MadameNoire Featured Video

2018 FN Achievement Awards

Source: Taylor Hill / Getty

La La Anthony is a woman who wears many hats. She is a mother, actress, producer, fashion designer, and has even delved in the beauty lane. Now, she’s an advocate for children’s health. La La’s partnering with Lysol to fight off some serious germs in the classroom during cold and flu season in the hopes of helping kids like her son have One Less Sick Day they need to use.

“As a mom, it just spoke true to who I am,” the 36-year-old told us about her partnership with the cleaning and disinfectant company. “Kiyan is in middle school, he’s 11 years old now and I’m always trying to find ways to keep him healthy and make sure he’s not missing school because of sick days. So when Lysol came along with this program, the One Less Sick Day program, I knew I wanted to be a part of it because as a mom, it’s really important in helping schools reduce sick days and doing our part at home to make sure our kids don’t miss school because of cold and flu-related illnesses.”

Despite the fact that La La has quite the full plate, she said Kiyan’s needs come first, including his health. With 900,000 hospitalizations last year due to cold and flu-related illnesses and 80,000 deaths because of the latter, she wants to encourage other parents to figure out ways to bring those numbers down. That includes washing your hands, ensuring your kids are washing their hands, and keeping your kids healthy.

“My son is my top priority and being a mom is my number one job,” she said. “Keeping Kiyanne healthy is my top priority, which is why when these type of programs come around, I want to use my voice and my face to really push home the idea that we need to do what we can to prevent illnesses at home and in the schools and reduce these sick days.”

But when she’s not on mommy duty, La La is busy both in front of and behind the camera, in case you didn’t know.

“I’m really getting into producing, which is exciting for me,” she said. “I produced Eclipsed on Broadway with Lupita Nyong’o, this new documentary on BET called Killer Curves, and I’m doing a project with Will Packer right now on the production side, so producing is great.”

She’s also currently busy filming Season 6 of Power, and if you thought her character, LaKeisha, went through a lot in Season 5, she says just you wait.

“It’s definitely a roller coaster ride on Power, and once you think you have it figured out, we throw a twist and turn in there,” she said. “This season is no different. Everyone is saying this is the best season yet. LaKeisha is out there with Tommy doing some crazy stuff, so just be on the lookout for that.”

But in the midst of trying to shoot the newest season of the hit Starz series, due to return next summer, production assistant Pedro Jimenez was accidentally hit by a car. The 63-year-old was struck while trying to set up cones for a location shoot and succumbed to his injuries on Monday. La La said she and the cast are pretty torn up about it.

“It’s a really sad situation,” she said. “It was a sad day for Power and our family. And Power has been offering so much love and support to Pedro’s family, the Jimenez family, and just continuing to pray for them. It was an accident, but it’s a sad thing to have to hear about that and know the person it happened to, it’s really sad. It’s tough for us. But we’re banning together and doing what we can to really help Pedro’s family out, especially with the holidays coming up and everything. It’s just a tragic and really sad situation.”

Speaking of the holidays and her own plans, La La said she plans to stay in New York, as she loves everything about Christmas in NYC.

“I love the cold, I love the Christmas lights, and I love the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center,” she said. “I’m that girl.”

And she loves to be with her family. In case you were wondering, she said that she plans to enjoy the holidays with husband Carmelo following their time of estrangement.

“We’re a family no matter what,” she said. “That’s never going to change. Kiyanne has two amazing parents and yeah, of course, he’ll be spending Christmas with his parents. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”

La La will probably receive some pretty lavish gifts, not only from Carmelo, but also from her many famous friends. We wrapped up the conversation by asking what the secret to being a good go-to girlfriend is, because she happens to be the BFF of a lot of your famous faves, including Kelly Rowland, Ciara, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian. She said it’s all about being a good listener — and knowing when to keep your mouth closed, too.

“I think just being easy to talk to, keeping everybody’s secrets, not being a gossiper,” she said. “I hold a lot of secrets with me and that’s where they stay and I think my friends know that. And I don’t judge anyone. Whatever the situation is, I’m open to listening and not being judgmental, and I think that’s the key to being a really good friend.”

Comment Disclaimer: Comments that contain profane or derogatory language, video links or exceed 200 words will require approval by a moderator before appearing in the comment section. XOXO-MN