Will Smith Jumps Into “Seven Pounds”
Will Smith Jumps Into “Seven Pounds”
Will Smith got back to the Hollywood set on Tuesday afternoon as he busily filmed scenes for his latest theatrical endeavor, Seven Pounds.
In the movie, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor will be showing off his skills as he portrays the role of “a suicidal, guilt-ridden man.”
Rosario Dawson and Woody Harrelson are among Smith’s co-stars in the “emotional story of a man (Smith) who will change the lives of seven strangers in an attempt to amend his past.”
Seven Pounds, which is being spearheaded by The Pursuit of Happyness director, Gabriele Muccino, is slated for a late 2008 release date.
Nia Long Biography
This stunningly beautiful, rising black actress first began her acting career as a teenager, appearing in several stage productions, including “227″, which was the basis for the NBC sitcom of the same name on which she made a guest appearance. She landed a role in “The B.R.A.T. Patrol” (ABC, 1986), a “Disney Sunday Movie” and appearances in music videos before breaking onto the big screen in “Buried Alive” (1990). In John Singleton’s acclaimed “Boyz N the Hood” (1991), Long played the marriage-minded girlfriend of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Tre. Her three-year stint (1991-1994) as Kathryn ‘Kat’ Speakes on the CBS daytime drama “Guiding Light” garnered her attention and Long used the experience as a springboard to primetime and higher profile features. While still on the soap, she landed the role of Whoopi Goldberg’s daughter in the uneven comedy “Made in America”. Long fared slightly better the following year when she joined the cast of the hit NBC sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, playing the recurring role of Will’s girlfriend, but when the series returned for its final season, her role had been dropped.
Long wasn’t out of work for long. First time director F. Gary Gray offered her a strong comedic role as Debbie, the foxy neighbor who becomes the object of Ice T’s affection, in the sassy comedy “Friday” (1995). Another novice, Theodore Wicher, gave the actress her first real lead in “Love Jones” (1997), as a photographer who has an on-again, off-again relationship with a writer (Larenz Tate). Long and Tate generated real screen heat and both earned high marks from critics. The actress followed with the sleeper hit “Soul Food” (also 1997), playing the youngest of a trio of sisters, a newlywed struggling with her career as a hair stylist and the demands of her marriage to an ex-con (Mekhi Phifer) trying to go straight. After appearing in a pair of urban-oriented action-thrillers, “Butter” (1998) and “In Too Deep” (1999), Long appeared in the predominantly African American ensemble of writer-director Malcolm Lee’s “The Best Man” as the one-that-got-away old flame who reunites with her otherwise committed ex (Taye Diggs) at the wedding of a mutual friend, played the club hopping best friend of Patricia Arquette in the horror-thriller “Stigmata,” starred opposite Jamie Foxx in the hostage comedy “Held Up” and appeared opposite Colin Firth in the low-profile indie “The Secret Laughter of Women” (all 1999). Long next appeared as Mary McCormack’s lesbian girlfriend in the gay-themed ensemble drama “The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy”; as a empathetic receptionist who shares a bond with Giovanni Ribisi in “Boiler Room”; played a member of a protective circle of lesbians in the HBO telepic “If These Walls Could Talk 2″; and played Martin Lawrence’s love interest/faux granddaughter in the comedy “Big Momma’s House” (all 2000).
After the middling haunted house film “Sightings: Heartland Ghost” (2002) and joining the cast of the NBC drama “Third Watch” in 2003, she scored as Melvin Van Peebles lover Sandra in “Baadasssss!” (2004) writer-director Mario van Peebles’ well-received account of the making of his father’s breakthrough film. She was also enticing in her supporting role in the 2004 remake of “Alfie,” playing the should-be-forbidden girlfriend of Alfie’s (Jude Law) best friend (Omar Epps) who proves too great a temptation. In the family-friendly “Are We There Yet?†(2005), she had a small, thankless role as a devoted mother of two children taken on a road trip by a smooth operator (Ice Cube) intent on getting a date with her. Long’s considerable talents were wasted in a role giving her little to do. And despite being panned by critics, “Are We There Yet?†opened number one at the box office and subsequently filled the coffers at Sony Pictures.
- Born:
on 10/30/1970 in Brooklyn, New York - Job Titles:
Actor, Singer
Family
- Father: Doughtry Long. divorced from Long’s mother in 1974
- Half-sister: Djamila Long.
- Mother: Talita Long. divorced from Long’s father in 1974
- Son: Massai Zhivago Dorsey. born on November 26, 2000
Significant Others
- Companion: Chris Webber. no longer together
- Companion: Massai Dorsey. engaged
- Companion: Peter Thomas. born c. 1961
Education
- Westchester High School, Los Angeles, California, 1989
- Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California
Milestones
- 1977 Moved with family to L.A. at age 6 (date approximate)
- 1986 First major role in a TV-movie, “The B.R.A.T. Patrol,” an ABC “Disney Sunday Movie”
- 1990 Appeared in first feature, “Buried Alive”
- 1991 Played Kathryn ‘Kat’ Speakes on CBS daytime soap “Guiding Light”
- 1991 Breakout role as the love interest to Cuba Gooding Jr. in John Singleton’s “Boyz N the Hood”
- 1994 Joined cast of NBC sitcom “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” in recurring role of Will’s girlfriend
- 1995 Co-starred in the film comedy “Friday”
- 1997 Co-starred in the festival-screened “Hav Plenty”; screened at Sundance in 1998
- 1997 Formed own production company
- 1997 Had first leading role in “Love Jones”; also performed two songs; screened at Sundance
- 1997 Was in the ensemble cast of the hit film “Soul Food”
- 1998 Starred in the pilot “Black Jaq”, exefcutive produced by Forest Whitaker
- 1999 Co-starred in “The Best Man”
- 2000 Played Giovanni Ribisi’s girlfriend in “Boiler Room”
- 2001 Had recurring role as a love interest for Richard T Jones’ character on the CBS drama “Judging Amy”
- 2003 Became a regular on the drama series “Third Watch”
- 2004 Played Lonette, the ex-girlfriend of Alfie’s best friend in “Alfie” a remake of the 1966 classic
- 2004 Starred in “Baadasssss!” Mario Van Peebles’ homage to his father Melvin’s 1971 film, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
- 2005 Starred opposite Ice Cube in the comedy “Are We There Yet?”
- 2006 Co-starred with Martin Lawrence in the comedy “Big Momma’s House 2″
- Began acting career with appearances on TV shows and in theatrical productions (including the stage version of TV’s “227″, on which she appeared)
- Born in NYC
Vivica A. Fox Biography
This bright-eyed and beautiful young African-American performer was discovered in the manner of Hollywood legends of old. Fox was working as a waitress in a Sunset Boulevard eatery when she caught the eye of producer Trevor Walton who liked her looks and had a deal at Paramount. He auditioned her for one of his films and introduced her to the woman who became her agent. Fox made her screen debut with a bit part as a hooker in Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989). TV work soon followed on daytime soaps, the short-lived black-oriented “Generations” on NBC and “The Young and the Restless” on CBS, and primetime guest spots beginning with a turn on the popular Will Smith vehicle “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. On the latter, Fox played a beautiful but venomous “date from Hell” whom Will tries to fix up with his cousin. This led to a brief stint as a regular on the sitcom “Out All Night” (NBC, 1992-93) on which she played the fashion stylist daughter of nightclub owner Patti LaBelle.
After bit parts in several comedy features, Fox gained notice in the unlikely but winning role of a fiercely devoted single mother who supports her child and herself by working as a stripper in the sci-fi blockbuster “Independence Day” (1996). She was well paired with the dashing Will Smith as her flyboy beau. This high-profile exposure opened the floodgates and work poured in. Feature leads followed in the black feminist-inflected actioner “Set It Off” (1996), as part of a quartet of femme bank robbers; the safe sex comedy “Booty Call” (1997) and a supporting role as Ms. B Haven, a moll of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze, in the highly touted sequel “Batman & Robin” (1997). Fox also landed the female lead in Arsenio Hall’s sitcom comeback, “Arsenio” (ABC, 1997), which failed to attract viewers and was cancelled after a few airings. She faced a similar fate with her follow-up TV vehicle the Fox sitcom “Getting Personal” (1998). Although it debuted as a midseason replacement and managed to earn a fall renewal, the sitcom’s poor showing in the ratings forced its cancellation in October after only a handful of episodes had aired.
Fox returned back to the big screen and was immediately cast alongside Halle Berry and Lela Rochon in “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” (1998), a feature film about the life and death of Frankie Lymon. She continued her work on the big screen and on television before picking up another television project. “City Of Angels” (2000), a television series that co-starred Fox as Dr. Lillian Price. In 2001, Fox was cast in “Little Secrets” and the following year she portrayed a WNBA star in the cross-dressing comedy “Juwanna Mann” (2002). After a role opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the dismal comedy “Boat Trip” (2002), Fox was cast in one of best and most visible roles to date, playing the hard-hitting Vernita Green, one of the cadre of assassins marked for retribution by The Bride (Uma Thurman) in writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill, Vol. 1″ (2003).
- Also Credited As:
Vivica Anjanetta Fox, Vivica Fox - Born:
on 07/30/1964 in Indianapolis, Indiana - Job Titles:
Actor
Family
- Father: William Fox. divorced Fox’s mother c. 1968
- Mother: Everlyena Fox. divorced Fox’s father c. 1968
Significant Others
- Husband: Christopher Harvest. announced engagement in January 1998; married on December 19, 1998; Fox filed for divorce in June 26 2002
- Companion: Elden Campbell. played basketball for L.A. Lakers; dated in early 1990s; no longer together
Milestones
- 1982 Moved to Hollywood after graduating high school
- 1986 “Discovered” while waitressing at a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard by Trevor Walton, then a producer at Paramount; Walton introduced her to the woman who subsequently became her agent (date approximate)
- 1989 Screen debut as a hooker in “Born on the Fourth of July”
- 1991 First primetime guest shot, an episode of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”; first acted with sitcom’s star Will Smith
- 1992 Debut as a series regular, “Out All Night”; played the fashion stylist daughter of nightclub owner Patti LaBelle
- 1994 Appeared on CBS’s daytime soap “The Young and the Restless” in the recurring role of Dr. Stephanie Simmons
- 1995 Cast in a feature supporting role in the high-profile sequel “Batman and Robin”; had leading roles in “Set It Off” and “Booty Call”
- 1995 Cast in first featured film role, played Will Smith’s stripper/single mother girlfriend in the sci-fi blockbuster “Independence Day” (released 1996)
- 1995 TV-movie debut, “The Tuskegee Airmen” on HBO
- 1997 Co-starred with Arsenio Hall in his short-lived ABC sitcom “Arsenio”
- 1997 Signed deal to devlop own sitcom for Twentieth Century-Fox
- 1998 Had co-starring role as one of the wives of pop singer Frankie Lymon in “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?”
- 1998 Starred in the Fox sitcom “Getting Personal”
- 2000 Acted in first 13 episodes of the CBS medical drama “City of Angels”
- 2001 Co-starred in “Kingdom Come” as LL Cool J’s wife
- 2001 Starred opposite Morris Chestnut in “Two Can Play That Game”
- 2002 Co-starred in “Juwanna Mann” with Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
- 2003 Starred as assassin Copperhead opposite Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino’s film, which was released in two Volumes “Kill Bill Vol. 1″ in 2003 and “Kill Bill Vol.2″ in 2004
- 2004 Cast as Fairy Lucinda in “Ella Enchanted”
- Appeared as Maya Davis, a recurring character, on “Generations”, an NBC daytime soap targeted at black audiences
- Appeared on stage in “In the Abyss of Coney Island” and “Generations of the Dead” in L.A.
- Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Played bit parts in “Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood” and “A Low Down Dirty Shame”
Stacey Dash Biography
A strikingly pretty African-American young lead and character player, Dash garnered notice in the 1990s in a series of teen roles in both features and on TV. Of West Indian and Aztec Indian descent, with clear green eyes and a light complexion, the Bronx-born Dash decided to become an actor at an early age. Early TV work included a small role in the crusading lawyer TV-movie “Farrell for the People” (NBC, 1982) and she later did guest spots on “The Cosby Show” in 1984, as a friend of Denise Huxtable’s with a secret to hide, and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in 1994, as a pop star who captivates the series hero. Her first try at a TV series, “TV 101″ (CBS, 1988-89), with Dash as a student of an ambitious high school journalism teacher, only lasted half a season, despite critical acclaim.
With her youthful beauty and her early start in acting, Dash has been cast most often as high school students, daughters of the protagonist, or smart and upwardly mobile ingenues. Feature work began with a role in “Enemy Territory” (1987) and she soon thereafter played Richard Pryor’s rebellious daughter in the formula-bound comedy “Moving” (1988). A first lead in “Black Water/Tennessee Nights” (1989) only hit the US market when it was released on video five years later. Dash concentrated on TV for a while, but later appeared as the romantic interest in the popular action comedy “Mo’ Money” (1992), although the film was centered on the antics of Damon and Marlon Wayans. After a supporting role in “Renaissance Man/By the Book” (1994), she enjoyed a breakthrough in features in the second lead of the surprise hit “Clueless” (1995). As Dionne, a Beverly Hills teen who shares with best friend Cher (Alicia Silverstone) a passion for fashion as well as a famous pop singer’s name, Dash gave a winning performance in this satire of 90s materialism, one she reprised for the sitcom of the same name (ABC, 1996-97; UPN, 1997-99). She kept busy in features as well with a role in the crime drama “Cold Heart” (1997).
In 2003, Dash appeared in the comedy feature “View From The Top,” joining an A-list cast which included Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate and Kelly Preston.
- Born:
on 01/20/66 in Bronx, New York - Job Titles:
Actor
Family
- Son: born c. 1991
Significant Others
- Companion: Brian Lovell. announced engagement in 1999; wedding planned for July 1999
Milestones
- 1982 TV-movie debut, “Farrell for the People”, a two-hour series pilot starring Valerie Harper
- 1987 Made feature film debut in “Enemy Territory”
- 1988 Made TV series debut as Monique on the CBS drama series “TV 101″
- 1989 Played first leading role in a feature, “Black Water/Tennessee Nights”, not released in the US until 1994
- 1992 Played female romantic lead in first popular mainstream Hollywood feature, “Mo’ Money”
- 1995 Breakthrough feature role, Dionne in “Clueless”
- 1999 Played recurring role on the UPN series “The Strip”
- 2003 Cast in the feature “View From The Top”
- Reprised role of Dionne in sitcom version of “Clueless” (ABC, 1996-1997; UPN, 1997-1999)