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While Vivica A. Fox was the perfect fit to play the character of Frankie in Set It Off, according to the star, the role was originally supposed to go to another big actress: Rosie Perez.
While co-hosting a recent episode of Entertainment Tonight, Fox detailed the affection she holds for the film and her experience making it. While doing so, she shared that Perez was actually already cast in her role, but ended up backing out of the project. When the opportunity opened up while she was still working on Independence Day, it was her co-star, Will Smith, then dating soon-to-be Set It Off lead Jada Pinkett, who helped her secure the role.
“Will coached me for Set It Off in my trailer,” she said. “He was dating Jada at the time. Guess he was trying to score some points and it worked, Will!”
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Fox first shared this information during an interview with Vulture earlier this year. She talked about how she originally auditioned for Kimberly Elise’s role of T.T., and that director F. Gary Gray vouched for her following her audition despite Perez still being in the picture.
“I went in and I auditioned with F. Gary Gray, and I did T.T. first, and I saw F. Gary Gray kind of [skeptical]. But the thing was, they’d already cast Rosie Perez as Frankie. I found this out after my audition. But then he was like, ‘Do Frankie!’ So I did. And he went, ‘That’s it. That is it,'” she said. “Sometimes if the director likes you, they always have notes. Just to kind of throw you. But he says, ‘Listen. I’m gonna be really honest with you. Right now, they want Rosie Perez, but I want you. If she falls out, you’re gonna be Frankie.’ So I’m walking out of that audition on cloud nine, like, even if I’m not gonna be Frankie, I’m gonna be T.T. I’m gonna be in the movie. Then they gave me a call less than a week later, and he was like, ‘You’re Frankie!’ I was thrilled.”
When asked what caused Perez to back out of the role, Fox didn’t know, and she didn’t care. She was just glad that the opportunity opened up to be in a film she now calls a “cult classic.”
“She dropped out! I don’t know if she had another project,” she said. “I don’t know why, but she fell out. And I’m grateful for her fall-out.”
