Since Quentin Tarantino's actors got paid a lot to star in his biggest hits like the 2003 action movie Kill Bill, it's possible to assume that Vivica A. Fox received a great payday for her role in the film. Kill Bill is not only famous for its A-List cast like Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, and David Carradine, but Uma Thurman hurt her back and knees forever because of her character The Bride's physical movements. With the director sometimes talking about adding a third movie to the franchise, the movie is still having a moment.
Vivica A. Fox has had a great career, but her role in Kill Bill: Volume 1 is still talked about often, since she is in a key scene at the beginning of the movie opposite Thurman's character The Bride. Did Fox receive a high salary to star in Kill Bill?
What Was Vivica A. Fox Paid For Kill Bill?
Vivica A. Fox played Vernita Green in Kill Bill, a character who calls herself Jeannie Bell and is hiding by living a more regular, domestic life than she had before as a Deadly Viper. While Fox spoke about NeNe Leakes on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and is still very much in the public eye, fans still want to hear more about her role in Kill Bill, including what salary she received for the role.
Fox's net worth is $2 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, but her salary for Kill Bill is unknown. Celebrity Net Worth reported that Uma Thurman received $12 million to star in Kill Bill. According to The Richest, Lucy Liu, who played, O-Ren Ishii, was paid $5.5 million for her part.
It's possible that Fox wasn't paid as much as the other Kill Bill cast members because she has a small role in the movie and doesn't appear in the entire story.
According to Backstage, the amount of days an actor is on set is what dictates their salary. If an actor is part of the union SAG-AFTRA and the movie's budget is $2 million, they will make $1,056. The budget of Kill Bill: Volume 1 was much more than $2 million, and Entertainment Weekly reported in 2003 that the movie's filming schedule went on longer than planned. Tarantino shared that he was given a budget of $39 million and that he spend $11 million more.
Fox has starred in many films and TV shows since her first role as Carmen Silva in 1988 on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. She has played several TV characters for a while, from Maya Reubens on Generations to Stephanie Simmons on The Young and the Restless.
From 2015 to 2020, she starred as Candace Mason on Empire, which would have paid her some good money.
Besides starring in movies such as Boat Trip and Soul Food, Fox starred in a Lifetime series of TV movies with names like The Wrong Cheerleader Coach, The Wrong Child, The Wrong Roommate, and so on. The first one aired in 2016 and the most recent one in 2022. This would have given her quite a bit of money since it was steady work.
The actress has also made money from speaking appearances. According to All American Speakers, she is paid between $10,000 and $20,000 for an event that is done virtually and for an in-person event, she charges between $30,000 and $50,000.
Vivica A. Fox Appeared In The SZA "Kill Bill" Music Video
The cultural impact of Kill Bill lives on, and while it was never nominated for an Oscar, Entertainment Weekly reported that the movie won three awards at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2004: Best Fight for Go-Go (Chiaki Kuriyama) going up against The Bride, Lucy Liu winning Best Villain, and Uma Thurman winning for Lead Performance.
According to Entertainment Weekly, SZA wrote their song "Kill Bill" from their album "SOS" because they were a fan of the characters in the 2003 movie, and Vivica A. Fox made an appearance in the music video. SZA dressed up like Uma Thurman's character The Bride and Fox played a character who drives The Bride around.
Fox talked about starring in the "Kill Bill" video with People in January 2023 and said that she knows that fans would love for a third film to exist: "But I believe that that was also the hunger. People have really been waiting on Kill Bill 3."
Fox also said that it was great to appear in the music video and that fans really loved it.
She explained, "Oh my gosh. Did that go viral or what? People were making up their own storylines! My phone blew up that day and the internet as well. Yeah, I think people thought it's gonna be this thing. They were like, 'Yes! SZA is playing Vivica Fox's daughter in Kill Bill! Now we know! She's gonna come back and go after Uma Thurman.' I'm like, 'Not exactly…' So that was great. I was very honored to work with SZA. She's so lovely."
The actress has spoken often about wanting Kill Bill 3 to happen and saying that although her character is murdered by The Bride right at the beginning of Kill Bill: Volume 1, maybe she could be in a flashback scene. She also told NME that she thinks that Zendaya should star in a third film as the daughter of Vernita Green.
How Was Vivica A. Fox Cast In Kill Bill?
While sometimes the story of how an actor gets cast in a movie or TV series can be fairly traditional, as they go to an audition and meeting with the casting director, sometimes the story is a lot more interesting. And Fox has a great story about how she was chosen for Kill Bill.
Fox said in an interview with IndieWire Quentin Tarantino wanted her to audition at her home and they read back and forth in her kitchen. Because her house at the time was big and fancy, she didn't want him to assume that she didn't need an acting job as a result.
She explained to IndieWire, “I was living in a huge 8,000-square-foot mansion in Tarzana. I’d invested in real estate,” Fox explains. “It could easily be mistaken for the home of a spoiled brat who would never follow direction…I was afraid he would take one look at the place and say, ‘Here I thought Vivica was hungry.’ I still was.”
