When actress Vivica A. Fox was looking for inspiration to play her majorly messed-up character in Robert Townsend’s new indie movie “In the Hive,” she looked no further than reality TV. “I played a character that people would never expect me to,” she told Yeas & Nays at a film screening Tuesday night. “I played ‘reality show moms’ that are just some of the most dysfunctional … but they’ve got their own way of loving.” In the film, Fox, known for her work in “Independence Day” and “Soul Food,” is the always-intoxicated mother of the main character Xtra, portrayed by first-time leading man Jonathan McDaniel. The movie depicts Xtra and his friends’ lives as they break away from gangs and guns and enroll in the Hive Academy, an alternative school in North Carolina. At the school, Xtra encounters tough-as-nails educators like Mrs. Inez, played by Emmy Award-winner Loretta Devine, and Mr. Hollis, played by “The Green Mile’s” Michael Clarke Duncan.
Both McDaniel and Devine made it to D.C. for the premiere, along with the real inspiration for Devine’s character, Vivian Saunders. “The thing I focused on was how much she gave to the boys and how much she loved the boys and how hard she fought to give them a home in her institution,” Devine said when explaining how she prepared to play the role.
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Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., whose congressional district houses the real Hive, also made an appearance at the event, which was held at the United States Navy Memorial.
Director Townsend made it clear that he hoped the film would achieve a higher purpose. “The mission that we’re on, and has been my commitment since I started in this game called show business, is that images are very important, they can shape somebody’s life,” he said. “It will cause a good virus, not a bad virus.”
