Vivica A. Fox has been played a bada** in quite a few roles from Independence Day to Set It Off. But it was her portrayal as Vernita Green in the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill: Volume 1 that had her kicking you know what in a way we had never seen her before. The film and its installment would go on to be cult classics, while her iconic fight scene left many with questions. What could occur in the future now that Vernita Green’s daughter is over 18? Will she avenge her mother’s death, if Tarantino decides to do the highly-requested and anticipated third installment? As fans wait in the balance for some type of news or smoke signal from Tarantino, Vivica A. Fox is reflecting on her time preparing for and making the film.
From the moment Vivica A. Fox appears in the film, she engages in a fight with Uma Thurman’s character “Black Mamba,” The actress recently had a sitdown on the Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast where she recalled doing her own stunts for the film. The only action Fox did not do was when Green was flung onto the table, although she wanted to do the stunt. According to Fox, Tarantino was against her performing that particular stunt and left it to her stunt double. After performing the scene, the stunt double was left injured and had to receive four stitches.
As far as the preparation for the film, Fox revealed that she underwent four months of training in Los Angeles and the remaining months in Beijing, China that included taekwondo. “We were trained by Master Wu Ping, who trained the actors from The Matrix. And so, this guy was no joke,” the actress explained. Her preparation included a 5-day per week workout that began first as 8-hour sessions before dwindling down to 5-hour days.
Vivica Fox also noted Quentin Tarantino’s knack for being on time. According to the actress, Tarantino did not tolerate lateness at all. “If you were late, you got written up for it,” she claimed. “There was really a perfect sense of professionalism from training all the way to filming.”
Fox then spoke on the moment in which she dies in the film and how Tarantino praised her acting. “He was like, ‘That was AWESOME! We don’t need another take, got it!'” she recalls. As for the future of the film, she states that she would love to see how the character’s daughter’s story plays out. Fox also addresses a recent interview in which she expressed her vision for Zendaya to portray the role of her daughter in the event that the original actress, Ambrosia Kelley, would not appear. She clarifies that the media misquoted her words, but would love to see Kelly do the role as she was “waiting on her to grow up.”
Hear her speak on the film below at the 8:00 mark.