Melissa L. Williams Understands Being ‘Ruthless’ in Tyler Perry’s New Cult Series

In the world of film and television production, most great actors and actresses have no problem ultimately landing the perfect breakout role, but only few of them are chosen to play spinoff title roles. This would be the case for actress Melissa L. Williams.

Born in Oklahoma City, as the oldest of six children, the actress worked hard to build her career. Before she earned her first major role, Williams made her way onto any local theatre stage that she could. When she became of age, she went on to study theatre at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Ga. After receiving extensive training and preparation, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams even further.

No stranger to the performing arts, Williams quickly found her place in Tyler Perry’s group of young, black actors after he initially noticed her in “The Game” (2015) and then in his own “If Loving You is Wrong” (2016) when she played Grace.

When Williams landed a recurring role in Tyler Perry’s “The Oval” in 2019 playing twin sisters Ruth and Denise Truesdale, she certainly made waves, helping earn the show the title of #1 scripted series. Now she has added to her list of credits with her title character role in the series’ spin-off, “Ruthless.”

“I felt like, my introduction on the Oval was so paramount,” she said. “I had to make the three episodes that I was in captivating, and I felt like there was a little bit of pressure there because that’s all you get, those three episodes.”

Melissa L. Williams as characters Denise (left) and Ruth (right) in “The Oval”.

In the spin-off, which began streaming on March 19, 2020, Ruth encounters a cult that promises her the reality of a new, refreshed life. She feels this could be good for her daughter, Callie, who she doesn’t have full custody of now.  With the help of the Rakudushi cult members, Ruth believes kidnapping Callie may be the best thing for her.  However, the fairy tale -like reality that the cult promised her quickly becomes a nightmare. 

Still from BET’s “Ruthless” episode 101. (Photo: Charles Bergmann/BET/Tyler Vision, LLC)

While viewers have favored one sister over the other, Williams found love for both characters because of their passion. “They are different but very similar in that they were passionate about their belief in something,” the actress explained. “Ruth was passionate in her beliefs in the highest in the Roku, and Denise was passionate in money and greed and success and wealth. You know what I mean?  So that being one passion about one thing, one passion, another so it’s a passion that I can relate to.”

Though Williams isn’t a mom in real life, she has proved yet again why she is such a powerful actress, as she was effectively able to learn to make mother-daughter connections in order to portray the relationship between her and her on-screen daughter.  

“…I had to think about my niece, or in my acting method I study, you can use your younger self like, the child is you, and it’s how you would look at and treat yourself when you were younger,” Williams said. “But I use my nieces, because my sister, who is one year apart from me, has my adorable nieces, and I use my niece for substitution for Callie, my daughter on the show.  And that makes it real for me.”

When it comes to the actions and choices that Williams’ character Ruth makes regarding herself and her daughter throughout the show, she found it important to have a judgmental-free mindset. “You can’t judge your character, right?” she explained. 

“So, I had to do a lot of research and then put myself in another human shoes basically asking the question ‘have you ever done anything out of the normal to become your best self?’ And I could honestly say yeah, [Ruth]’s a human just like everybody else. You know, we go through ups and downs, but it’s how you develop in the downs that creates the character for the ups. Trying equals failure, but it also equals winning.  So, you have to do it.”

With all the action and plot twists that viewers can expect to see on the series, there are some things Williams urges viewers to pay close attention to. “You know, to be honest, [Tyler] is the king of cliff hangers,” Williams said. “Pay attention to how he ends it because it’s pretty unique in that it tells several stories in [about] 60 seconds. And that’s all you get and then the credits roll. You’re like ‘Dang it! I gotta wait till next Thursday!'”

In the midst of all the drama that typically goes on in a Tyler Perry production, are meaningful songs, which he tends to write himself.  Williams described the intensity to which a cult mindset could be induced using music, especially considering the short runtime of most of Perry’s television productions.

“Well for me, it being a religious cult, it helps because that means I can take it spiritual,” she said. “So if I listen to songs that move me, which are always gospel songs. I’m immediately in the mode of heavy…It’s just a different space than my normal music that I listen to, which keeps me happy. That’s how powerful music is, though, to be honest.”

During this time of COVID-19 home quarantine and isolation, Williams said that viewers can definitely find someone to empathize with in Ruth’s character.  She also offered some encouragement and advice for everyone who may be out of work now, especially actors, saying they have a great opportunity.

“Research as much as you can because there’s so many [opportunities] online,” Williams advised. “Also, I would definitely start following, at this time, the casting directors… everyone has equal opportunity. It’s not about you have to submit your headshot right now and you have to get picked by that.  They’re literally saying, ‘Give me your audition monologue over Instagram’.  So now is the prime time for anybody anywhere. It doesn’t matter where you are, young or old can get on Instagram and get involved because literally when this thing is over, your life could change.”

As for a possible second season of “Ruthless,” Williams said there has already been a request made for its production.  Fans can also expect to see more from Williams in terms of her music career along with possibly producing some of her own projects.

“Ruthless” is now streaming on the BET+ app.