VANESSA WILLIAMS
Into the Woods (2002)

Though she now spends her days wandering the fictional offices of Mode magazine as conniving boss Wilhelmina Slater on ABC's Ugly Betty, Williams spent 2002 perfecting a different badass. In the critically praised revival of Stephen Sondheim's seminal 1988 musical about what comes après the ''happily ever after'' (Prince Charming cheats!), Williams was the Witch, whose evil curse sets the plot in motion. Although she has been absent from the boards since Woods shuttered, Williams' Broadway background — she's even starred in a TV version of Bye Bye Birdie — means she'll likely never view theater as ''so last season.''

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