- Since 2016, Vivica A. Fox has produced and starred in all 17 movies of Lifetime's Wrong film franchise.
- Two new movies in the franchise premiere this summer: The Wrong Wedding Planner and The Wrong Stepfather.
- Speaking to OprahMag.com, Fox opens up about the future of the guilty pleasure series.
At the same time that Vivica A. Fox was starring in Empire, she was building an empire of her own over at the Lifetime Movie Network, where she executive produces and stars in the network's ongoing Wrong film franchise. Now 55, the Kill Bill star’s schedule remains booked in an industry known for phasing out middle-aged women. Fox's secret? She doesn’t only seek out projects—she makes them herself.
Since The Wrong Roommate premiered in 2016, a total of 17 movies in the series have been made, including 2020's summer guilty pleasure fare: The Wrong Wedding Planner and The Wrong Stepfather. In each, David DeCoteau directs a rotating stable of regulars, including Fox herself, who switches roles for each film.
The installments are linked by theme and a creative team, but not plot. Watch enough, though, and the movies blend together in a blur of creepy string music and paranoia, all serving to emphasize their shared world-view: Trust no one, especially people who seem too good to be true.
The movies all follow helplessly pure-hearted women whose lives spin out of control after they encounter the,...well, wrong person, be it the "wrong" tutor or the "wrong" housesitter. With their judgment tampered by pity, lust, or wide-eyed naivety, the protagonists put their lives in danger (though usually, it's side characters who pay the price).
In The Wrong Wedding Planner, Mandy Raines (Kristin Booth) pretends to be a wedding planner, but she's really the crazed ex-girlfriend of Ashley's (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe) fiancé. In The Wrong Cruise, a vacation fling (Andre Londono) turns out to be a con artist. In The Wrong Stepmom, Maddie (Cindy Busby) has a sinister take on a blended family.
For Patrick Serrano, host of the Lifetime movie recap podcast Lifetime Uncorked, the campy movies are worth watching for the moment that Fox finally echoes the movie's title with a line like: "I guess you picked the wrong wedding planner." According to Serrano, Fox—who usually plays an authority figure or side character—acts as a surrogate audience member across the films. "She's looking at all these Lifetime characters, and saying what most people watching are thinking: Why are you doing this? Why are you taking it this far?"
Across the 17 films, the protagonists uniformly survive–but the villains do, too, which implies that yet another person will be faced with the "wrong" person. And who knows? You could be next. "Lifetime movies are modern-day fables," Serrano says. "It's on you. You chose the wrong wedding planner. You chose the wrong tutor." Hopefully, if audiences are ever faced with "the wrong" person, they'll make the right decision.
Given the pliable format and the movies' popularity, neither Lifetime nor Fox has any plans to stop the series. After all, there are endless professions and figures that have yet to be twisted into a menacing force—from the wrong grandpa to the wrong Santa Claus. Ahead of the Wrong movie marathon on July 27 and 28, Fox reflects with OprahMag.com on her past four years of making a series so wrong that it's completely irresistible.
OprahMag.com: At this point, would it even be summer if there weren't a Wrong movie marathon?
It's definitely become binge-worthy for all the fans. I mean, when I sit here and I look at them and it says "the Wrong" summer movie marathon and see my face, it was surreal for me. It really was. I was like, Wow, a whole day of all of my movies. How blessed am I?
You're onto number 17. What keeps you coming back?
I love making these movies—I'm heavily involved with casting, wardrobe, script. They keep getting better and better. I now have actors hitting me up like, 'Hey girl, I wouldn't mind being in one of your Wrong movies.' It's gotten notoriety.
You have a hand in every part of making these movies. How does the experience of being a producer compare to earlier roles, at the start of your career?
Well, you answer a lot of questions! The phone is always ringing and you're always returning a lot of emails—which I love, to be very honest with you. I love the magic of making movies. How you can take a script and turn it in to a movie that people just will be thoroughly entertained is an amazing experience for me.
I get asked questions if something isn't right: "Hey, Vivica, this one isn't working. What do you think?" So then here I go, coming up with new lines and rewriting things, and turning it into script supervisor. The other day, I was looking at one of the films and I was like, Wow, we totally rewrote this scene to make it fit. Because, sometimes once you get to a location, you can't execute what's in the script. So you just bend and figure it out.
As an actor, do you prefer having that amount of control over a project? Is it empowering for you to be in that position of power and creativity?
Absolutely! To know that your creativity is respected from your producing partners, Hybrid Films, to my director, David DeCoteau, because we've done every single one of these together, as a team. We just make an excellent team. I was looking at The Wrong Wedding Planner that came out last Friday. I hit the director afterwards and I was like, "David, we are really making some good movies here."
What about your partnership works so well?
Respect. They trust me as a seasoned actress and as a producer—and that's so welcomed. Trust me: I've done movies and been on sets where it's just show up, deliver your lines and do your part. You do do those jobs. Don't get me wrong. But this is so much better. I believe leadership starts at the head. If I come in with the attitude of gratitude, ready to do the work, and it's a happy, productive atmosphere, you're going to get great films out of me and my co-stars.
Your co-stars keep coming back!
Absolutely. I told you, it's kind of gotten out there. I've got people now, like I said, hitting me all the time, like, "Dang, Vivica, you got another one? Okay. Well, I'm ready after 'corona corona.' Let me know!"
I get a chance to work with young actors and seasoned seasoned actors, like
Jackée Harry. She always comes and works with us. She loves that she can play different roles that she normally wouldn't get cast in. As well as myself—I get to cast myself in roles that they don't normally cast me in.
When people think of Vivica A Fox, they don't really think of the principal. Here, I just get to play the principal, the detective, the girl next door. If there's a role in there that I want to do, I get to cast myself.
The movies have diverse casts. As a producer, is that a priority for you?
Absolutely. I love that. In the movies, I've had white boyfriends and I've had Spanish boyfriends. We definitely make sure that the cast is very diverse, that all nationalities are represented—which is real of our world! Come on!
Which goes back to what you were saying about being typecast.
I mean, there's just amazing women now that are doing professions. The other day, I saw a pilot—she was just gorgeous. Somebody was like, "You should do that movie, Vivica."
Is there a lesson that you want people to take away from these movies?
There's always a subtle message, to be very honest with you. Teaching women not to trust people so easily, not to go into relationships. Take The Wrong Stepfather. Krista Allen plays my friend in the movie. She's a recent divorcée, and she just jumps right into a relationship against the wishes of her daughter, who's like, "Mom, something about this guy just doesn't feel right."
There's always a subtle message for women to take away from our films. The movies are about how one can get charmed—especially women. If you're feeling a little lonely, we get ourselves into situations that we shouldn't.
It's women especially that you're focusing on?
Oh, absolutely. And relationships in general. I tell the guys, "Hey, if you want to score some points, say, 'I heard Vivica Fox got a new Lifetime movie out, why don't we check that out together?'" Oh boy, are you going to score points that night. It's a lesson for men not to be the wrong boy next door, or the wrong stepfather.
The movies deal with deception and betrayal. Have those been things you've had to deal with your own life?
I'm so very happily single, so that's a tough one for me. For me, it's learning not to do too much in relationships and friendships or at work. Then watching people when they try to be too friendly with me. Are they trying to be my friend because I'm an actress or a producer? It makes you just look at people, take your time to get to know people. It's a big lesson I've had to learn in life as well too.
I was wondering if making all these movies makes you more distrustful of people.
I'm a woman in my 50s. I've done a lot of living and learning, that's for sure.
Would you ever play the villain in a Wrong movie?
I haven't played the villain in one of the movies. I think I'm going to bring that up to David. I am, I'm going to be like, "David, time for me to be the scary chick in the movie." If I'm going to be something wrong, I would be the "wrong ex-girlfriend" or the "wrong-ex wife."
Where do you hope the franchise goes in the future? Do you think you'll ever run out of ideas for the "wrong" people?
No, I don't. I was interviewing with Billy Bush the other day, and he's like, "Vivica, I'll be in one." And I said, "Good! We can do The Wrong Reporter." The titles are endless.
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