Vivica A. Fox

Vivica A. Fox (birthname: Vivica Anjanetta Fox) is a veteran screen and television actor best known for her recurring role as Candace in the hit series, Empire (2015-2020), and whose movie career was launched with a supporting role in Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning Vietnam drama based on Ron Kovic’s memoir, Born on the Fourth of July (1989), starring Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick, Raymond J. Barry, Frank Whaley, and Willem Dafoe, and becoming one of Stone’s top-grossing movies with a $162 million global return for Universal Pictures.

Fox returned to the big screen seven years later with the heist drama, Set It Off (1996), co-starring with Jada Pickett, Queen Latifah, Kimberly Elise, under F. Gary Gray’s direction and grossing a strong $41.6 million for New Line Cinema, and then joined the colorful ensemble of the sci-fi blockbuster, Independence Day (1996), co-starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, and Harvey Fierstein with co-writer Roland Emmerich directing, and earning $817.4 million worldwide.

Fox co-starred with Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, and Tamala Jones in the Jeff Pollack-directed comedy, Booty Call (1997), grossing a healthy $20 million for Columbia/Sony Pictures. Fox then took on the supporting role of Miss B. Haven in her second franchise movie, the widely lambasted Joel Schumacher-directed Batman & Robin (1997), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, and Elle Macpherson, and grossing a poor $238 million against a $160 million budget.

Vivica A. Fox returned to box-office hits with her co-starring role in director-writer George Tillman Jr.’s comedy-drama, Soul Food (1997), with Vanessa Williams, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, and Irma P. Hall, yielding a $43.7 million global gross for distributor 20^th Century Fox. Fox co-starred opposite Halle Berry, Lela Rochon, and Lorenz Tate in director Gregory Nava’s music biopic, Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), grossing a solid $12.4 million take for Warner Bros. Pictures.

Fox had a supporting role in the teen black comedy, writer-director Kevin Williamson’s feature debut, Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), with Helen Mirren, Katie Holmes, Jeffrey Tambor, and Molly Ringwald, and which lost money for Dimension Films and Miramar Films with a $9 million return. Fox earned another supporting part with director-writer George Gallo’s buddy comedy, Double Take (2001), co-starring Orlando Jones and Eddie Griffin, which grossed a weak $31.6 million (on a $24 million budget).

Vivica A. Fox co-starred with LL Cool J, Jada Pickett Smith, Loretta Devine, Anthony Anderson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Toni Braxton in the Doug McHenry-directed comedy-drama,  Kingdom Come (2001), turning a profitable $23.4 million for Fox Searchlight Pictures. Fox reunited with Anderson and co-starred with Morris Chestnut in director-writer Mark Brown’s rom-com, Two Can Play That Game (2001), and Fox followed as a star with the Samar Davis-directed sequel, Three Can Play That Game (2007), with Jason George, Jazsmin Lewis, and Kellita Smith.

Fox co-starred with Miguel A. Núñez Jr. in the comedy-drama, Juwanna Mann (2002), with Kevin Pollak, Tommy Davidson, Kim Wayans, and Kimberly “Lil’ Kim” Jones, which lost money for Morgan Creek Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures with a $13.8 million global gross. Fox led the cast with Cuba Gooding Jr., Roselyn Sanchez, and Horatio Sanz in co-writer/director Mort Nathan’s rom-com, Boat Trip (2002), which returned a mediocre $15 million (on a $20 million budget).

Vivica A. Fox was cast in her first major movie in a while by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in the triple role of Vernita/Jeanie/Copperhead in the sprawling and kinetic double movie, Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), joining the brawny ensemble of Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Darryl Hannah, David Carradine, Sonny Chiba, Julie Dreyfus, Gordon Liu, and Michael Parks, and returning a combined $352 million global gross for Miramar Films.

Fox was part of the ensemble of Miramax’s failed ($27.4 million gross) jukebox musical fantasy, Ella Enchanted (2004), with Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley, Minnie Driver, and Eric Idle, and loosely based on Gail Carson Levine’s popular 1997 novel. Fox landed a co-starring role opposite Jessica Simpson in the $30 million Screen Gems/Sony Pictures military comedy, Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous (2008), with a cast including Ryan Sypek, Cheri Oteri, Keiko Agena, and Aimee Garcia under Steve Miner’s direction.

Fox was part of the large, eclectic ensemble of director/writer/producer Jeta Amata’s $22-million Nigerian-American co-production (funded mainly by a Nigerian oil baron and significantly re-shot), Black November: Struggle for the Niger Delta (2012), with Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Mickey Rourke, Mbong Amata, Kim Basinger, Sarah Wayne Callies, Enyinna Nwigwe, Anne Heche, and Wyclef Jean, and released by done Entertainment.

Vivica A. Fox co-starred in the Christian-themed baseball movie, Home Run (2013), directed and photographed by David Boyd and featuring Scott Elrod, Dorian Brown, and Robert Peters, which grossed $2.8 for Samuel Goldwyn Films/Provident Films. Fox returned to franchise movies with her revived role in the Roland Emmerich-directed reboot sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), starring Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Maika Monroe, Travis Tope, William Fichtner, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Judd Hirsch, and didn’t turn a profit for 20^th Century Fox with a $389.7 million global gross against a $165 million budget.

Fox co-starred in the crime drama, True to the Game (2017), as well as the sequel, True to the Game 3 (2021), with Columbus Short, Andra Fuller, and Nelsan Ellis under Preston A. Whitmore II’s direction, which was released by Faith Media Distribution for a $1.2 million gross. Fox joined the strong ensemble of Liam Hemsworth, Clark Duke (who also directed, co-wrote, and produced), Michael Kenneth Williams, Eden Brolin, John Malkovich, and Vince Vaughn for the big-screen adaptation of John Brandon’s acclaimed neo-noir novel, Arkansas (2020), which was set to premiere at the South by Southwest film festival until cancellation by the COVID-19 pandemic, and released by Lionsgate.

Fox later co-starred in the religious parody written and directed by Johnny Mack, Not Another Church Movie (2024), co-starring Kevin Daniels, Lamorne Morris, Jasmine Guy, Mickey Rourke (as the Devil), and Jamie Foxx (as God), and released by Briarcliff Entertainment.