‘Wonder Woman’ Lynda Carter Opens Up About New Heartfelt Song, and How to Be the Superhero in Your Own Life (EXCLUSIVE)
Listen to "Letters from Earth," available March 15!
Lynda Carter, the 72-year-old actress who first became world-famous as iconic superhero Wonder Woman in the 1970s, has taken the pain over the loss of her husband and channeled it into the beautiful new song “Letters from Earth.”
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It includes lyrics like “Letters from Earth, sealed within my heart, delivered in my dreams, ever since we’ve been apart …” as well as “Do you know that spring came early? Have you heard the world’s at war? That I moved down to Miami, and I love you more and more?”
All of which is in tribute to the love of her life, Robert A. Altman, who she was married to from 1984 until his death from blood cancer in 2021.
“It’s a song that I wrote after I lost him,” Lynda Carter tells Woman’s World of the song, which comes out March 15th and is part of a series of songs that will be released periodically over the next year. “I just wondered where he went: Where are you and can you hear me?”
Writing a song like this is, she feels, is akin to penning a letter to someone you’ve lost, proving to be a therapeutic healing experience. “I encourage other people to remember their loved ones by writing a letter to them,” says Lynda. “Whether it’s a brother or a father or a grandparent or a mother or a cousin or a friend, you write a letter to them. And in some way, by writing down these words to them or questions you want to ask — somehow it begins to become a cathartic experience, and one that connects you to the love you have for that person.”
“It is,” she continues, “a beautiful way to acknowledge them — whenever you feel it, to just write them. Write a note to them and tell them you love them and that you miss them and that you hope they’re okay.”
Here, Lynda Carter shares more about exclusive Q&A.
WOMAN’S WORLD (FFW): What are some actionable ways you relieve stress?
LYNDA CARTER: I think that just getting up and out of the house, being in the fresh air, and walking or doing something with my body is the best stress reliever. Lately, I have been lazy, and I have not done it.
I find that I have a lot more melancholy days and miss my husband more on days that I’m not outside and releasing the endorphins. I know that it really does make a difference to get out and move your body. If I get really, really mad, I slam the door!
WW: Do you have any drugstore beauty buys or beauty hacks that you swear by?
LYNDA CARTER: I still use Maybelline (Great Lash) mascara. After all these years, I still use it – the pink and green tube. Coming from Arizona, I’m concerned about sun damage, so I wear simple sunscreen and hats; I wear a lot of hats. I really try to keep my face out of the sun. If I’m ever on vacation on an island, I always wear a hat.
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WW: Obviously there’s excitement over the new music, but in terms of acting, who was your favorite character to play?
LYNDA CARTER: It was Lorraine Dillon on Law & Order: SVU, with Mariska Hargitay. I played a sociopath. It’s a lot of fun to play the bad guy, instead of playing the heroine!
I identify with all of them. As an actor, I think that you have to. There’s a part of you that’s in everyone, or you wouldn’t be believable. You pick a piece of yourself that you can somehow identify with and have your mind create a life about the character. A lot of people put on me the character of Wonder Woman and that’s hard to live up to!
WW: What advice would you give to help women feel like the superhero of their own lives?
LYNDA CARTER: We’re all so different. Some people are more quiet, some people are more aggressive than others, but your power comes from within. The power of “No” and “No, thank you” are very strong. Just say “No, thank you,” or “No, I’m not able to do that,” or “I’m not available.” And not be so eager to please all the time. Setting boundaries in your own life about what you need for yourself.
That’s hard when you’re so used to taking care of people as mothers and wives. We have an innate caretaking ability. I love the caretaking part of myself, but I don’t love the part where I forget about myself and I’m always thinking about caretaking for others.
Do I even know what I want – do I know what I need? Am I taking care of myself? Those are the questions we have to ask ourselves. Whatever it is to say no to – it’s an important piece of your arsenal. On the flip side is to say “Yes” to opportunity. If you’re in a rut and you find you’re the one that’s always saying, “Oh, I don’t know,” put yourself forward to say, “Do you want to go for a walk?” You can’t expect your loved one to read your mind. You have to be that person that becomes a person of action.
While you’re able to say “No,” what you also have to be able to put into action is the thing you want to say yes to. Let’s just say that you want to be going out more and you want to travel more, with your spouse or whatever. You can’t expect the other person to read your mind. Reach out to people or engage.
Be sure to stream or download Lynda’s new song on March 15th!
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