Vanessa Williams says turning 60 made her question how many more birthdays she'll celebrate in her lifetime.
"Fifty was fine," she said on "The Jennifer Hudson Show" in a clip posted to YouTube on May 17. "I figured I've got half my life to laugh over. Sixty was like, 'OK, how many years do I have left?'
The "Soul Food" actor turned 60 on March 18.
"Is it 25?" she asked, wondering how many more years she'd live. "Is it 30?"
At the same time, there are some benefits to getting older, she said.
"It is a privilege," she said. "There's a sense of ease. The older you get, the less you care about what everybody else has to say. You're living in your own glory. You accept yourself. You give yourself grace."
The “Ugly Betty” actor said she celebrated her 60th birthday on a 10 day trip to the Bahamas with her family.
She explained that during our 20s and 30s, people are often too hard on themselves.
In 2020, Williams reflected on painful period in her 20s on an episode of "RuPaul's Drag Race."
“When I was Miss America at 20 years old, my life completely changed, but also gave me the biggest kick in the a** of my life, with life lessons,” she shared. “You know, having hate mail, having death threats: ‘You’re not black enough.’ ‘You’re too black.’ That was the grueling part of my life," she said on the show.
Williams says her 60s have brought a new sense of satisfaction.
"(At 60), you don't beat yourself up the way we do when we're in our 20s and 30s, and I gotta do this, and I gotta be this and I gotta please people," she explained. "There is a sense of satisfaction and ease that you get the older you get, and I'm embracing that and loving it."
