Vanessa Williams is exactly where she wants to be at 60 years old.
The actress, who celebrated the milestone birthday on March 18, spoke candidly about getting older and it being a priviledge as she chatted to ET Canada’s Carlos Bustamante.
She shared of giving herself more grace and whether there was a time in her life that she would’ve given herself more grace, “You know, I look back and I’m fortunate to have four children who are great and watching them go through life, but then getting a chance to reflect on where I was at that particular time in my life.
“We tend to be hard on ourselves when we’re young, really hard on ourselves… ‘why aren’t I here at the moment where I should be? Why don’t I make enough money? Why aren’t people respecting me the way I need to be? We beat ourselves up as youths.”
The star continued, “We’re really hard in terms of trying to achieve something immediately and showing that that’s our value. And I think that the grace comes from the wisdom that you have at 60 years old.
“That was where I was meant to be, and those lessons that I learned allowed me to flower and turn into who I am now.
“Be easy on yourself, right? There’s plenty of time. Everyone’s going to fail at some point so know that that’s part of humanity and you’re going to make mistakes, but have the grace and know that it’ll work out. It’s just having faith.”
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Elsewhere in the chat, Williams revealed how she got everything she wanted for her 60th birthday, as well as being thankful for where she is at this stage in her life.
She told the host: “I am happy that I’m still creating. I still have a career that I love and still excited about ‘what’s the next thing?’ Because I’ve done recording, I’m back in the studio recording again, I’ve done television and film, I’ve done Broadway. I’m in the producer space now, so I’m actually creating and helping to create Broadway shows and television ideas.
“And that’s really unusual for me because I get a chance to actually make decisions that affect more than myself. And it’s empowering, but it’s also another frontier that I’m just delving into.”
Tune into “One-on-One with Vanessa Williams” airing Friday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Global, and streaming live and on demand on STACKTV and the Global TV App. See more from the special in the clip below.
