THE ED MYLETT SHOW - Hollywood Unmasked w/Vivica A. Fox

Episode Date: June 8, 2021

Few actresses in Hollywood can rival the duration, diversity, or level of success that Vivica A. Fox has had over the past three-plus decades. This interview is LOADED with SUCCESS PRINCIPLES that apply in any industry Many people know Vivica from her work on the popular show, Empire, but she’s equally adept as an actress on the big screen, as a producer, director, author, entrepreneur, and television host. She started out as a dancer on Soul Train, moved to daytime soaps, then starred as Will Smith’s girlfriend in Independence Day, and in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. She’s also worked extensively in prime-time television and as a producer/co-star in the Lifetime crime drama Missing for which she received an NAACP Image Award. Most recently, she refocused her energy on hosting the podcast, Hustling with Vivica A. Fox. These credits barely scratch the surface of my multi-talented guest who has been blessed with charismatic energy, wisdom, and drive to sustain her long and storied career. Listen to Vivica explain why versatility is one of the secrets to her longevity which is more important than ever since crossover is now the norm in the industry. Vivica also has some great Patti LaBelle stories, too. Without giving anything away, you will never think about shoes the same way again after hearing what Patti told her one day on set. We go into how Independence Day changed her life. How could it not with Will Smith as your acting coach? After that film, Vivica’s phone rang off the hook with one offer after another, including the groundbreaking film Set It Off. You’ll also hear what Vivica has to say about being a woman of color and the difference between being famous and having a career in today’s Hollywood. It’s fascinating. The best way to gain insights on what it takes to be successful is to listen to what someone who has been successful for a long time has to say about it. In that regard, very few people can match what Vivica A. Fox has to say. 👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈  → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← ▶︎ INSTAGRAM ▶︎ FACEBOOK  ▶︎ LINKEDIN ▶︎ TWITTER ▶︎ WEBSITE

This is the Ed Milach show. Welcome back to the show everybody. I'm fired up today. This is a lady I've been fascinated with for a long time. It truly doesn't need an introduction, I don't know who she is, but what I didn't know, she got started on soul-train. I thought that was the coolest thing when I was researching her. And then I remember the days of our lives thing. But then really this woman's career is just she's really remade herself so many different times. But you know, you'll know from Independence Day, booty call,

right? You're in booty call. Yeah, that's when you probably don't have in your bio, but I do, I do. You do? Okay. And then for me, set it off as one of the great movies of like all time for me. I love set it off. And so now she's got a podcast called Hustlin with Vivica Fox. She's an entrepreneur. She's just an incredible woman. So you've kind of got it by the name of her show, Vivica Fox, welcome to the program.

Great to have you. Thank you so much for having me today, Ed. And that introduction was fabulous, darling. Well, it was true, which makes it really even better. So, you know, one thing about you, I want to ask you about this. I was thinking about all these things. I did a little research, but like, we have some mutual friends,

and then I'm just really a fan of yours. I've been fascinated by you. Even like just right now before we started, are you conscious of like one of your gifts is how you bring energy? I'm just wondering if that is one of the things that you focus on or just was it a natural blessing of yours that you just bring a very beautiful, unique energy and and by the way, different energies depending on the role you're playing on camera too. Do you ever think about that? I mean, I try to be a very positive person in general. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. In life, you know, I've met people that I've looked up to

or admired or really was really looking forward to meeting and was disappointed. Yeah. And so I always just especially like with my fans or like I always believe a happy set is a positive set. So I always, you know, when I see people look them in the eye, shake hands, you know, well, get can as much with COVID, but that was usually always to make eye contact to be positive, to make your experience when you're around me to be fun, to say, you know, it was really cool. I guess it's something that I'm

blessed with. Yeah, I do. I think so. And to me, there's certain people that kind of like jump off the camera no matter what the role is they play. And I think that's an energy thing. I think energy is also kind of influenced too. Like it's just some people have it and some people don't. I've always felt that way when I watch you. Because you do, you've done serious roles and you've done obviously hilarious roles too. Because you got this great timing.

But so let's start. You've re-made yourself to last as long as you have in such a competitive industry. And to be a woman and to be a black woman is remarkable that you've been able to sustain such a high level of notoriety, probably income. And so have you remade yourself multiple times? And if you have like a lot of people are thinking about that right now post COVID, what would you say to people about that? I definitely am having an amazing resurgence in my career. Like you said, most Hollywood actresses, especially African American actresses in their 50s. I'm very happy to say I'm in my 50s and you know, taking good care of myself, doing my best to keep it tight and right. But I figured it out. And that's because I've had a good team of

people who are honest with me who see opportunities for me that I didn't even see for myself and they have me busier than ever. They really do. What do you mean by figure it out? What do you mean by that? Well, like I figured it out in my career early, I have a business partner by the name of Lita Richardson who told me the more that I realized that I'm in show business, and the more that I realize the business that goes on behind the show, I will have a longer career. Then I figured out that versatility has also equaled the key to my longevity. So I always share with young actors that come up to me, oh my god, how are you able to do this for so long and be so successful? I say, baby, be a triple threat. Be able to sing, act, dance. You never know what the role make

all for that day because our business there used to be a time where movie actors only did movies. Television shows only did TV shows. Film actors only, I mean, theater people only did Broadway or theater. Now you can go and you can do theater. You can host a TV show, a daytime talk show, a night show. You can do movies, you can do sitcoms, you can just do a little bit of everything. That way the career lasts longer and you don't get pitch and hold into just doing one thing. Yeah, that's a great lesson for anybody in any career though. Even if you're an entrepreneur, some people rely on that one thing they're great at, which is good as a gift or whatever. But at some point, you're going to have to evolve, pivot, have different skills to persuade different people. That's something enough for people to

do. Are you working on your game? Are you working on your persuasion? Are you closing or your presentation skills, your people skills, you know, not enough people are improved, especially if they have a little bit of success. Failure causes all of us to want to improve, right? But success is a killer sometimes because it makes us think we got it wired. And that's, that's the key to longevity. As you didn't act like you were successful, right? You continue to act like you weren't to get better, true? Absolutely. Like I said, first subtility has equaled the key to longevity. It was like, listen, you can only be the hot chick for so long. Then studios are going to go looking for the next hot chick with, you can only be the hot chick for so long. Then studios are gonna go looking for the next hot chick with, you know, it's a thing that rotates.

So I figured out in my career how to go to different chapters, how to be the hot chick, then how to be like the leader, how to play a good mom, how to be a good producer. Now I'm directing and then business wise, you know, I've learned with the Vivica Fox hair collection, which when I started that 10 years ago, people laughed at me. I'll never forget that they're like, when the chicks stop coming in,

now she's selling hair, not having no idea that me and my business partner had did our homework and found out the business in the hair business that it's a billion dollar year franchise and African American women buy a lot of that hair. So, and I know I had spent a whole bunch on weaves and wigs and everything. So I said, let me get a piece of that by that. And now the Vivica Fox hair collection is celebrating 10 years being successful in the hair trade. Yeah, that makes you an incredibly legitimate business woman. If you go a decade, anything in business, a green.

You know, I looked at, I looked at it. It was interesting. Because I wanted to what like the magic thing was. Everybody has a little magic thing. And I now I looked at your, you know, your, your thing was your mother was a pharmaceutical tech and your dad was a private school administrator, right? Is that right? Yeah, yeah, worked in the school system. Because I want to know what makes somebody. And there's little things about you that I've watched over the years, even more than most actresses.

And people are hearing it. By the way, she said earlier, you know, she used to be the hot chick. I say this respectfully. She's gorgeous. I say this is a half of America. I'm married, too. But she's still the hot chick. But there's a lot of folks who are listening to this on audio, summer on YouTube, but I

want to make sure they go to YouTube and I'll prove it to you. Go look, click the link on YouTube and you'll see it. But I want to ask you about, I have like only four or five gifts in my life. One of them, though, that I've worked hard on is my voice, is my ability to communicate clearly, articulate my words clearly. That's something you really do well. And I'm wondering, was that just like, is that some of your parents worked on like my, my, my dad had like kind of a deep voice and worked on me speaking deeper, worked on me, hey, finish your sentence, finish your work. Like being able to articulate and speak clearly influences people, right?

Regardless of your career, you do that like exceptionally well. Was that like bread into you as a child by your parents emphasized or just like it's just a natural thing you have? No, that, it's something that I've definitely worked on. Um, you know, I was a host of a lot of award shows. And, um, and then I'll never forget I did have one job. That's an actress. And it was for, um, it was kind of like a medical drama.

And that was the first time that someone ever had said, you're not saying your jeez, you're not saying, um, uh, fishing or you're not, you're not, you're not saying fishing, or you're not saying, I wasn't finishing off, I had a little hood in me. So I was, you know, and I'll be like, what you know what I mean, but we're doing a television show, and you're playing a doctor, and you need to speak articulant, articulantly.

And I was like, gacha. And I didn't even realize that I wasn't finishing my words. So that was the first thing. So then when I started hosting a lot of award shows and then I had my own talk show called Face the Truth and I had to deliver a lot of dialogue that was, you know, you have sponsors and things like that that they want to hear their ads or whatever spoken clearly.

And then I also did a lot of voice over work. I was a voice of Cadillac for many years. So, and then I, yeah, and then I did, done on a Mac animation, I did Scooby Doo. So I could hear my voice. And can I tell you, I just was in Vegas over the weekend celebrating a Prince birthday. And I kind of, you know, had a little bit

of a different do with my grades here. But the moment I started to speak, people knew, I knew that was Vivica Fox. You know, I knew that was you. You didn't even realize that people now, especially listening audio, how many times people hear your voice on a commercial or on a trailer or something like that,

and they go, and there's a connection with the voice. The reason I bring it up everybody that's listening or watching, like the first two things we'll have cover, there is her energy and her ability to articulate her thoughts, because these are huge secret keys in every walk of life. You're a better mother or father if you can bring an energy to your family and articulate your thoughts correctly. And by the way, everybody knows this or watch my show.

I'm not talking about clearly saying something like if you were born with an accent or you come from somewhere and there's a dialect, that's absolutely wonderful in life. You want to have those things, but it's finishing your thoughts as being cognizant of your ability to communicate with people. Listen, more and more in the world, information's free, everybody. You can Google lots of info. Info doesn't separate you.

It's your ability to transfer it. That's the key. And this woman is one of the best in the world. So I'm gonna say, we'll go into your show in a minute, cause I want to ask you about that too. But you got a chance to work with Patty LaBelle when you were young. That's an icon, right? Like one of the great icons.

I'm curious, did she make any impact on you? Particularly any influence on you other than, wow, this is Patty LaBelle. What did you learn from her? Oh my gosh, good cooking and good fashion sense. I remember her, Patty would always be in her trailer and she would cook us good food. She would always believe like, hey, baby, come,

I wanna make sure you got a good, good food and you're nourishing all that good stuff. And she cooked, now that's why we got Patty pies. Another thing I learned from that one about business too, outside of just being a singer, you know, how to brand yourself. And then fashion, I'll never forget one time, you know, they'll say sometimes,

oh, your shoes don't matter, you don't really see them. And I walked in with these shoes and she hated them. And she liked my dress and the cute little hat I had on it. She walked up, she said, baby, who put them shoes on you? And I said, oh, they should have started to really matter, she said, baby, who put them shoes on you? And I said, oh, they should have signed

got a really mad, she goes, I see them. I noticed they weren't cute. And from that point forward, I always make sure that my outfits are complete and I have on some good shoes. I love that. It's like, little lessons you learned from legends, right? Like little lessons, I've had the good fortune of just, you know, over my life getting to a coach

or work with people and some of them are sort of legendary people. People, what do you learn from them? They'd be surprised at these subtle little things that you've learned from them that like you carry forever because they said it because it was them that said it. Exactly. Yeah, because it was them, right? Someone else says you're like, yeah, whatever, but it's Patti LaBelle. Like, okay, I'm wearing some good shoes from now. Oh, I better. Oh, when I show up, whenever I do see her, I make sure that my look is complete from head to toe. Cause she, and then also she taught me a love for diamonds too. A lot of diamonds. And the other thing you haven't come with her too is that because you're both known for this of being really nice good people. And that's what's one of the other

career things that last in careers is like when you're in competitive businesses, being a good human, treating other people really well. Oh great. That's like making deposits in the bank account of longevity, because there's the law of reciprocity and life, right? Things come back to you. And you know, as well as I do, there's a lot of people in here industry

that don't always adhere to that standards. They sure don't. And you know what? I also learned, I remember when I met Bill Clinton, how he gave me such direct eye contact. And he's like a pleasure to meet you. Just, it takes just a moment to be nice, to make someone feel that this may be the only time

in their life that they see you in person and they've supported your career and went to see your movies, bought your products and stuff, to take a moment, to take a picture and say thank you, appreciate the support, goes a long way. Yeah, I think they call that charisma sometimes and Clinton had Clinton had a ton of that or has a talent of it right like yeah, I've had a the Fortune of getting to meet him a couple times too. He's a presence, but one of the reasons he's a presence is no

matter what he's doing. He's present with you for those moments. You feel like you're the most important person in the world. Yeah, speaking of your movies in a penance day, uh, that's when I watch you, I was like, wow, this person, this woman has stepped into her own, right? Like that was a big deal. But, but set it off, I thought, I don't know if you're, I'm wondering if you were aware of it. Guys, if you've never seen set it off, do yourself a favor and go watch this movie.

Because I think it's not only a great movie, and Vivek is not only incredible in it, but there's some real cultural and societal stuff kind of embedded in that movie that is more well known now than it was then. So, you know, in the movie, I won't give it all away, but, you know, she's basically working in a bank, she shouldn't get fired, she does for some crap, some total BS reasons, it's gonna be a janitor, then they decide to go rob a bank, it's like an awesome movie. But were you, were you aware when you were doing doing this like this has some social impact to it. Like some of the issues in that

movie, the subtle issues, wasn't just a great movie, but like there's a lot of stuff you go watch that movie. Now we're talking about those things a lot more now than we were then some of those issues. You have any, did you have any grasp of it than at all? I was just curious. To be honest with you, no, it was the director. I will give all kudos to the director of Gary Gray that because we were tossing out papers every day from the script and he's like this movie has to make sense. Why would four women go and rob a bank? I want to show the relationships, how they're connected with each other, how your backs were pushed against the wall and you felt like this was your only way out. So we wanted to make sure that the story made sense that here I was unjustly fired and it's the association with a guy, you know, from the hood, you know, then she still got her girls and each one went through an experience that made it them bond together and like,

you know what, we, the system is is is jacking us over. We don't take a piece of that system back and do it our own way. It wasn't a great choice, but it definitely made out for made a wonderful film, but I did feel something special when we were filming it. Absolutely working with Latifa, Jeta Pinkett Smith, Kimberly, at least the awesome director, F Gary Gray. I knew it was something special. And at the premiere, people laugh, cried, cheer. I was like, we got a hit. And it's a classic. Who was your acting co- did Will Smith work with you as an acting coach for a while? Is that true? No, it was just for that move. Set it off. We were filming Independence Day. And I told him, you know, I was kind of looking at something on the side. He's like, what are you doing? I was like, I'm a great audition for Jadas. You know, at the time they were dating. And he was like, oh, let me help you out, V. I was like, okay, okay.

Who, how often does Will Smith say, I wanna coach you? So, he went in because they made me audition for two characters. They made my audition for TT because at the time Rosie Perez was supposed to have been my character's Frankie. Because, you know, they do that in studios. They try to match

up actors. And so we were reading it and he's like TT not really you Frankie you're when we did he's like will you go in there give him that energy like going down I want you take this rope it like don't just you know take it and that extra encouragement And I remember going into the audition with F. Gary Gray and I did TT and he went, okay, and then I did Frankie and he went. Wow, like that. Yeah. And he took me out afterwards and he was very honest. He didn't make me audition again.

He says if Rosie Perez falls out, this is your role. And I got it. No way she fell out. That's how you got that. Yeah, yeah. But I mean, I did audition. I did audition. Yeah, yeah. out. That's how you got that. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, I did audition. I did audition. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But he did work with you a little bit. Because I read that. I'm like, that's pretty fascinating. He worked with you on a movie that Jada was in. I just think

that's really interesting. Yeah. And he actually, he actually, he came to the set and when we were doing Independence Day, Jada, we were in Utah came there. So it was a good connection. And Jada and I had worked, you know, had Jada and I worked together? No, I did first bits about a layer with Will before. So it was just ironic, I played Jassy Jeff's, I was like the date from hell, I was his sister, and I just gave Will the hardest time. That's another classic episode as well too.

So we had worked together before, and the quick story, uh, the first, the first choice wasn't available. My first day of filming, because I had to audition six times, called and said, because she was in a series that they, they, they, but they couldn't work out of schedule. And then they did. And they told me at the premiere, they were like, did you know, your first day of filming that if you weren't good, we were going to fire you? No way. Oh, it's right the director told me this, he says, yeah, the girl that we wanted for first choice. Oh, yeah. So go to show you to show up and be present

and always, especially if you get an opportunity, never take it for granted. How big or how small be professional, show up on time, be ready, know your lines because Independence Day literally changed my life. The movie, almost 25 years ago, made $800 million. And my phone started ringing off the hook. Yeah, it led to movie after movie after movie. Sometimes the best ability is availability, right? That's right.

Just be available. And then the other thing too, is sometimes luck is where preparation meets opportunity. That's exactly what happened with both of those with you. Like I just love these lessons because people think sometimes they see somebody famous or well known. Somehow the lessons that made them successful don't apply to them and and and success is principles that are across the board applied. One of them is hustling, which is, what's that mean to you? You named your show this, you're going to, you're going in the season two. Why'd you name it that? And what is hustling? What does that mean to you? Because that's, oh, that everyone's talking,

you got a hustle, you got a hustle, I got my hustle on. What, to you, what does that mean? For me, it's being persistent, never taking an opportunity for granted. I got hustling with Vivica Fox because it's with stage 29 productions, which is Dr. Phil's production company. I had a talk show on called Face the Truth. I'm going to take you back.

I was a guest on Dr. Phil's show like so many times. And he just like he was like, I'm going to figure out something to do with you. We did the talk show, but then at the time, it got counsel prematurely because of some stuff was happening in Hollywood. And they said, we're not done with you. We're going to figure out another way to work with you. And next thing you know, they're like, how about your own podcast? You know, I did a talk show with four women. And for, you know, for them to then say, we want to give you your own podcast. So then who knows what this is going

to lead to? I may have another talk show again with Dr. Phil, because he's literally, you know, talk show God. And he gives you that touch. And so when they ask me to do this, they're like, you know, if you do a podcast, what would you like to do? I want to celebrate careers. I don't want to look for like, you know, gossipy or trick people in the telling the story that's clickbait.

I said, I want to celebrate careers. I want people to know what's your journey. How did you become who you are? Tell people stories that they never knew behind the scenes. I think that's you know, more interesting to hear about them. Me trying to trick you into getting a clickbait for a blog or something like that. That's not what I do. I love it. What a career you've had. By the way, I have Dr. Phil's doing for you. What he's kind of doing for Mike Bear a little bit. My buddy, my, my, my, my, my, my, so do I. Such a good man. And, uh, buddy, what's what operative for him? You know, you've got to tap him on the shoulder. And it's that thing where you pay it forward in life. It's just, it's amazing. And entrepreneurs, parents, all of you, whatever

you do, you can do that too. I'm curious. You have a big life. Like, a busy life. It's just it's amazing. And entrepreneurs, parents, all of you, whatever you do, you can do that too. I'm curious. You have a big life. Like a busy life. And there's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure. Like just to be on top, not to lose it. You know, you've carried that. You've had to have carried that. And as an African-American woman in Hollywood, you know, the opportunities are limited, right? So I think the pressure's got to even be greater. You can't make, you can't make a mistake, right? Like, does it ever just weigh on you just being you having this life? And secondly, is it worth it? Like if you had to go back and whisper to that young lady on soul train, would you tell her it's worth it? I'm curious, both of those things together.

Absolutely, I've had, like you said, an amazing career through the trials and tribulations, ups, downs, the failures, the successes. It's been an amazing ride. And I want to keep on going for it and having a couple more chapters for I shut this girl down and say, okay, I've done it. But I love what I do But I love what I do.

I love what I do. I'm grateful for what I do. I love entertaining. I love, as you said, passing a torch on to others and going into the different chapters. I really love what I do and it's absolutely worth it. Only part of it that I don't like is that, you know, sometimes when you do want to do things private that now everybody wants to put a phone in your face or not let you have private moments, but that comes with them. And, you know, I'm the kind that's like really nice. I'll be like now baby. I'm going to give you this picture, but you're going to leave me alone after that. Okay. I need to give better that. that you know what, it doesn't upset everybody knows it's not really that upset you and I'm especially other people you're with like, hey, we're

trying to have dinner. Yes, yeah, other people you're with, you know, I literally was in Vegas and I was like, you guys, I'm gonna take this last picture and then that's it. Everybody kind of put a border around me and and that's gonna be it because I wanted to laugh with them and have drinks and and have a day off, you know, and not be on. I was not trying to show up as a biblical box. I just wanted to hang out with some buddies.

So if there's women listening to this number one, who want to get ahead in their life, right? What would your advice be to them? So obviously different if some are gender, and then it's even more different if you look different. And what the majority looks like, whether you're a Latina, you're Asian American, you're African American. Obviously, it's different. I don't understand it. I'm a white male. I'd never lived like that. I don't walk in a room and experience that. I don't

have those thoughts when I walk in a room. But there's millions of people that are listening to do have those thoughts, that do have those concerns. What would you say to them? You know, I never use my race as a crutch. Be a good woman. Let's start there. Be a good woman with good principles, good work ethic. And I just never use my races like, well, you know, I'm a sister and you better do this for me. But you know, there is the rule that if you are, you know, African American that you have to work twice as hard happens.

But I'm a hard worker, so I never tripped on that. So first of all, you know, in our society today, everybody wants to swipe quickly to fame. There are no shortcuts to a career. There's a difference between being famous and a career. And to have a career, a career is built. And it's built with having a good team, having a good work ethic, showing up and being present. And, um, and knowing the business that you're in, like I think a lot of people when they come to show business are right,

this thing. So I'm good looking. And because I'm good looking, that means that you're going to hire me. Well, when you get there and you show up for an audition, there's 10 other pretty girls there, then you go, whoop, okay, what can I do? That's gonna make me different to stand out to get this part. And that's showing up, knowing your lines, looking the part, leaving no room for doubt that they should hire you.

I've had a wonderful acting coach that told me that by the name of Sheila Wells, when I was a young actress. And she was like, Vivica, you show up. I want you to dress, smell, walk, talk, be the part. So when you walk out the director or the producers go, that's our girl. Interesting thing.

I'm going to jump in and say that because I, I love that answer that I think sometimes even when maybe a deck is stacked against you, potentially in life, that it's to your disadvantage to be too aware of it, no matter what it is when you walk in, because I think sometimes you might perform differently being too aware of that stuff.

And I mean that, like, I walked in, I had to give a speech a while ago, and I knew the people that were in there were very rare, but when I had to give this speech, I kind of knew they were predisposed not to agree with some of the things I was going to say. It wasn't political, it was just a business of the things I was gonna say wasn't political It was just a business thing. I remember it wasn't one of my best speeches and the reason that it wasn't was I was overly

It was a legitimate issue when I had to walk in there. I was gonna have to deal with it was real Right, but I think I was so concerned about it that it caused me to perform It's almost like if you're a hitter in baseball. You know you can't hit a curveball. You're still paranoid about that curveball You're getting the curve ball, right? Right. And I think to some extent, that happened. And so it's important to be aware, Christine Simmons was on my show. She's become one of my very good friends.

She's around the LA Sparks, African American woman. I think she's now running the Academy Awards. Do you know Christine? No, but I'm a sponsor of the LA Sparks as well too. Okay. She's awesome. And we share our love for tequila. So she's a great boss.

You look a ton of time. But she didn't say to me, said one thing as an African American woman that I am aware of is, I don't want to mess this up because I don't want the door to close so that someone else doesn't get an opportunity. And one of the things you and Latifa and Jada and others have done is you probably didn't weren't aware of the time, but you have Oathock-Hollybury others.

You've opened the door for people now. Is that important to you? Or are you just working in Hustle and you don't even think about it? No, I absolutely do. I actually did an interview one time with Pam Breer. I did this show for BET Legends, and we got to interview people that we loved. She's my, I'd name my production company,

Foxy Brown Productions, and I got to interview her, and she was so kind. I was like, oh, in tears the whole time. And she said to us, you're so kind. Thank you. I admire you for the long time. She says, it's what I'm supposed to do, Vivica. And I say, what do you mean by that? She goes, someone opened the door for me so that I could pass this torch to you. And I want you to pass the torch to Generation X or someone else. And I am doing that. I always help out with producing my own movies, now directly my own movies, hosting comedy special where it's female comedians where I show up and I lend my name to get folks in the audience so they give

these women, you know, excellent exposure. And so, you know, that's all like, you gotta have, you can't just take from your community and not give back and think that you're gonna be blessed. So. Do you work on yourself? Like, are you a reader or you, because you've had a lot of personal, I'm coming on your show.

You've had a lot of personal development, life improvement type people around you, on your show. You've got a lot of personal development, life improvement type people around you on your show. And other people you've interviewed, is that something you work on? Do you read or are you constantly reading about energy or getting better or faith or those kinds of topic? Is that something that is in your universe, so to speak? I am a reader and then not a reader

because I have to read so many scripts. Yeah. So, um, but I like like, you know, positive affirmations and things like that. But can I take you back to something you just said about being too aware? As an actor though, it's different for us. And let me tell you that, tell you why. If you walk in and you have to be confident, like they, they can sense whether or not you know the lines, whether or not you're prepared. So for an audition, it's like you, you've got to be like in a zone that like like when you walk in and that there's people you've got less than five minutes to impress to get a job. Yes. So you know, I mean, I've also done speeches and I have to read the room too.

And I have to adjust, you know. Yeah. Yeah, I think, well, I think what my point was is that you can't be too aware of outside noise. You have to go in and execute. And that's what I would. Okay. I misunderstood you then.

Yeah. When I coach, when I coach entrepreneurs that I know, you know, maybe they're the little company going into bed against a big company or something like that. And they're like, look, the deck is stacked against me. I'm like, it is stacked against you. That's a fact. But you got to go in there like you just said and you got to own it and you got to execute. And that's what I meant earlier about. Listen, there's deck stacked against people in certain industries and certain businesses in life. Being aware of it's very important because it's, you don't want the door to close for somebody else. You better over prepare. You got to be twice as good, all the things we said. But I think when your

moment arrives, you got to drop that. You got to execute just like what you've said. I think we're actually saying something really, really similarly. What about this too? I'm just curious. There've been luck timing. In other words, would you have been successful no matter what? Or is there an element to success that's just like you better always be ready because timing does matter? Yeah, that was something else. My she the world's my acting coach back in the day. She's like, stay ready. Stay ready. You never know when your time is going to come up. And if you weren't prepared, the only person that you can blame is yourself. And then going back forward to what you were saying, you're like, how,

how am I who I am? It's because I'm honest with who I am. I own my accomplishments, I own my faults. I think that's the biggest thing with a lot of people that sometimes they're in denial about their actions and how they treat people. And I really try to be a person that if I'm wrong to apologize, that if I made a mistake, to own that mistake, that, you know, how do I learn from my mistakes? And so I don't have a problem looking in the mirror

and talking to Vivica and owning who I am. And that took a long time, but in my 50s, the maturity now that I have that, how do you get certain results? What was your contribution to things not going the way that you thought they were going to go, or that they went just like you want, if not even better. Yeah, that's awesome. I love that. That's going to be an Instagram clip. I can tell you that right now. You're like, when you're watching a football game, they go, that's going on a sports center.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That was the sports center podcast right there. I'm gonna tell you. Or if someone gets posterized, you're like're like, oh dude, you just got post-erised. Exactly. Yeah, you dunked on that. So, I want to stay on that just for a second. I'm curious because we're going to run out of time and like you can tell, I would talk to you all day. But I'm curious, are you hard on yourself when you perform, when you go back and watch yourself on camera? Are you, one of those feelings, very difficult on yourself so that you do improve, or do you give yourself some grace? Do you enjoy watching yourself?

I'm curious. Combination of both. When I first started acting, I was overly critical. I was looking for everything that I did wrong and said what I did right. So I had to give myself a break, you know? Like, okay, people enjoyed it, stopped being so hard on yourself,

but you know, you are critical of yourself because you want to grow as an actor. And so I've learned to just listen a little bit more. And when I see something, if I like it, congratulate myself and then let's move forward, how can we grow that then the next time? Like I do these lifetime movies called So Wrong It's Right. And we're now like on film 33.

And the reason why they keep happening is because I keep making it better. I'm like, okay, next time we can, the fashion's can be a little bit better. Okay, let's make sure the hair is more current. I just always try to, every time that I show up to be, to be better and grow. And, you know, now I'm a director. So, you know, easy career. Gosh, like it's really, it's really remarkable. And by the way, the diversity of the different things that you do, you know, and that's why I say these principles, everybody don't apply to just acting or just directing or just podcasting or just being an entrepreneur. They apply it in life.

Yes. You seem like people ask me sometimes and I'm not equating the two of us, my name means, but people will ask me sometimes, you seem very confident. And I've had to really work on myself, confidence. I did not have that when I was young. And I even think it's pretty fragile sometimes now. And people ask me, are you as confident as you seem? And I usually say, probably not. Probably not. And when I watch you, I'm like, this is such a confident woman.

Do you go through bouts of not being of insecurity? Do you struggle with that ever, especially in your career with the criticism that could come or the gaps in between a movie? And if you have ever struggled with it, do you have any hacks or keys you do to get your confidence? You know, I have a funny saying, make your haters your congratulations, because it seemed to be in a business where people love to just rip you apart.

And I had to stop, you know, I had to know who was trolling and or be honest with myself. Did you like the way you looked? Did you, could you have done better? Could you have worked out more? You know what I mean? Just to be honest with myself, but I try to put my best foot forward. I'm a planner. When I go and I do movies or even an appearance, the look is planned literally from head to toe. I learned that from Patty LaBelle. You know, yeah, to look good.

And you know, because people, if they want to see a movie star, they want to see a movie star. But then I also know when to turn off and just hang out with my God children and no makeup and enjoy life. So it's a delicate balancing act that I think I finally have figured out. And confidence is key, you know? Yeah, I'm for me, confidence is keeping the promises

I make to me. If I consistently do the things I tell myself, I'm gonna do. I build a reputation with myself where I trust me. And to me, that self-confidence. And when I meet somebody who's not self-confident, I think maybe they've started a lot of diets, they didn't keep.

Maybe they said they're gonna make a lot of phone calls they didn't make for business. You know, they don't keep these promises. So they're gonna make a lot of the phone calls they didn't make for business. You know, they don't keep these promises. So anyone, listen, that's a hack also in addition to what Vivica said about your self-confidence. Okay, last question. Okay. I wish this wasn't over.

First off, thank you for being here. First off, thank you. And everybody, please go check out Vivica's podcast, go follow her on social media. Think if you go to her Instagram or her show, I think you'll be able to connect with everything that she's doing going forward. But if you could go back to that young lady on Soul Train, who probably had big dreams and wanted to do something great with her life,

and you could talk to her. There's a lot of people listen to this and watch this coming out of COVID. And maybe even without COVID, they're like, I'd like to make some dreams come true of mine. And maybe even without COVID, they're like, I'd like to make some dreams come true of mine. But I'm stuck, I'm down. I don't have a lot of connections. I don't know a lot of people. The reason I'm listening to Ed Mylett show is I'm trying to pick up the inspiration

or the keys to changing my life. I've got one of the most successful women over the last 20 years or so, even longer in Hollywood. Right here with me, she's made an unbelievable life and career for herself. What advice or counsel would you give that young Vivica Fox, which is the same advice I'm sure you'd give everybody listening? That on you, and it's never too late, it is never too late, but you have to put the effort forward for success isn't going to come knocking on your

door. And I share that I have a book out called Every Day of Hustling where I say you've got to go knock on success door, matter of fact, you got to go kick that sucker in, but you it has to start with you. You know, do the homework find out that if it's a business that you want to do, do the homework, look at other people that are successful in that business. What steps did they take? Are you making the right moves? Are you making the right connections? Network. Success, like I said, isn't going to come to you and be like, hey, ready? It's literally up to you to go network. Get out there, start brainstorming, create vision boards. Every day, just do something positive to make you take that next step forward and set a set. Get up off that couch. Go make it happen.

You guys, there's a lot there right there. By the way, one little thing about betting on you, that was awesome, by the way, like legit, like legit, not only to bet on you, not only to get up networking, massive thing, not enough people take advantage of, preparation piece of it as well, right? That's a gigantic part of it is the preparation piece, being the most prepared person, huge, advantage in life and business. There was a lot there you guys, and I think you should go back and replay that last couple minutes because that's a lot of the lessons in there are the things that she just described. I would agree with those things, by the way, and it's never too late. I want everybody to hear that. It's never

too late to turn your life around. Never too late. And I was honored to have you here today. This is, it was great because I, I, I, I just, I think you're remarkable. And I knew you would be able to express why you're so successful, which is not something everybody can do. They can't explain to you why they're where they are. You and I both know a lot of people like that. You've been able to explain it. And I'm really, really grateful for this today. And I'll return the favor on your show.

So thank you. Yes, you're welcome. We'll talk again soon, Ed. Hey, God bless you. Thank you for being here. Everybody, share this show. Share it. We're going.

And share it. Fast is going show on the planet. Share it with everybody. God bless you all. Max out. That's going show on the planet. Share it with everybody. God bless you all. Max out. Take care, darlin. Bet on you. This is the end my let's show.

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