The BV Q&A: Vivica A. Fox
By Ronda Racha Penrice, AOL BlackVoices columnist
The beautiful and vivacious Vivica A. Fox definitely keeps it moving. Currently, she's co-executive producer of Lifetime's 'Missing' and a judge on The WB's reality series 'The Starlet.' She, along with Faye Dunaway and casting director Joseph Middleton ('Bring It On,' 'Legally Blonde,'), preside over a Hollywood boot camp of sorts to pick the next great actress. BV caught up with Vivica, in Hollywood, of course.
Tell me about 'The Starlet.'
Well it's a show where we're picking an actress. Reality is just all over regular television. So I figured if I'm going to do anything on network television, let it be a reality show, because I'm very happy on cable with 'Missing.'
What is it like to work with Faye Dunaway?
Oh, honey, she's just so fabulous. You know, [with] Faye, you just stand back and watch the show happen. You can sit back and absorb her just like a sponge. She's a classic. She's a legend. She's just... she's all that as far as I'm concerned. For me to be on the same panel as her and Joseph, [who] does a lot of huge movies, I felt it to be a true honor. And the fact that I represented the African-American community, you know, is a good thing instead of a minority not being represented period. So the fact that they came to me was an opportunity I really felt that I should take a chance at.
Girl, you just seem so happy lately.
I know, huh, thank God because last year was so sad, well toward the end it was. I had to dig deep and believe in myself, resurrect myself. I applied myself. I did not feel sorry for myself. I've been wanting to be where I am, right now, all of my life. I've always wanted to be an actress. I wanted to do different things. So I was like "You're there. Now you're going to get there and blow it?" So I just had to like snap out of it, and I did and I really applied myself to work. And the best thing that ever could have happened to me was that I got 'Missing' and I moved to Toronto because it took me out of the States. I was focused on work, Monday through Friday, no distractions. I couldn't have my friends call me and say, "Girl, such and such is getting on my nerves, can you come help me?" I really focused in on work because I was the co-executive producer of the show as well as star and I had a lot of responsibility.
What have you done to 'Missing'?
We changed it from '1-800-Missing' to just 'Missing.' We added some brand-new characters: myself, Mark Consuelos, Justin Lewis. We revamped the show, made it sexier, edgier, moved it from Indianapolis [where Vivica's from] to Washington. It's on Lifetime and Lifetime wanted to bring a young, MTV audience to its network that it hasn't been successful in capturing and I brought that to them. Its demographics from 18 to 49 are through the roof now, so we're all happy.
Now I have to say, I was a little shocked when I was in Miami at the 2004 VMAs.
Why were you shocked?
I was like, what's Vivica doing on the stage?
Having fun. Having fun. Well, you know I think the thing is that sometimes you got to push the envelope. You got to do things that people don't expect.
And people were talking.
And they've been talking. What they don't know is that it led to me hosting 'The Hip Hop Honors.' It led to 'Women Rock' for Lifetime. People were like, "Oh, I didn't even know you had that in you." It was fun. I mean, I honestly didn't think everybody would respond that way. If I didn't look OK in my daisy dukes and dropping it like it's hot, I could understand, but I got like "Well she's too old. She's too this," OK, well that's your opinion.
I hate when people say "too old" because...
Tina Turner was shaking that! She's still shaking her ass at 60.
But you don't look old. You look good.
And I have a very young spirit. I'm not married. I don't have children. So I can still drop it like it's hot if I want to. I'm a grown woman, I mean the boys liked it. The young MTV crowd liked it, so the fact that I didn't make everybody happy -- I'm sorry. If you like seeing me kick butt and having on conservative clothes, watch 'Missing.'
Now on 'Missing,' you're a little hard-edged.
We're solving that. [The show producers] were so enamored with 'Kill Bill' that they just wanted one-note and, compared to what the show was last year, it was just way too different for people, way too shocking. But I was very smart. I went on the Web page. I listened to my viewers and they wanted to see a softer side, which was OK. So what we'll do, that hard-edged, we'll save that for when you go see a Vivica Fox kick-ass movie, where for two hours you know you want to see her whip everybody's ass. But on the show, I had to soften the hard edges, and I'm woman enough, if something ain't working, to change it. And I took the criticism very constructively, and now, toward the end there's nothing but love. I made her smile. She was rough, but that was the way it was written. But then, thank God, I have producer power to say that that's not working.
So what made you put on the producing hat?
Well, it's happened in the last two to three years to be very honest with you. Me and my manager, Lita Richardson -- another sister -- every time we do a project we're just trying to get more power. I've made the studios a lot of money. So what we're doing is we're trying to reap the benefits that my name and my hard work deserve. I've made a lot of people wealthy so I should be wealthy right along with them. But I love to make sure that I bring quality projects to African-American and other audiences, but mainly African-American audiences, because that is my biggest audience. When you're a producer, you're in control of people not telling you how you are or how you talk or how you dress. I can introduce other nationalities to how we really are, not how you think you see us on the video or what you've seen in the past. This is where we're going in the future.
March 17, 2005