Lisa Raye On Her Acting Career: “F**K An Oscar Right Now”

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Lisa Raye On Her Acting Career: “F**K An Oscar Right Now”

Posted at 05/28/2010 by Staff 0 Comment

lisa raye tv one In an interview with Singersroom.com Lisa Raye talked about her hit TV One reality show, The Real McCoy and why her being the first African-American actress to become a first lady is more important to her than an Oscar…

Yes, you heard us right. She said, “F**k an Oscar right now. I’m not there but I helped run a country.”

Check out the excerpts below for more:

Singersroom: So congratulations, I heard your show is the highest-rated program on TV One.

LisaRaye: In history.

Singersroom: That is so exciting. So what made you decide to do the reality show?

LisaRaye: We actually pitched it and sold it to them. It was a business decision because, you know, so often we forget about the business side of show business. The show part is the lights, camera, action, the red carpet. However, nobody really understands that it costs money to look the way we look on the red carpet. So, when I came back off of the scandal, off of the divorce, off all of the gossip, rumors and blogs and the obsession of who they thought I was, I looked to TV to figure out how do I jumpstart my career again? And I said, reality TV has totally taken over. We are now sharing the red carpet with reality stars. It’s almost like if you can’t beat them, join them. Let me be a part of this reality craze, and I have a message to tell. I have a story to tell. And people definitely did not know what I was going through—and what I’m going through still—which means that they wouldn’t know how to support me, or hate me. But there’s a message within my journey of me being the first African-American actress to be a first lady. Historically, it’s a title that I hold and it can’t go anywhere. That’s something that no other actress has done. So fuck an Oscar right now. I’m not there, but I helped run a country. I’m in a whole league by myself. And for that, I’m proud. So coming back, I said you know what? I am still LisaRaye, I am still talented, there’s still a fan base for me, and I have to tap into that and see where would they like to see LisaRaye while I’m trying to figure all of this out. And I’m still doing it. I also had to let go of a lot of anger [with my ex-husband]. I had to let go of that guilt of what could I have done better or more of. And I had to move forward because failing is not an option for me.

Singersroom: Is your divorce final yet?

LisaRaye: My divorce is final but the financial settlement is not, which is the most important part to me.

Singersroom: So, are you dating anyone?

LisaRaye: I want to say I’m looking. I hope that I find someone because I’m definitely a fan of marriage, and love, and of a partnership and a union and respect. I want to belong to someone, and I want someone to love me.

Singersroom: So what would you say has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your previous marriage?

LisaRaye: The sacrifice and the acceptance of what I did that I could have made better. Being able to compromise without losing yourself. Although I walked around for a bit with a little guilt, because what worked for me as a sex symbol in the States did not work for me as a sex symbol in Turks and Caicos as a first lady. So I had to shed that image and become a whole total different person. And when I was married, I felt like a princess in a glass house. It was like I’ve got everything, all the jet skis, diamonds and planes and stuff, but it’s like am I happy? I’m not as happy as I could be. Or as happy as I want to be. And when you think that, and you have to answer those questions, you say to yourself “Nah, I’m not.” Then it’s really time to move on.

Singersroom: So would you say you’re happy now?

LisaRaye: I’m happier now. I’m not at the happiest. You know, because I’m still coming out of what that divorce is. I’m still healing. I’m still trying to find my way back to my career. I haven’t gotten to my ultimate job yet, whatever that is.