October 27, 2005 @ 12:50 pm

Vivica Fox: At The Head of The Class

Kellye Whitney

Recently the actress, who has up’d her Hollywood game to new heights, was the keynote speaker at the latest edition of the Miller Urban Entrepreneur Series in Chicago. Afterwards she didn’t hesitate to offer her gems of wisdom on how to acquire success in Tinseltown, what a lady should wear, and most importantly what to do when love goes south.

Vibe.com: You’ve got a new show called 1-800-Missing. Vivica Fox: It was formerly called 1-800-Missing. That was the first season. I came on the show in the second season. We are just now a month away from wrapping up our third season. The show is called Missing. We moved it from Indianapolis to Washington D.C., and added three new characters - myself as Nicole Scott, Mark Consuelos who plays Antonio, and Justin Louis who plays Pollock. We made the show a lot sexier and racier, and we’re doing wonderful. Every week we’ve gained like a 100,000 viewers. We’ve brought a young demographic to Lifetime that they’ve been after for years, which is the 18-49 demographic. It’s up 100 percent, and they say that I have a lot to do with it [and] that I brought the young MTV crowd. I also think that I’ve brought the African-American crowd to them as well because we don’t have much representation, especially of positive, strong female African-Americans. I’m grateful that Lifetime, which is a network for women, trusts me and that I’ve kind of become the face of Lifetime. I’m really happy there. You’ve also got a few movie projects cooking, The Salon and Getting Played. Yes, those are two independent films that I produced as well as starred in. The Salon opened up in Sundance last year. It was directed by Mark Brown, who did Two Can Play That Game with me. We shot it in 29 days in Baltimore starring myself Kym Whitley, Darrin Henson, Monica Calhoun, [and] my man Terrence Howard has a big part in it. I just called up a bunch of my friends and said ‘Hey, I’m doing this independent film. Will you come to Baltimore and hang out with me for about three weeks?’ and they did. We opened up in Sundance and we did really well. We’re just waiting to get distributed. Getting Played stars myself, Bill Bellamy, Carmen Electra and Stacey Dash. That’s an independent film that is now in negotiations with New Line. It’s a romantic comedy about a battle of the sexes. Tell me about Foxy Brown? Foxy Brown is my production company, Foxy Brown Productions, Inc. It was named after Pam Grier who I just adore, and one day I would love to do a remake of Foxy Brown. And since my last name is Fox, it seems only fitting (laughs). It’s destiny. Now, I’m producing films, and it’s Vivica. You know what I mean? That’s my production company, and I am the product. You are your own business. Yes! You are your own business, and the more that people learn that and learn to invest in themselves and get in the right places for their visions and their dreams to come true, the quicker it will be. It’s so hard for me when people say ‘I want to be an actress.’ And I’m like, well sweetheart, you’ve got to get to L.A. or New York, because that’s where the majority of the production and casting is happening. What kind of advice do you have for people who ask how can they become their own business? The first thing that I would say is you have to have funding. You have to take a product to an investor or get a corporate sponsor. That helps out a lot. Or save up your own monies to invest in your own product. I don’t suggest that somebody who is starting off new to get into something that’s way over their head. Start small. Take that lemon and turn it into lemonade. So many people don’t realize that you have to start small, make sacrifices, invest in yourself- not get the latest designer this or that. You’ve got to make sacrifices, and then the blessings will come. You have to know that it won’t happen over a day. So many people say, ‘I want to do it,’ and then they think it’s going to happen in six months. It doesn’t, and then they give up. I’ve been acting now for 20-something years. You don’t look it. Well, thank you. That’s because I take good care of myself, and I invest in my product. I make sure I work out. I make sure I eat right. I make sure I invest in myself, and I invest in my wardrobe, so that when I come to events like this, I am a wonderful representation of Vivica Fox, Foxy Brown Productions and African-American females. I continuously invest in myself via my web page, my head shots. I’m always like, ‘Oh no, we need to make that current. We need to make it new.’ You’ve got to stay with what’s happening. I see a lot of young women on the bus and in the streets and so many of them look so… Lost? It’s unfortunate. The economic differences are so extreme that it’s making desperate times call for desperate measures, and I think a lot of the girls want the easy way out. They’re not willing to make the sacrifice and get their education. Because let me tell you, droppin’ it like it’s hot in a video can only last for so long. There’s going to be another 20-year-old who’s going to come and shake her ass, and the boys are going to look at her. There’s always going to be the next new thing. Watch how you present yourself - because for you to go into other chapters of your life, it starts now. If you’re doing some low rent, wack shit, it’s going to affect you in 10 years when you want to become a business woman. Somebody’s gon’ be like, ‘Ain’t that LaQuisha from – oooh, baby! I remember momma could make it clap!’ You know what I’m sayin’? Think about that. There’s nothing wrong with being sexy. There’s nothing wrong with having a good time. But don’t sacrifice your values and your pride and your name for chump change. Look at the big picture. Invest in yourself now and make sacrifices. Don’t be walking around giving up everything for free. I see these chicks in these videos. I know they’re only making $75 or $175 and I’m like, ‘baby you are giving up a whole lot for free. And then where are you going from there?’ Once a man or a person has seen you one way, that’s a wrap. Watch what you do today because it will definitely affect tomorrow. Are you going to see 50’s new movie? I probably will. I’m very interested to see Get Rich or Die Tryin’. I’m an actress and he’s not the only actor in the movie. If I get invited to the premiere, chile’ I’ll be at the premiere, clean. (laughs) I never ever talked negatively about him. I don’t believe in speaking negatively about each other, you know? It was a bad break up, but shit happens. I ain’t the first woman that’s gon’ have a bad break up with a guy. Do I still like his music? Yes. Do I still want to see him be successful? Yes. I just looked at him in Vanity Fair and went, damn! They look good. It was good to see Lloyd Bank and Young Buck and Olivia and Tony Yayo in suits at 50’s mansion. He’s been successful and I’m still proud of him. I ain’t a hata’. I’m a congratulata’, and I hope his film does well for him. Before we broke up, we were planning on doing a movie together. To be honest with you, he could be a young, black James Dean. He’s got that charisma. He’s got that element of danger that is very attractive to people. Good girls like bad boys, as you saw when I was with his ass. He’s still sexy to me, and I want to see him do his thing for years to come. I don’t wish bad on nobody, especially not somebody that I used to love. I wish him nothing but success. Read more vibe.com online exclusives.

Article tags: Vivica Fox, 50 Cent 

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