Vivica A. Fox Tears Up While Looking Back at Her Iconic Career (2024)

By

Hope Sloop

Vivica A. Fox is looking back at her iconic career fondly and opening up about the moments that stick out.

The 59-year-old actress recently sat down for an ET Retrospective to discuss her more than 240 film and television roles since 1982 -- when she moved from her home in Indiana to the West Coast for college.

"I moved to California one month after I graduated from high school in search of a dream that I have been able to live out beyond my wildest expectations," she said.

That wildest dream includes roles in films likeKill Bill: Volume 1, Batman & Robin and Booty Call and on TV shows likeThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,Living Single,Family Matters andArsenio.

She told ET that one of her most memorable auditions was for The Fresh Prince, which resulted in a quick job offer and one of her favorite on-set experiences.

"I remember getting a call immediately after the audition," Fox said. "They were like, 'Tell her she nailed it -- be on set.' I think I started working within a day or so."

"Will Smith, just a gentleman," the actress continued. "It just brings back a lot of really good memories...I can't believe you're making me cry like this... but it's good, it's like tears of like really good memories. I can't believe how long I've been doing this."

Another person whom she says she is grateful for? Patti LaBelle. According to Fox, LaBelle is the woman who taught her about the importance of a good pair of shoes.

"One time they dressed me in this outfit and she was like, 'Dress is cute, hate the shoes,' and so that's why people always compliment me so much now saying, 'You know, Vivica, you got a mean shoe game,'" she said. "And I got that lesson from Patti LaBelle."

Of all of her roles, Fox said there is one that she would love to revisit -- playing the sister of Taraji P. Henson's Cookie Lyon on Empire.

"We were supposed to do a spinoff, we really were and things just didn't work out, unfortunately," she said. "But I would jump at the opportunity to work with Taraji again. I mean, she is just creme de la creme."

The NAACP Image Award winner previously told ET that she loved the opportunity to work with Henson, who has also talked about a potential Empire spinoff.

"I've had a wonderful time playing Cookie's older sister. And it was a trip because you know Taraji, I've known her for years, right? But I never had a chance to work with her, never! This is our first time working together," she said.

Just recently, Henson opened up about firing her whole team after the Fox series came to an end, saying the network had looked to get another show going but it eventually fell through.

"All they wanted was another Cookie show, and I said, 'I'll do it, but it has to be right. The people deserve-- she’s too beloved for y'all to f**k it up.' And so, when they didn’t get it right, I was like, 'Well, that’s it,' and they had nothing else. 'You're all f**kin’ fired,'" she said.

Fox also spoke about her Generations co-star, Kristoff St. John, who died in 2019 fromhypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

"I miss him. Kristoff was a lot of firsts for me. My first love interest, my first love scene -- which I was freaked out about," she said, laughing. "He just was a wonderful man. Before he passed away, we just did a Christmas movie together for Lifetime. And we were actually going to do a sequel and unfortunately, he passed away. I miss him, I think of him often."

Among her other male co-stars and love interests, she said one or two jump out as her best on-screen kisses.

"Morris Chestnut and Lorenz Tate had to be the best kissers," Fox told ET. "But I won an award for kissing Will Smith for Independence Day. We won Best Kiss at the MTV Awards so I've had some good kissers ... but I tell you, that Morris Chestnut is at the top of the list."

Smith and Fox won an MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Kiss in 1997 for Independence Day.

Fox previously told ET back in 2021 that she had to fight hard to get her role in 1996's Independence Day, starring alongside Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum.

"I had to audition six times to get the role," she confessed. "I called my agent and I was like, 'Yo, everybody in town is auditioning forIndependence Day, why can't I?'"

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