Lynda Carter Has a Secret Identity (And It Isn’t Diana Prince!)

AE: I know you are a former beauty pageant winner...  
LC: [laughs] God, you're really bringing up all the old stuff.

Lynda Carter in 1972, during her reign as Miss U.S.A.
Photo credit: Central Press/Getty Images

AE: I know you had an opinion on Sarah Palin, but I'm curious what you make of the whole Miss California Carrie Prejean controversy.  
LC: I disagree with her stance [on same-sex marriage], but I think she was used by this group. I think she wasn't well-informed. Anything that is trying to take away personal freedom is not a very good thing. It's not what the nation is about. You can disagree, but it seemed a little bit self-righteous. You do provocative photographs, then you can't go preaching morals. You walk around in a bikini, and then you're going to go tell other people how to live their lives?

I just think it's shameful, honestly. That being said, I do think she's just ill-informed and misinformed. I think that's the problem with most people that don't get it. It's like, how do I make myself short? You want me to become a double amputee so I can satisfy your need for me to be short?

AE: Do you watch American Idol. 
LC: I do! There's so many talented people.

AE:  Who are you rooting for, Adam and Kris? [The final winner hadn’t been announced when this interview was done.]
LC: I think as an artist, the most original person, and he'll be successful whether he wins it or not, is Adam. Although, I do like Kris. I mean what's not to like?

AE: The thing that strikes me about both of them is that they're so self-assured, and they have all the attention of the world on them. I wonder if you can relate, because for at least a few years there, you were just as popular as a person can get.
LC: You know what? It's very isolating. It's about your work. That's not a boohoo or anything, I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for anyone, but by virtue of the fact that you are so popular, you lose a piece of your everyday stuff, of a certain kind of interaction that is important to keep.

AE: I suppose you have people telling you you're great, exactly what you want to hear.  
LC: People aren't going to come up to you and say, "Oh, I think you're just so mediocre!" Unless somebody is just a jerk, they wouldn't. It is what it is. It's not easy.

AE: I can only imagine how busy a person is with that kind of schedule.  
LC: I was thinking the same thing. When do they have time to work on their music? They're doing the commercials, and the parades, and everything else...Wow!

AE: But you must have experienced that. 
LC: I was pretty busy, yeah, but I didn't have a family then, and that was what I'd worked toward all my life. But it was still isolating. I didn't have a lot of opportunity to learn how to be in a relationship, really. We moved around a lot at first as a kid, and then I was on the road at 17, and new in town by the time I got to LA, and then famous again with that whirlwind. I did really want substance in my life, and when I stopped with the road for my children, it was really because I didn't want to miss out. It wasn't just selflessness. I didn't want to miss out on that.

AE: But where do you go once you've been on top of the world? 
LC: Substance? [laughs] I'm going through substance, baby!