Sunday, June 7, 2009

Where is Vivica Fox?

Maybe I’m asking the wrong question. Perhaps the best question would be, “What Happened to Vivica Fox’s Career?”.

After starring in the 1996 motion picture Independence Day with Will Smith, I thought Vivica Fox’s career would take off. After all, the film won an Oscar and did more than well at the box office. But since then, her career has seemed to plummet. It appears her roles have gotten smaller, and/or the quality of the films she has appeared in has diminished except for an upswing here and there.

And then I opened up this month’s issue of Upscale magazine and part of the way in, I noticed an advertisement for the stage play A Stranger in My House starring none other than Ms. Fox. Now, I don’t want to recapitulate the whole low culture versus high culture argument here, nor do I want to denigrate the artistry and cultural value of these plays, but I know one thing for sure. When an artist begins traveling with these shows, that’s usually a sure signal their career is headed downhill fast.

Nevertheless, however small her roles may have become or the quality of films diminished, she has managed to keep herself quitewho busy. Since 1996, she has quite a number of movie, television, and voice-over credits to her name. Perhaps you caught her on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. When she and her television family joined the cast, the comedy on the show went to a whole new level. In addition, she has done some producing, most notably the 2005 film Getting Played.

At the present, Vivica has no less than seven films in post-production and two projects in development. Her next move to hit theaters is the psychological-horror-thriller flick Junkyard Dog involving a cannibalistic serial rapist. The trailer for Junkyard Dog can be seen below.

And let's not forget Vivica's new reality series on TV Land, The Cougar, about a forty year women set up in a house with twenty younger men, all vying for her attention.

But of course, Vivica’s journey has not been without some bumps in the road. Everyone perhaps knows of her romance with rapper and business mogul 50 cent, and her little brush with the law for driving under the influence was well publicized, but did you know Vivica had her own sex tape circulating in the blogosphere not too long ago? On a hunch I did a boolean search for Vivica Fox and Playboy and that popped up. Why am I always the last to find out these things?

You know, I still consider Vivica one of the sexiest and most beautiful actresses out there. Her beauty seems timeless; she never appears to age, but looks better year after year. But in retrospect after seeing Independence Day, I perhaps over-estimated her potential. After looking back at her roles over the years, I realize she always plays numerous versions of the same character—the sista girl. She has played the sista girl hoochie mama (Bootycall), the sista’ girl wife (Soulfood), the sista’ girl business woman, (Cover), and the list goes on and on. I’m not sure if she is typecast or this is the full range of her talent.

see also: www.vivicafox.com

10 comments:

KST said...

I've often wondered the same thing about Ms. Fox. The downhill slide really did seem to start after the whole Fiddy episode.

Maybe he did a secret Rick Ross on her career?

Max Reddick said...

I don't know what happened. Right now I'm simply doubting that her talent extends much further than what he have seen. But she does seem to keep getting a paycheck so perhaps her situation is not so bad after all. Sometimes it's better to be on the B-list as opposed to not being on any list at all.

Kim said...

Vivica is actually a great actress and we know that there are not alot of quality roles for black women in Hollywood ,but I think like Sanaa Lathan, whom I love to bits, you can't just take anything.. When I see the list of her last few movies and upcoming projects I say dang Aunt Viv got some bills due. And I saw the play Stranger in My House on fastpasstv.com and lemme just say, that is an hour and a half of my life I will never get back. She just need one good role to get her back on the map and leave the straight to DVD crap alone. If a actress reads for a movie and Clifton Powell is in it, that's a sign not to take that job.

Max Reddick said...

You actually watched it? HaHa! I guess I can use that as a review huh? And don't hate on my boy Clifton Powell.

And I'm hoping that good role comes.

Issa Rae said...

LOL @ Clifton Powell! He's just getting flack all over the place.

I don't know ... Vivica is going down that Lil' Kim path. The plastic surgery needs to stop before she ends up destroying her face for good.

Max Reddick said...

If you look close at the picture with Fiddy, you'll see this strange dent in her breast. I found some more pictures where it was more pronounced. You'd think she would be able to get a better boob job. That one is absolutely horrible!

KST said...

"If you look close at the picture with Fiddy..."

Max - It all started with Fiddy. Fiddy was where it all went wrong.

I'm having way too much fun writing "Fiddy."

Max Reddick said...

Fiddy is fun to write. Try saying it fast seven times. Bet you can't. But in all seriousness, I don't think it actually started with Fiddy. Fiddy is just a symptom of a bigger problem.

Unknown said...

Watching TVONE, I didn’t realize just how many movies she has been in. I think the greater question is who is producing these films? While I don’t always enjoy the films, it is always great to see Ms. Fox. Watching her is like catching up with an old friend.
I do not understand how movies/tv is casted today. I see so many talented actors and actresses of color in one project, never seeing them again. Why is it we don’t see Ms. Fox or say a Tracee Ellis Ross as a lawyer on one of the many Law & Order shows?

Would I like to see Ms. Fox in “A-List” movies? Yes, but are those opportunities available to her?

Max Reddick said...

Yeah, one Saturday I watched TV-One and every other movie starred Vivica. She definitely has done quite a number of movies. But this is my big question to you: Is Vivica A-list material?

Related Posts with Thumbnails