The 1998 film helped catapult her career to new heights in Hollywood, but LisaRaye McCoy admitted that after The Players Club had come and gone, she was left with a bit of an “identity crisis.” The veteran actress burst onto the scene as “Diamond” in the Ice Cube film that has become a hood classic in some circles. There have been talks of revisiting those Players Club characters in a possible reboot and we’ve witnessed celebrities don costumes inspired by the movie for Halloween. Yet, McCoy told Page Six that finding her footing as herself proved to be difficult following the film’s release.
“I had an identity crisis after ‘Players Club’ because I felt like I had to have the long hair and look like my character, ‘Diamond,’ in order to be recognized,” she said.
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“‘Players Club’ put me on the map… it made me a bona fide sex symbol, and when you are a sex symbol people think that you’re sexy all the time, and that stigma follows you. So I am forever Diamond.” McCoy added, “I’m an older ‘Diamond’ now, but diamonds always shine, so I am here for it. I did not know what sexy was at the time… I think it was best for me not to really know, because I probably would’ve tried to play it up in my role and messed it up.”
The actress also praised Cube for his guidance.
“He was so professional. I didn’t even see the rapper then.,” said McCoy. “I saw the father, the businessman, the director. He was gracious enough to set up multiple cameras, and I did the strip scene maybe twice. So he allowed me to what I needed for a green new actress.” Production made sure she looked like she knew what she was doing.
“They gave me a trainer for a good six weeks so that helped me feel more confident about my body. So when it was time to do a striptease, Ice Cube was so great, and [was] there for me as a new actress.” Check out the trailer for The Players Club below.
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