk about the pilot because one of my
Speaker 1: favorite looks that has ever been on, like as far
Speaker 1: as I've seen or that I can remember, is your
Speaker 1: Versace suit the first time that we meet her. Do
Speaker 1: you remember the white, the white with the with like
Speaker 1: the gold kind of bell necklace like that versus I
Speaker 1: think it was vers I.
Speaker 2: Think it was, and it's fat Field.
Speaker 1: It was, yeah, in the pilot, in the pilot, and
Speaker 1: I was just so, I mean, I was taken by
Speaker 1: it for a myriad of reasons, but also because it
Speaker 1: was gay. You're probably because of gay, you're gay. Probably
Speaker 1: the gay stuff write that part. We didn't figure that
Speaker 1: out yet. We're not there yet. The season three.
Speaker 2: We had all figured it out.
Speaker 1: But I feel like it was because and I met
Speaker 1: like no, because I I think that that for some
Speaker 1: reason there was an overlap or something, or maybe she
Speaker 1: wore in the like in one of the photos or something.
Speaker 1: I just remember seeing you in it in person and
Speaker 1: being like, that's a really beautiful woman.
Speaker 3: Lynn had to tell you when you walked into the table,
Speaker 3: Lynn was like, that's festival like like and I was like,
Speaker 3: who was gagged? Lynn was absolutely gagged meeting you for
Speaker 3: the first time.
Speaker 4: You remember Almo and Grouchland's Queen of Trash. Nowadays, all
Speaker 4: these kids like aren't you in Hannah Montana. I'm like,
Speaker 4: oh my god, it's amazing where people like all from.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but are you getting any sort of Are you
Speaker 3: getting any sort of you know, ugly betty love now?
Speaker 3: Because they were, yeah, like, has that is that a
Speaker 3: thing that like is recurring for you?
Speaker 4: It's so worldwide and I get a chance at the
Speaker 4: stage or every night to like, you know, we love
Speaker 4: to where are you from? Like Asia, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Japan, Korea.
Speaker 4: Uh always uh, like Poland forgetuation to Magro rantsom Flora Spain.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's Brazil, all Australia. It's been incredible the
Speaker 4: reach that we we have in our and now that
Speaker 4: it's on Netflix, forget it.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, and and that, and that was kind of
Speaker 1: the impetus for the reason why we even started doing
Speaker 1: this and like this rewatch is because of the Netflix
Speaker 1: kind of thing, like where it was just like, oh wow,
Speaker 1: you guys, you guys like this this TV show from
Speaker 1: a long time ago. But I just I you know,
Speaker 1: I really, I really feel strongly about the character of
Speaker 1: will Amminislator being like a powerful black woman in power
Speaker 1: because I think that part of the cultural aspect of
Speaker 1: this podcast is talking about things that are extremely topical today.
Speaker 1: We did cultural conversation.
Speaker 3: Before it was like you know, like deragor like now
Speaker 3: now everybody like we sort of like broke lot of
Speaker 3: and I should say you broke a lot of.
Speaker 2: I mean, we as a family did.
Speaker 3: On terms in the terms of like sort of the
Speaker 3: immigration conversation, the healthcare healthcare conversation, what it what it
Speaker 3: was to be sort of.
Speaker 2: A young brown woman in the workplace. But you were
Speaker 2: sort of like a.
Speaker 3: Black woman in position of power and sort of you
Speaker 3: really your character spoke to sort of all of that,
Speaker 3: because you had to sort of battle Bradford, and you
Speaker 3: had to battle sort of nepotism and you know, the
Speaker 3: rightful place of sort of your the woman that you
Speaker 3: were being constantly sort of.
Speaker 1: Passed over because and sit alone as a woman of
Speaker 1: color in that space.
Speaker 2: And so it was still such a plause.
Speaker 1: And bossed it up. And so I don't know, I
Speaker 1: guess I suppose the question is did that mean anything
Speaker 1: to you at the time or looking back at it,
Speaker 1: does it? What does it mean to you now?
Speaker 4: Well, I luckily had examples to to model myself as
Speaker 4: Susan Taylor, who ran Essence magazine for years, was a
Speaker 4: great great uh you know, shero she had ran it
Speaker 4: for years. She was smart and creative and she was
Speaker 4: the epitome of black female excellence as an editor. So
Speaker 4: that was kind of and also Andre Leon Talley, oh yeah,
Speaker 4: style and uh and just knowledge. There were examples. So
Speaker 4: it wasn't like ever been seen before.
Speaker 3: I hadn't been seen on like network TV though, right,
Speaker 3: Like that's the context in which we're we're asking too,
Speaker 3: Like It's like, it's not that they didn't exist, it
Speaker 3: was just for for people that had never seen.
Speaker 4: Talking to Diane Carroll who was Plade Julia back in
Speaker 4: the sixties and black nursers.
Speaker 3: Had Dominique on Dynasty, pardon me exactly.
Speaker 4: But in the sixties she single handedly integrated the union
Speaker 4: because she was like, I'm a black woman, I need
Speaker 4: my hairdresser to do my hair, and that say insisting
Speaker 4: and getting her way. She made sure that she got
Speaker 4: her black hairdresser on set to do her and she
Speaker 4: integrated the union in just one, you know, one decision,
Speaker 4: so that power move. Seeing those women just change the
Speaker 4: game constantly, it was easy for me to kind of
Speaker 4: make it a reality. It wasn't you know, it wasn't our.
Speaker 3: Fat Speaking of which, so we've had a lot of
Speaker 3: hair conversations.
Speaker 2: Have you watched season one?
Speaker 3: Have you like? Have you have you watched Uglyboddy like
Speaker 3: season one recently or in any.
Speaker 4: Not recently recently, but yeah, I've watched it, and I
Speaker 4: mean there's some things out I don't even remember me
Speaker 4: like when we do that what.
Speaker 2: Was hilarious to me too. And we talked about this
Speaker 2: with Terry all the time. Is when we.
Speaker 3: First started out, they gave us like because to your point,
Speaker 3: like they just thought like, oh, it's a brown girl
Speaker 3: as a lead, Like this is.
Speaker 2: Not going anywhere.
Speaker 3: And we had like four dollars to make you know,
Speaker 3: we made a dollar out of fifteen cents.
Speaker 1: And I had.
Speaker 3: Literally like plastic like hair ponytails, like stuck on the
Speaker 3: side of my head. Like I looked completely insane, and
Speaker 3: you know, but then as the.
Speaker 2: Show goes on, it gets a lot better.
Speaker 3: But like my and Betty's wig was a complete insane nightmare,
Speaker 3: and you know, like and.
Speaker 2: You know, all of us looked so great, like we
Speaker 2: looked amazing.
Speaker 3: But it was so crazy to sort of like see
Speaker 3: that evolution of like when they hate when they hated
Speaker 3: us and didn't care about us until then we got
Speaker 3: nominated and all of a sudden, we all looked everyone.
Speaker 4: Look I was like breakfast. We didn't we didn't get
Speaker 4: catered breakfast, and so we got the nominations.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just like but but but I I
Speaker 1: suppose that what I'm saying is watching it for the
Speaker 1: first time, I'm like, what's going on with everyone's hair?
Speaker 4: Well, that was another thing. So I don't remember our
Speaker 4: Friday Nights. Friday Nights and the hair makeup trail. Yes, girls,
Speaker 4: like someone's getting someone's walking off the plane and he's
Speaker 4: done it.
Speaker 3: We called it Survivor trailer because when I tell you,
Speaker 3: like we would it would be like a new fucking
Speaker 3: team literally like every month, because we were all like,
Speaker 3: we look like lunatics.
Speaker 1: I need to talk about Michael Uri and and and
Speaker 1: Vanessulay we did, and Mark and Whilhelmina because they're I
Speaker 1: and and correct me if I'm wrong. The but you
Speaker 1: like the character of Mark was not meant to only
Speaker 1: be Yuri the entire time. And and that when as
Speaker 1: soon as it like hit and your and your chemistry
Speaker 1: kind of hit in the way that it did, which
Speaker 1: seemed automatic, which I think that the two of you
Speaker 1: have spoken about myriad times that you were like, oh no,
Speaker 1: we're this is this is what we're doing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, how did that go down?
Speaker 1: Exactly?
Speaker 4: Well? In theory, Wilhelminia was supposed to hire so to
Speaker 4: fire somebody every episode, so they would they would be
Speaker 4: an assistant and they get fired and you have somebody new.
Speaker 4: So we were doing the pilot and we did the
Speaker 4: scene and like my my I'm in my leather Chay's
Speaker 4: lounge and for my botox. Yes, Michael comes in with
Speaker 4: the needle and he's like, oh my god, if is
Speaker 4: there a way that if I give you and I
Speaker 4: have some little leftover, let's do I do one of
Speaker 4: my eyebrows and lead the other eyebrow up. So but
Speaker 4: he was already he was like Schemia, like wouldn't it
Speaker 4: be hilarious? Like genius and met her a friend of
Speaker 4: and he went to Juilliard to like, this guy's brilliant,
Speaker 4: and we just had immediate chemistry and and obviously I
Speaker 4: respected his you know, Juilliard is amazing, his art, his education.
Speaker 4: But also he was like, let's go for it. Let's
Speaker 4: and that's again our cast. We were always like let's
Speaker 4: try this, let's bounce this off each other at what
Speaker 4: And then so that was hilarious, like, oh my god,
Speaker 4: he's really funny. And then when I walk into the
Speaker 4: big conference and he's following me, and I sit down
Speaker 4: and slink into my chair and I see out of
Speaker 4: my purple vision, he SLINKs down the exact same way,
Speaker 4: in exact same tempo.
Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, this is this?
Speaker 4: Yeah, And when I called out from they were calling
Speaker 4: you from, Mark, and he's like, all that stuff, all
Speaker 4: that stuff came in the pilot.
Speaker 3: I can't even tell you how much I say to
Speaker 3: Mark on a daily I'm halaciously upset Mark.
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm hilaious. Was I was literally about to bring
Speaker 1: that up. I feel like, you know, we we we
Speaker 1: we talked so much about We talked so much though
Speaker 1: about like those one liners and and and just kind
Speaker 1: of those buttons and and stuff and I and I
Speaker 1: think that the oh in the Halloween episode, uh, when
Speaker 1: Mark dresses up as Betty and and Wilhelmina walks in
Speaker 1: and she's like, Mark, what does she say?
Speaker 3: She said, I've never seen to the effect of like,
Speaker 3: I've never seen anything so cruel.
Speaker 1: Someone's getting a raised.
Speaker 4: Me this.
Speaker 1: I was just I was gagged because it's also just
Speaker 1: it just reminded me so much too, like watching the
Speaker 1: show too reminds me of how much fun we had
Speaker 1: making the show as someone that has never seen it
Speaker 1: like on screen before, but was there there is something
Speaker 1: that just is so like palpable about watching it, being like, oh,
Speaker 1: these these people are having a good.
Speaker 3: Time because it was all happening in the moment. But
Speaker 3: the the the chemistry that you had with Mark, you
Speaker 3: also surprisingly had that with America. I mean there was
Speaker 3: we just watched Trust, Lust and Must Yes. Yeah, and
Speaker 3: you have a bunch of scenes. This is the this
Speaker 3: is when Selma first comes in and and Betty tells
Speaker 3: you that she's having the trouble with with Ignacio and
Speaker 3: how she needs money and you you have the scene
Speaker 3: where you like offer her the twenty thousand dollars and uh,
Speaker 3: you know you're you're giving her this and no no
Speaker 3: strings attached. But there was such chemistry between you and
Speaker 3: America that was natural and amazing as well, like you
Speaker 3: just whatever whatever scene partner you were given and I
Speaker 3: and I think that holds true for any but we're
Speaker 3: talking to you so but I think it was just
Speaker 3: so incredible to watch, like you sort of go to
Speaker 3: that vulnerable, vulnerable space. Because this is also where Nico
Speaker 3: was sort of like nico One, as Mark likes to go.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I call her nico One Nicoll Mark I
Speaker 1: was like, who's that?
Speaker 3: Mark is such a bitch, So so nico One, look,
Speaker 3: look we're excuse twenty years later.
Speaker 2: We can talk about it.
Speaker 3: We could be real when Nico went, but like, but
Speaker 3: you have like you have, you know, that's the thing
Speaker 3: is that you have. So you had that chemistry also
Speaker 3: because you bully America, but you're also really Betty I
Speaker 3: should say not America, but like you know, because you're
Speaker 3: you have, but you had that chemistry with her as well,
Speaker 3: and it was just so incredible to watch.
Speaker 2: What what what did that feel like? On set?
Speaker 4: I think, you know, yes, we were, we are and
Speaker 4: we're all talented, but it was almost like doing a
Speaker 4: play where you're at a stage and you're really free.
Speaker 4: That's what I love doing theater because you've got the
Speaker 4: whole stage to make it different and make it new
Speaker 4: every night, every performance weak because you're in charge of
Speaker 4: your own and there was a freedom that we had
Speaker 4: when we shot Ugly Betty. Even though we had guest directors,
Speaker 4: we still have the freedom to kind of make it
Speaker 4: our own and have our own relationships. And so it
Speaker 4: wasn't a film and people were like, do it again,
Speaker 4: try to like that, and so there was a freedom
Speaker 4: that we had that I think made it all so
Speaker 4: genuine and like almost in prov even though we had
Speaker 4: scripted words. So the trust that we had back and
Speaker 4: forth and and the respect made us a different unit.
Speaker 4: It was almost like the show. I mean, like doing
Speaker 4: a theater production every week, like what are we doing
Speaker 4: this week? And so that really I think that those
Speaker 4: dynamics gives you the ease and trust to trust your
Speaker 4: other put.
Speaker 1: And that the energy up.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we've all had theater background, so.
Speaker 2: That's true, we all did.
Speaker 3: I also forget about that. I mean most of us
Speaker 3: were sort of New York theater actors, and so what
Speaker 3: what the was I mean, this is a broad question,
Speaker 3: so you might have more than one, but like give
Speaker 3: us whatever you think of off the top of your head.
Speaker 3: What was your favorite ugly betty sort of memory. I
Speaker 3: know it's the one I want to back.
Speaker 4: Up on most of the time is when I'm on
Speaker 4: the rooftop with the bat baseball bats, smashing the mannequins,
Speaker 4: Mick ter Nelly, our director smashing them and getting here
Speaker 4: and then then Michael's got the the gong and he's
Speaker 4: shaking shaking the thundersown like I mean, it's so camp.
Speaker 4: It's like, could not be any more camp. It's just
Speaker 4: like it's crazy.
Speaker 1: It's and how do you know it?
Speaker 4: Sorry?
Speaker 1: The continue and no, no, I just I want to
Speaker 1: know how you navigate camp with with just keeping like
Speaker 1: your feet firmly planted on the ground as the character though,
Speaker 1: because I think that there are so many moments but
Speaker 1: like that are also extra really grounded in reality, like
Speaker 1: just as a performer.
Speaker 3: Even just the episode that we watched where you're talking
Speaker 3: to Nico and Nico one and you're having the sort
Speaker 3: of there was yeah, you had so many sort of
Speaker 3: like really grounded moments, but it was still like you're
Speaker 3: still like naked under a fur coat and you know
Speaker 3: what I mean, and sort of like yeah, like you
Speaker 3: don't have grit. You need grit to get through this life.
Speaker 1: Right, how do you how do you like, uh navigate
Speaker 1: like the real with the absurd?
Speaker 4: I suppose, uh, well, I mean I do think it's
Speaker 4: on the page. Again, all of our writers have gone
Speaker 4: on to have their own shows and do tremendously well.
Speaker 2: So that's right exactly.
Speaker 4: Pers I know Terry's over there. You curated the best
Speaker 4: writers of the time, so it was all on the
Speaker 4: page and we could have fun and and and again
Speaker 4: freedom like we didn't have like the writers saying oh
Speaker 4: you said you said it wrong, do it again. That's
Speaker 4: where we had this works better for me, Can I,
Speaker 4: you know, trim this down or eliminate or can I
Speaker 4: add this? And that also helped for me make my
Speaker 4: my performance and willhelmina clearer like Mark became like, you know,
Speaker 4: that was my signature thing that I came up with,
Speaker 4: you know, and those kind of little nuggets of like, oh,
Speaker 4: this would be fun, and then that works and the
Speaker 4: writers write it in and it becomes consistent, and then
Speaker 4: all of a sudden, you've got a character that people
Speaker 4: recognize and love and you've got your kind of pattern.
Speaker 2: And they write to it.
Speaker 3: I've always said that I think like that was something
Speaker 3: that we were so lucky to have because I think
Speaker 3: the more the writers got to know us, the more
Speaker 3: they wrote to us. And so to your point, it
Speaker 3: wasn't even really navigating between camp and reality. It was
Speaker 3: like they were really writing to our strengths. And again,
Speaker 3: to your point, we were not to toot.
Speaker 2: Our own horn, but I'm going to do it.
Speaker 3: We did have the capability of of having that sort
Speaker 3: of comedy and drama and all of that within the
Speaker 3: same moment. I think, you know, Becky Newton is is
Speaker 3: in this last episode that we just watched. She's such
Speaker 3: a clear indicator of that where she's sort of navigating
Speaker 3: this relationship with Daniel where he's treating her like garbage
Speaker 3: and she's trying to act like it's cool.
Speaker 2: But then the camera pans.
Speaker 3: To her after he sort of blows her off, and
Speaker 3: you see her dejected face, and she was just so
Speaker 3: brilliant in these ways.
Speaker 1: We have that with with v with the with her face.
Speaker 3: Senator, Yeah, like just seeing you just sort of, you know,
Speaker 3: trying to put this face on of being you know,
Speaker 3: the good daughter, and then he, you know, is the
Speaker 3: way he is and that sort of one look to
Speaker 3: the camera you just don't need much and that's you know,
Speaker 3: just again like a testament to these.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I yeah, I mean I think that that's
Speaker 1: incredible because I just think that, like it's it's hard
Speaker 1: to make someone human if you can't see a human
Speaker 1: on the page, right, like you know, like if if
Speaker 1: if someone is just this kind of bombastic camp character,
Speaker 1: it's kind of, at least for me, hard to locate
Speaker 1: like the humanity in them. And so I think that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: do you.
Speaker 3: Think any of us do you think any of us
Speaker 3: sort of knew in the moment I mean because looking back,
Speaker 3: like I said, we just we were talking to Tony
Speaker 3: about how we were talking about immigration and you know,
Speaker 3: the HMO and all the things, and like we were
Speaker 3: talking about like sort of what we would leave in
Speaker 3: that in that time, Like what we did that was
Speaker 3: sort of like we should probably leave that there or
Speaker 3: you know, and the stuff that like you know that
Speaker 3: can can carry through and most of I think so
Speaker 3: far we've been like keep it, yes, like.
Speaker 1: Kee keep fat Carrol. What do you mean? No, Fat
Speaker 1: Carrol is one of my favorites. We're keet Carol. No,
Speaker 1: just something like jokes, Yeah, like let's leave like eating disorders.
Speaker 2: Fat Carol throwing up?
Speaker 1: Yeah, but like keep the fact that they call her
Speaker 1: fat Carol, not that she's a blimic. But yeah.
Speaker 3: But did you do you think that we knew? I
Speaker 3: mean I don't know, because I we talked about this
Speaker 3: all the did you did you know at the at
Speaker 3: the time we were sort of embarking on this you know,
Speaker 3: cultural moment that that is still relevant today.
Speaker 4: Talk about Rebecca being tranced, right, Yeah, that's like almost
Speaker 4: twenty years ago, correct. You know, we introduced that character
Speaker 4: season one boom and making people like accept it.
Speaker 2: This is what it is.
Speaker 4: That's character, and you're going to love her and you're
Speaker 4: going to see her up your week.
Speaker 2: When you think about.
Speaker 3: Betty like that, that sort of time in your life,
Speaker 3: do you think it it's sort of informed you moving
Speaker 3: forward or like have we like is there is there
Speaker 3: sort of a thing where that was like a for me?
Speaker 3: Obviously it started everything Like I was bartending when I
Speaker 3: got Betty and Mark was six years old, so he
Speaker 3: was a fetus, not even you know, Mark, like all
Speaker 3: of us were just sort of, you know, like fledgling.
Speaker 3: At this point, you were still like you were have
Speaker 3: always been iconic since forever. So do you feel like
Speaker 3: Betty was a sort of a flashpoint for you?
Speaker 4: Betty was an example of just surrendering, you know. And
Speaker 4: because again I kept pushing it away. I don't want
Speaker 4: to do it. I don't want todo any pilots. It
Speaker 4: came to me, all right, well we'll see whether it
Speaker 4: gets picked up. It gets picked up. Then they say
Speaker 4: we're moving into California. I said no. He told me
Speaker 4: that I've got four kids, four different schools in New York.
Speaker 4: He told me it's a New York show. That's why
Speaker 4: I accepted it. I'm not doing it. Push it away again. Okay,
Speaker 4: how can we make a deal. Well, okay, I'm flying
Speaker 4: home every weekend to see my kids because they have
Speaker 4: one in college, one in high school, one in middle school,
Speaker 4: and one in Montessori. So I ended up first year,
Speaker 4: you know, flying, I'm back and forth every weekend, missed
Speaker 4: some of the parties.
Speaker 2: That that's right, that's right.
Speaker 4: Yeah. But and then but like just embraced Okay, this
Speaker 4: is this is what's meant to be. And my kids
Speaker 4: gave me the freedom, like, mom, you're great, do it.
Speaker 4: They did. And also like great memories of like Sasha
Speaker 4: moving around out there, her riding her scooter around.
Speaker 3: That's so funny, Like as a mom, Now I didn't
Speaker 3: I I didn't even have that on my radar.
Speaker 2: That that's what you were going through.
Speaker 3: And to that point, I have to say, Vanessa, I
Speaker 3: don't know if you'll even remember this, but season two,
Speaker 3: I was pregnant.
Speaker 2: I got I was pregnant.
Speaker 3: I hadn't told anybody like I literally had told literally
Speaker 3: no person on.
Speaker 2: The planet except Noah. He was the only person who knew.
Speaker 3: And you and I we were at Silver Cup and
Speaker 3: this is so crazy.
Speaker 2: We were season.
Speaker 1: Season two.
Speaker 3: We were telling oh, you're right, season three, season three,
Speaker 3: sorry my bad, silver Cup.
Speaker 2: And you I was like, first out the day.
Speaker 3: We were both groggy, like sleep in our eyes and
Speaker 3: we meet in the hallway and you look at me
Speaker 3: and you were like, oh.
Speaker 2: I swear to God. And you were like you were.
Speaker 3: Like, oh, how are you feeling? And I was like
Speaker 3: I feel fine. You were like, well, good, congratulations and
Speaker 3: I was like what And I was like, wait, what
Speaker 3: not a witch?
Speaker 2: No for real, for real, I don't even know if
Speaker 2: you remember this.
Speaker 3: And you were like congratulations, and I was like, bitch,
Speaker 3: what I even literally told a single soul And I
Speaker 3: don't know how you fucking knew, but you were like, awesome,
Speaker 3: so glad, congratulations, And I was like, bitch, I'm fucking pregnant.
Speaker 2: I haven't even told America.
Speaker 3: And you just looked at me and neew like for
Speaker 3: real witch vibes. And also for everybody out there. She
Speaker 3: threw me my baby shower like you were just.
Speaker 1: America's wedding at her house, at.
Speaker 3: Her house, like you are a magic fairy of like blessings.
Speaker 1: But that's just family. That's family.
Speaker 2: I swear to God.
Speaker 3: You also told me because Baaloma my daughter when she
Speaker 3: was born, she was so like perfect and amazing, and
Speaker 3: I was freaking out and I was just really nervous,
Speaker 3: and we were working twenty two hours a day and
Speaker 3: I just had I was on set.
Speaker 2: It was a nightmare, and I was like, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think I'm going to ruin her.
Speaker 1: This is not good.
Speaker 2: And you were like, she's such a perfect baby, she's
Speaker 2: so wonderful, and who they are when they're born is
Speaker 2: who they're going to be.
Speaker 3: And god, damn it, Vanessa, if you aren't right, that
Speaker 3: girl is so amazing.
Speaker 2: And I think about those words all every I think about.
Speaker 3: Those words, Vanessa so much. I cannot even tell you.
Speaker 2: And I still to this day quote you to all
Speaker 2: the new.
Speaker 3: Moms I know, forever and ever and ever amen, because
Speaker 3: you were one hundred percent right.
Speaker 1: But I think that there's also this element that I
Speaker 1: think that it is a through line with all of
Speaker 1: our guests that were having on that were either actor
Speaker 1: on the show are just just players on the show.
Speaker 1: I think that you are just such an incredibly generous,
Speaker 1: just person but also like man, like we're so lucky,
Speaker 1: Like I just feel like and as someone that that,
Speaker 1: as you described, was pushing away this experience to then
Speaker 1: surrender and go all in and then be the most generous.
Speaker 4: Well, we did have an incident right after we got
Speaker 4: our Golden Globe nomination and we had to remind one
Speaker 4: of our castmates be in America, how lucky we all
Speaker 4: were to be in a show and not to wish
Speaker 4: that away. Not naming any names, but there's one particular
Speaker 4: carectur yes, which then he was in another show and
Speaker 4: never like I don't want to be I should have
Speaker 4: been doing this and whatever the other and you.
Speaker 3: Know, yeah, and now it's like, well are we all
Speaker 3: like amazing?
Speaker 1: That's this is because I don't know who you're talking
Speaker 1: about because too young. But I'm gonna, but I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: When we sign off, trust I do, I do.
Speaker 3: Vanessa Williams, I reserve the right to bring you back
Speaker 3: please on the pod for more of this, maybe for
Speaker 3: a reunion, but we love you so much.
Speaker 2: We really look forward to.
Speaker 3: Reuniting on the reboot of the limited series for.
Speaker 1: We are just so just so incredibly grateful that you
Speaker 1: took the time all the way in London. It is
Speaker 1: it is really just God family, family so much.
Speaker 2: Family is cool, cool.
Speaker 1: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 4: And congratulations on your continued success. That's what we want.
Speaker 2: That's right, we are doing. Where can we find you.
Speaker 3: On the socials at Vanessa the Williams Official on.
Speaker 2: Instagram official bitches.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all the things.
Speaker 3: All the things, And if you are lucky enough to
Speaker 3: be in London town, go and see her wreaking havoc
Speaker 3: on the stage.
Speaker 4: I'll be doing it definitely into the next year for no,
Speaker 4: oh really plenty.
Speaker 1: So then well I'll be in Paris and I'm going.
Speaker 2: I'm going then to Okay. We will see you.
Speaker 3: We'll see you there and we'll bring Ashley. We'll bring Ashley.
Speaker 3: I love you so much. Thank you, so so very much, Vanessa.
Speaker 3: You are an icon of goddess and and just everything.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you you.
Speaker 4: Yeah bye bye.
Speaker 3: Well you guys lucky you've Vanessa Williams in the house.
Speaker 3: I mean, doesn't get more iconic or better than.
Speaker 1: That shipper at midnight, it's.
Speaker 3: Midnight for her and she just did she just did
Speaker 3: two fucking shows.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that that's a really that's a big get.
Speaker 2: And by the way, she still looked. She looked better
Speaker 2: than both of us combined.
Speaker 1: You're right, I know, and I hate and I hate
Speaker 1: and I hate that fact because I'm thirty How old
Speaker 1: am I thirty one? Yeah?
Speaker 3: That bitch looks ridiculous and she is just what just
Speaker 3: a class.
Speaker 2: Joy and light and everyone that we have.
Speaker 1: How is it? How is how is it that we're
Speaker 1: that that that every single guess that we've had in
Speaker 1: this show.
Speaker 2: Is its amazing?
Speaker 4: How is it.
Speaker 1: How we had not one Hollywood asshole on?
Speaker 2: No, one Hollywood asshole?
Speaker 1: It's weird? Well, you know, I mean I would like
Speaker 1: to bring one on. I'd like a change of pace,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, you're the asshole I know
Speaker 1: about allest Maybe we should have a no Mark.
Speaker 3: I think we're the Hello. I think we're the Hollywood asshole.
Speaker 1: We're not No, no, no, no, we're not Hollywood. We're just
Speaker 1: asking No, We're just that, okay, Hollywood assholes. Okay, we
Speaker 1: don't have the power to be holloween assholes. We're just assholes.
Speaker 3: Okay, Love you guys. Ask any questions you want, Send
Speaker 3: us all the emails.
Speaker 1: Yeah, send us the emails at at Viva Betty podcast
Speaker 1: on Instagram or email. Viva Betty pondage emails on what
Speaker 1: you got, We love you, We'll.
Speaker 2: See a piece bite.
Speaker 3: Viva Betty is a production of Propagate Content in partnership
Speaker 3: with Iheart's and Mike podcast Network.
Speaker 1: We're your hosts on Ortiz and Mark and Deelo Pato.
Speaker 2: Our executive producers are Terry one Enberg, Lin Lee and
Speaker 2: Diego Tapia.
Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Emily Carr, and the show is
Speaker 1: directed and edited by Mark Aagom.
Speaker 3: For more podcasts, listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.