VANESSA WILLIAMS - AMERICA'S COMEBACK QUEEN!

THE ACTRESS, SINGER AND FORMER BEAUTY QUEEN REFLECTS ON THE SCANDAL SHE NEVER LET DEFINE HER AND THE HARD-WON SUCCESS SHE ALWAYS KNEW WAS HERS FOR THE TAKING

- JANINE RUBENSTEIN

Vanessa Williams looks back on her decades-long career on stage and screen and asks herself, "Is it typecasting? Am I always going to play these strong women that have attitude?" It's true, the actress, singer and former beauty queen, 61, has stepped into the stilettos of quite a few alpha women, including her latest role, reimagining Meryl Streep's steely fashion magazine mogul Miranda Priestly in London's upcoming musical adaptation of the hit 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada.

But Williams, who is spending her one day off from rehearsals reflecting on her life at a stately English manor near her current gig, is not the type to be the least bit bothered by the roles, or the cards, she's been dealt. "I always find it fascinating. My characters are formidable because they've worked their lives to create something that means something." In that regard, she adds, "it's very comfortable to play."

Given her remarkable, rather harrowing introduction to the spotlight, Williams knows exactly what it means to claw your way to having the career you always wanted. Just over 40 years ago she stepped onto the world stage as the first Black woman to be crowned Miss America at the 1984 competition. As she was celebrated by many for being a role model and making history, she also had to smile and wave in the face of racist vitriol being spewed behind the scenes. Then, 10 months into her historic reign, it all shockingly came crashing down.

On July 13, 1984, she learned that nude photos she'd taken years prior and under the promise of anonymity had been sold and would soon be published in Penthouse magazine, instantly tarnishing her pristine image.