The hit Showtime series Soul Food enters its third season and the drama has moved well beyond the original 1997 film. Vanessa Williams of "The Cosby Show" and Drop Squad plays Maxine (Vivica Fox`s character in the movie). Williams describes the middle child of the three sisters as "the keeper of traditions who thinks she`s the big boss." Williams speaks to BlackPlanet.com about Hollywood, humanity, and how Maxine`s marriage and career get completely redefined.
What is the overall message of the show?
Life is wonderful. Soul Food is a show about a family. The trials and tribulations they go through, the challenges that they live in trying to be the best people they can be.
What is your character`s conflict and motivation?
Season two left off with there being a challenge in Maxine`s relationship of thirteen years to Kenny. They are challenged by infidelity. He didn`t actually step out on her, but she found a letter from a woman who is in love with him and she wasn`t having it. So when we return to season three we see what the fall out is. He is not living at home and they have to kind of reintroduce themselves to each other.
Is Maxine facing any other challenges?
Yes. In season three you`ll get to see Maxine move out of the house. That has been a challenge of hers since the beginning. She has wanted to do more than just be a mom and a wife. She is very pleased with her job as the mom and the wife, but she wants to do more, she wants to contribute more. So she gets out of the house. She works in a shelter for women and gets to see what the workforce is like, if it`s all it`s cracked up to be, and if she`ll get challenged there.
Where has the show grown and changed most since it began?
I think we`ve gotten more solid as a cast. We started out like instant family, add water and stir. Now those bonds have gotten even stronger, and because we are so close and loving toward each other — as corny as that may seem — it reflects on the screen. It`s probably one of the reasons people believe what we are saying because we have a love and regard for each other that is both on and off the screen. We are family. Nicole and Melinda are now living together. Nay sayers might have thought that three women leads would have been catty and at each other`s throats by season three, if we even got that far, but we have defied any of that kind of negativity. We maintain each other and build each other up and are even closer now. Those are my sisters on and off the screen.
Presently, there are no hour-long Black dramas on network television, only half hour sit-coms. Soul Food is on cable, but will it help change things?
Hopefully, because we are making history, even for cable. We have proved a lot of executives who had no interest in producing Black drama wrong. We have proved that it is possible, it is lucrative, and it is successful. We have people on both sides of the screen who don`t need it translated what Black people actually do because they themselves have that experience. Those things go into why the show is successful. We have Black writers and executives in those decision-making meetings going, `This is valid. This is true.` There`s no need for translations. If there ever is translating that needs to be done then it`s being done in those rooms. It`s not like the creative staff has to convince the suits, because they all live that experience. And that`s just the stepping stone we bounce off of, because beyond that the truth is the truth, humanity is humanity. A woman from Miami stopped me in the airport. She`s from a total different demographic — white, 55, living in Florida — and totally sees herself and her own family in the lives of these women and men on the show. So when you start with your own personal truth, you find that it`s all really human truth.
What do aspiring young actors need to know before getting into television?
Learn your craft in front of the camera, but also learn what goes on in that booth. I only wish I had done more of that earlier. When I had a character on "The Cosby Show," Bill Cosby always offered me chances to sit with the camera people and set crews, but I was young and wasn`t there yet, but later I realized I didn`t do it nearly enough. To get into this business you need to learn the whole business. There are technical aspects as well as financial aspects that can only help you down the line. If you`re talented in front of the camera, that`s great, but knowing what`s happening when the cameras are off is what will make you successful.
**Guess who has the Men of Soul Food screensaver from
www.sho.com??**
