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Melyssa Ford - Top Model
Interview By: Quinton Hatfield
 We can all remember the name Melyssa Ford. Melyssa was indeed one of the earlier pioneers of top models, especially within the urban hip-hop market. I myself do remember the days walking through the mall to cop some new gear and on newsstands everywhere there was an issue of some magazine with the sexy woman gracing the cover. Keeping it real those were quite some pictures and speaking for all us men we can’t help it you if you look good. Melyssa Ford finally gets with Nobodysmiling.com and explains to us why now those days are over. People tend to forget that celebrities grow over time and venture into new things. In the past you got Melyssa Ford the sexy supermodel, but now fans need to wakeup and get ready for the new look.
 [Now in the pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry as an upcoming actress the sister has a lot going on. New movies is in the works and while she’s working very hard to perfect her craft you can only respect Melyssa for finding a new hustle. Reflecting on her personal life she also has a book coming soon which will benefit young women looking to pursue careers in the industry. Never being the person to get into her business for everybody to know she also does clear up the rumor too for the people wanting to know about her dating Flo-Rida.
Nobodysmiling.com : What’s been going on with the sexy Melyssa Ford and the crazy entertainment industry lately?
Melyssa Ford : [Laughs], Lots I guess and I’m entering the new phase of my career which is acting. I’ve been training very hard and I’m not taking it lightly. I’ve been training since September “Oh Gosh”, I’ve been training for years, but seriously since September of ’06. My training classes last a month, there 3-4 hours a day, four days a week. I’ve been getting schooled by the right teacher and I got a movie out right now “Three Can Play That Game” which is the sequel to “Two Can Play That Game” which also stars Vivica Fox. I’m also featured on B.E.T.’s Poker Invitational Show on Tuesday nights at 10:30. CNN just did a feature on me that airs in June or July on the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and how far Black men have come in the last forty years. I’m also in the process of finally writing a book and I would like for this to turn into a screen play. I got a lot of dreams and a lot of ambition.
Nobodysmiling.com : You’ve just mentioned acting, but when a lot pf people hear your name they think of the super model. When did you decide in your career “Okay I want to do this acting thing now to see what’s good with it”?
Melyssa Ford : Well anybody that personally knows me knows that I’m dramatic. I’m a Scorpio and anybody that knows a Scorpio knows that we come with a little bit of drama. Were really, really emotional people so we feel things like on steroids. When I’m angry I’m serious, when I’m happy I’m euphoric, when I’m sad I’m suicidal. When it comes to acting I’ve learned to use my personal experiences and harness in making them come across on screen as naturalistic. I can cry at the drop of a hat and the techniques I’ve been taught in acting class is really being put to me. It’s something that I’ve always felt that I really be good at. Now going from music videos to marketing my image in calendars, DVD’s, being on magazines and hopefully doing my own show on B.E.T., ESPN obviously the next natural thing to go into is acting if I want to stay relevant in the world of entertainment. I feel really good about it getting practical experience being on set with actors I respect. It’s really fantastic and I’m really blessed right now.
Nobodysmiling.com : Do you like the acting more than the whole modeling thing?
Melyssa Ford : You know what the crazy thing is people really have a hard time of understanding that you have to grow. When I started in this game I was only like 19, 20 years old something like that. That stuff was great back then on the cover of every magazine three at a time at the age of 23. That stuff was really great it promoted my image. I was marketing calendars, DVD’s, I was pretty much the first one doing that in the urban industry and everybody else pretty much followed my lead since then. I was putting out calendars of just me so it’s just like I’ve grown past that. I’m a whole different person, but people really just get stuck on the one idea, the one label, the one set of perceptions that they have of you. I see pictures of me circulating from six years ago, photos that I now would NEVER take. That’s just because of the person of me that’s growing. I’ve matured into an adult, I’m a woman now, and I want different things. I don’t knock what I’ve done, I don’t knock what anybody’s done, but there are certain things that are not okay for me to do anymore. I know when to take the exit ramp and when it comes to modeling I’ve gone so far pass that if I appear in a magazine it’s more a lifestyle piece versus me modeling some underwear or bikini. That’s not my role no more it’s a whole bunch of girls that can do that stuff now.
Nobodysmiling.com : You just spoke on your growth as a person in the entertainment industry. So did you use the modeling to get into the other things that you wanted to do such as acting?
Melyssa Ford : Yeah I have to say it definitely assisted. Just my notoriety and my popularity started to grow. My name started to fall into people that I never knew would fall into. One time I meet Lawrence Fishburne and he was just like “It’s just a pleasure to meet you Melyssa, I have your calendar hanging in my garage”. I was like “Oh my God, Lawrence Fishburne”, he is like a God to me I love him. I respect his work and it really assisted in getting my name into the right people’s ears, but then there is a flip-side to it. The perception is she gives good face and body and nobody knows nothing about her. The other common perception of models is that their stupid. Unfortunately that stigma followed me around a lot until had the actual opportunity to meet me, speak to me, and understand that before this life I had a completely different life. I was a university student majoring in forensic psychology and minor in English literature. I used to read the dictionary and thesaurus for fun. People are shocked at my level of intellect and I don’t understand why they are. On the flip side of the coin I’ve nurtured different aspects of who I am. Not just the beauty, not just the body, but also my brain. It’s a very important part of who I am as a human being.
Nobodysmiling.com : It’s kind of crazy where they get that from the whole beauty and no brains thing.
Melyssa Ford : Yeah you know guys don’t really like that complete package. They rather you be smart and ugly or pretty and dumb [laughs]. It’s so confusing [laughs].
Nobodysmiling.com : Get more into the acting were you ever nervous, scared?
Melyssa Ford : Yeah, because when you on stage your afraid, because you get around more accomplished actors then you are. You just really want to do a really, really, good job and you don’t want to be humiliated and laughed at. With everything in life you have to find your confidence, it doesn’t come right away it comes with experience. I came on looking for my director to assist me I didn’t come on claiming to be a know it all. I’m here to learn, I’m not Robert De Niro, I’m not Angela Bassett, I don’t have that kind of training. I’m not going to act like I do, but I’m a hard-worker, diligent student, and I listen to those that have way more practical experience than I have. I listen to their advice and it made my transitioning into the world of acting a lot more steamless. For the fact that I was open to being a student to everybody around me and now my confidence level is through the roof. Now I’m very confident just because of my training and my experiences.
Nobodysmiling.com : As Melyssa Ford gets better does she look forward to winning an Oscar one day in the future?
Melyssa Ford : Let me start with smaller goals. I would like to win a NAACP award, yeah what actor wouldn’t say I like to win an Oscar. I’d love to win an Emmy, I love to win any kind of award that awarded me for my achievements no matter what. If it’s in the area of acting or if it’s cause of my philanthropic efforts. I just started my own foundation it’s called “Less Is More”. Anything that you win an award for because of your achievements is great it would be wonderful.
Nobodysmiling.com : To switch things up let’s talk about role-models in the entertainment business. I’m pretty sure it’s a lot of young girls that look up to you, wanting to be like you because your doing your thing right now, but what advice would you give them that the entertainment business is not all what it’s cooked up to be?
Melyssa Ford : Wow it’s so much that I could tell them. There is so many cliché’s about the business, all the glitters isn’t gold, and there’s a reason that these cliché’s were created. That’s true because everything that you see is not necessarily reality. It’s conjured up, it’s created, it’s stunned to look a certain way and nothing is really, really, real. That’s why the publicity game is as big as it is. People have publicist to spin stories the way it will benefit the person being spoken of. When you enter this business as a woman you have a lot of odds stacked against you. First of all you have to navigate through all the men who are trying you to get into your pants physically, because this is a boys club.
No matter where you go this is a boys club and the boys run the show. You got to learn to play by their rules, you got to learn you can’t shit where you eat. You can’t get run through by the industry and people will do anything to destroy your reputation and your character. Trust me, I can’t tell you the number of stories of people that I have been rumored to been dating and slept with. That “A” I’ve never meet before, “B” it was a handshake, or I was standing next to him or photograph on the red carpet. It’s unbelievable and as a woman your reputation is the only thing that you have. This business is very unscrupulous and you wouldn’t believe it. Then when it comes to your dating life Got Damn don’t become a sex symbol, because men have a difficult time seeing past you being that sex symbol being a human being.
Understanding that you have feelings, understanding that you have pain they don’t get that. They want to flaunt you like you’re their diamond bracelet, like their accessory like their car, jewelry, home, chick. It’s a lot to ask for when wanting to be famous. You got to ask yourself why, because it’s a constant uphill battle. Everybody has issues, everybody goes through problems. I don’t care how much money you got, how famous you are nobody is exempt from the downside of fame. It’s a lot of people that turn to abusing drugs and alcohol. I get why they medicate themselves to not have to deal with the pressure. It’s a lot to take on that’s all I’m saying and be careful what you wish for when it comes to this fame game.
Nobodysmiling.com : Speaking on the rumors and your dating can you clear up this stuff when they said you was dating Flo-Rida?
Melyssa Ford : He’s a great dude, he’s a really great dude, a friend and that’s basically it. It was just another story blown way out of proportion. He’s a really good dude and I have a lot of respect for him. Because he’s not advertising himself as I was shot and stabbed 50 million times, then I got 20 million baby momma’s. Nah he’s a nigga that worked his way from the ground up hustling not sleeping and stuff like that. Great story, great person, great human being, very big heart, I have nothing but love for Flo-rida.
Nobodysmiling.com : Alright so to get a little further are you single?
Melyssa Ford : Am I single [laughs]? You know what, what I will say is my personal life have always been off limits. I really don’t like to talk about my personal life, because when it comes to this business you have to keep something for yourself. You have to keep something for yourself so I never really answer that question. I don’t want people digging into my personal life like that so I gotta keep something for me.
Nobodysmiling.com : Well it’s nothing better than hearing you say it yourself.
Melyssa Ford : Yeah [Laughs], that true trust me, but I made the mistake early in my career and it bite me in the ass and I don’t do it.
Nobodysmiling.com : Like they say in life you live and you learn.
Melyssa Ford : Yeah, you do.
Nobodysmiling.com : Let me ask you this, what is it like being a good looking sister, but every time you turn around some upcoming rapper is trying to holla, don’t it get crazy?
Melyssa Ford : Not really you kind of take that with a grain of salt. You know what your limitations are, you know where your boundaries are, and it’s just like when it comes to the industry by continuously doing things it’s probably not a wise idea to date a whole bunch of people in the industry. Rappers were never really my thing and I have a particular taste in guy. I just never did the whole shit where I eat thing.
Nobodysmiling.com : It is what it is at least you keeping it real.
Melyssa Ford :: Right.
Nobodysmiling.com : Besides the acting, modeling, what else have you decided to do can you talk about the book?
Melyssa Ford : It’s my life and how I moved to the states from Canada and even the process of moving from Canada to the states. In the last 7, 8, years I got so many experiences that might go towards benefiting young girls who might want to pursue a career in entertainment or anybody who faced hardship. I’m not trying to come out with an tell all book like everybody else. I’m not trying to put anybody on blast, I’m not trying to put anything out between me and another person, because that’s just between me and another person. I think in a sense when you put people on blast your disrespecting yourself. I’ve had a lot of experiences that most people wouldn’t go through that I had to go through to become who I am. You know certain sacrifices I had to make and what not. I think I would provide a unique experience having move from Canada to the U.S. I think that anybody that experienced hardships will be able to emphasize on what I talk about.
I’m going to be talking about some real shit in my book and it will surprise the fuck out of people. It is really going to surprise them like “Damn” I didn’t know she went through that. Maybe it can be some type of manual like a “How To” guide for girls trying to navigate in the industry and different avenues you can take. You don’t necessarily have to be in front of the camera there’s tons of jobs behind the camera, behind the scenes, that are lucrative and promising careers. I also created a foundation called “Less Is More”. I created this as it’s this huge void that there is not enough positive Black female role models for the younger generation and the generation coming up.
They need people to look up to so they can understand how to act and present themselves. The reason I use “L for Literacy” in the acronym, for “Less Is More” is my intellect and educational upbringing is one of the main things that assisted me in getting this far in this business. I would have not gotten this far if I wasn’t intelligent as I am. I know some people are saying is this really Melyssa Ford saying this? Yes absolutely. Those are people still stuck in the stone-ages looking at photographs of me that are six years old. It served a purpose at the time they were taken and they haven’t been taken since. I can’t tell you the last time I posed for a magazine.
Nobodysmiling.com : When was the last time you posed for a magazine?
Melyssa Ford : F*ck, my KING cover was shot in September of 06, oh shit I can’t remember. I honestly can’t remember the last time I shot for a calendar. I guess ’06 was the last time I did a full-fledged magazine lay-out.
Nobodysmiling.com : Melyssa I wish you the best of luck in your book, your movies, hopefully your modeling if you decide to go back into it. Go ahead and throw out a website, myspace, and where fans can check out more from you?
Melyssa Ford : You guys can check me out on myspace.com/mf_thepioneer that is my only site. I had to shut down hundreds of imposters and they keep coming back. Also Lessismorefoundation.org so you can get an idea of what my foundation is about, how it was created, who was it created by myself and my business partner Daniella Cobb of Pink Diamond Management we’ve been close for seven years now. What we plan on doing is for the greater and good of our community.
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