Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind the Making of “New Jack City”
How Vanessa tapped into her inner “bad girl” to play Keisha
We’d never seen Vanessa Williams like she was when she played “Keisha.” We were used to seeing her on the Cosby Show. But the actress told Black Voices she was so ready for this role.
“ I was so happy to be given the opportunity to play a bad-A$$ chick, and I was nothing but a little good ole church girl who wanted nothing more but to prove how bad I was. I had a whole back story for Keisha, where the CMB crew was her family and she had all this love for Nino Brown. She would give her life for him. None of this was ever written, but I created this for myself so that Keisha would have a full and complete life and more than what was on the page. I got the role and it was my first feature, and I was excited to be down. People are always asking me to say the line, ‘Rock-a-bye, baby!’ “
