LisaRaye McCoy-Misick
A Fabulous First Lady

LisaRaye McCoy-Misick is not your typical Hollywood actress. Yes, she’s beautiful and talented - the two attributes many Hollywood starlets possess - but to add to her beauty and brains, she’s also the First Lady of the Turks and Caicos Islands, a vacationer’s paradise near Bahamas, Cuba and the island of Hispaniola. After marrying the Honorable Michael Misick, almost two years ago in a lavish ceremony, which LisaRaye describes as a “fairytale” come true, her life hasn’t been the same. Her acting career was highlighted by her diverse roles in The Player’s Club, Gang of Roses, and All of Us, to name a few of her projects – but being the First Lady of a country she had never even visited until she started dating Misick has been her biggest role yet. Although the feisty beauty admits she initially thought prime minister meant that Misick was a preacher, in which she balked, “Me and a minister?
Hell naw,” she quickly learned that prime minister correlates to being the president of the country.

I met LisaRaye for the first time about 6 years ago, backstage at The BET Awards. I thought I had caught the eye of a crowd of admirers because of my stunning outfit or something that made them in awe of me, but when I turned slightly to my right, I noticed LisaRaye standing beside me. It was her they were admiring and not me. After brushing off my ego, I introduced myself to LisaRaye and we posed for a picture together. Since then, we’ve often run into each other on the red carpet and at various award shows, where she’d candidly talk with me about her ventures and whatever else was going on in her life. After her engagement to her prime minister husband, she called me with excitement about her fairytale love story. I also talked with her recently at a special luncheon, in which she enlightened her guests about her new foundation – The Lady Raye Foundation and the beauty pageant she created for young ladies to boost their self-esteem, Miss Raye Diant Jewels Teen Pageant.

The following Q & A is from two separate interviews.

 

Sonya: What attracted you to your man?

LisaRaye: Girl, he is so damn flyy . . . and it was the accent. It was actually his words - the way he would say things because he would say things to me on my two-way actually, before we had verbal conversations. The way he would put things was different than any other man had every spoken to me. It was more direct. It was sweet. I felt all of that through the two-way. Nobody’s words have been able to penetrate me like that. He is such a perfect gentleman. He is commanding. He has a presence.

Sonya: Since he has the power in his country, how was it for you going down there? You were this new, beautiful woman who was on this man’s arm all of a sudden. I’m sure he had a lot of women who were interested in him before you came into his life.

LisaRaye: Right.

Sonya: So, how was that for you since you came into his life after he had already established a powerful lifestyle?

LisaRaye: I think we both share that, because me being who I am – and being the sex symbol to this generation – he had to deal with a certain number of men and women that look at me that way. And so I have to do the same for him. But yes, it was a concern of mine being down there because to me, I’m a foreigner. So, I thought they [Turks & Caicos people] would think, ‘Why couldn’t he get an island woman? He had to go all the way to Los Angeles to get this woman.’ I thought that, a lot, and I actually had to think about what I could do to show them a side of me to get to know me.
I thought about what my contribution would be to the county and to him and where I’d fit in . . .
and I’m still thinking about all of that. But the good thing about this is that I’m going to approach this like I approach everything else in my life. I have a lifetime to spend with him - of learning. I’m waiting for the challenge. Everyday I’m reading a lot. I’m stepping into a whole new arena that I know nothing about. I’m making my presence known as well, because definitely I’m an individual outside of him within this union.

Sonya:
So, obviously the timing was right for you two. I’m surprised he wasn’t already taken. He just happened to be free?

LisaRaye:
Yep. And you know what? That didn’t even enter my mind nor did I care because I know that anybody successful and who has anything going on the ball is not gonna be just free. He did have someone that he was dating . . . but he wasn’t dating them anymore. And I knew that after he had made a connection with me, he wouldn’t want to date them anymore.

Sonya:
Okay, girl.

LisaRaye:
So, whatever he had to do in his other life, he had to handle, cause I ain’t got nothing to do with it.

Sonya:
If you had to tell a young woman how to remain sexy without crossing the line of looking like a slut, what would you tell her?

LisaRaye:
Sexiness is within. I don’t believe your skin has to show to be sexy. You don’t have to be like, ‘Pow, here it is.’ To me, you have to leave something to the imagination.

Sonya:
Well, when I’ve seen you, you seem to have a lot of skin showing. But lately, I know you . . .

LisaRaye:
But you’re gonna have that dress that’s sexy - with that plunging neck line – like the dress that Jennifer Lopez wore to get all that publicity. The dress was great to me. But what I’m saying by a lot of skin is if you’re gonna give them boobs then you don’t have to give them short skirt and legs too. If you’re going to give them low back, then you don’t have to have a plunging neck-line. It just has to be either or.

Sonya:
Well, I know you’ve changed your look and worn white a lot lately. Is there a particular reason for that?

LisaRaye:
Yes.

Sonya:
Okay?

LisaRaye:
It’s because I like it.

Sonya:
Okay.

LisaRaye:
(Laughs) I like it. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel fresh . . . blessed. I feel like an angel.

Sonya:
So, what are some of the things you do to stay in shape?

LisaRaye:
It’s in the genes. I got it from my mama. But I workout. I know when I start getting out of shape to myself. To me you know when your size 6 don’t fit anymore and you’re moving up to a 7/8. To me when you get that far along, then you’d be a fool to keep going in that direction when you
know that you don’t want to look that way. And I’m not a fool. I’m too vain for that. I want to make sure that I look good – and I know the TV adds 10 pounds to me, so I don’t want to look thicker
than a snicker. But I camouflage until I get it together and I get it together quick, during the summer
time I want to be fiiine!

Sonya:
I’m with you on that.

LisaRaye:
A lot of times they tell us in TV, ‘You’ve got to slim down. You’ve got to lose weight.’
But the Beyonces and the J.Los are making it easier for us to be on TV. I understand that TV adds
that 10-15 pounds.

A Year And A Half Later: (December 07)

Sonya: How has married life been?

LisaRaye:
It’s rough. (laughs). It’s a challenge. You have to set your ego aside, you have to be able
to compromise . . . and that’s kind of a journey for me because I’m so used to being independent – being a single parent for 16 years, fighting against Hollywood – being a black actress, trying to get
those jobs. So, I’ve had to fight a lot. And I’ve been building that brand for so many years. Now, to
be on the side of a man who runs a county, it’s like, ‘How do I remain who I am and not get lost
behind him?’ I have to stand for myself as well, and when we come together, that makes us that much more powerful. Marriage is a learning experience for me as well. My husband asked me to marry him
a month after we met, so as he says, and he says it so well, he married me to date me. We’re okay
with learning each other and growing together and finding out how we want to travel this world and
how we want to build this nation.

Sonya:
I heard about a reality show that you’re doing. Tell me about it.

LisaRaye:
Yes. It’s called The Premiere and I, and it’s on Lifetime. It’s based on me and about the life of an actress, and the journey of being the First Lady of a country that I knew very little about.
My husband is a part of it as well. We’re like opposites . . . and opposites attract. We’re very, very different. I’m very Hollywood. I’m very ‘See me. See me,’ and I make no apologies about it, and
he’s very demure and very politician, but yet in some kind of weird way it works. It’s working. So,
we want to show people how that is. And for every man that sees a woman that walks past him and
he feels a little something, act on it because that might just be your wife. Don’t be afraid. (Pauses).
Do you believe in love at first sight?

Sonya:
I do.

LisaRaye:
See, I don’t.

Sonya:
I do. Well, I believe in strong attraction at first sight.

LisaRaye:
See, I was kinda like in denial. I’ve heard about this [love at first sight], but when you just hear about it, that’s what it is. . . you just hear about it. So, I was tripping a little saying, ‘Naw, this can’t happen to me.’ And I had to really initially get over that because I was destroying myself, and maybe potentially losing something that was going to be the best thing in my life.

Sonya:
So, you told me your fairytale love story after you got engaged. Does he still treat you like a princess?

LisaRaye:
He does. He’s very much a gentleman. And with him being the premiere of a country I sometimes have to tell him, ‘Leave that at the door. I’m ready to see Michael.’ And I’m sure
sometimes he has to tell me, ‘Leave the actress out there, and stop doing this one woman show and
let me get your attention.’ But we’re growing towards each other. We’re learning to love each other more and we both know that we’re different but we both understand that something higher than us has brought us together. We don’t put any hardships or pressure on each other. We’re living and we’re enjoying life.

Sonya:
That’s great. So, you have learned to put the egos aside, basically?

LisaRaye:
Well I don’t know about that. We got egos. He’s powerful in his own right and I’m powerful in my own right. I’m sure that he would love for me to just give up everything and just be in Turks & Caicos, but I’m not that kind of woman. That’s not the woman he met and that’s not the woman he married. I still have to be and honor who I am. And that brings us together – to be much more of a power-force.

Sonya:
Let’s talk about your pageant. What’s the main message you want to give to young ladies in your pageant?

LisaRaye:
To promote inner beauty, sisterhood, self-esteem and fun – and do it with an educational twist. Forget about the beauty on the outside. That don’t get you too far anyway. It’s what comes out of your mouth, how you articulate and pronounce your words, your personality, your charm, your charisma. All those things mean a lot in this society.

Sonya:
Are you still keeping white as the main color in your wardrobe?

LisaRaye:
I’ve been wearing white for six years everyday and I’m trying to incorporate some color
in my life. For me [wearing white] was like a cleansing. It was purifying. It was easy for me to go in the closet and pick up something white because I don’t have time to figure out the green and brown and red and orange. That’s all too much for me. I’ve got so many other things on my mind. But now, my husband is like, ‘Why don’t you do a little color. You look so nice in color,’ so I’m trying to splash some color. Lately I’ve been wearing some color on the red carpet. Who knows? Why I’m trying to change, I don’t know. Everybody else wants me to change – not me. Sometimes I get a little bored though.

Sonya:
If you had one word to describe yourself, what would that be?

LisaRaye:
Real. I’m not gonna change. I love who I am, and I’m just real. You’re gonna get it from the hip from me.

Sonya:
What has kept you real?

LisaRaye:
The way I grew up. My father, being the business man that he was, never really focused
on himself a lot. His business was for and about everyone else in the family . . . all the way down to his clothes. He wouldn’t even go shopping. My mother would have to make him go shopping. He always wanted to give. And having southern roots [has kept me real]. You know southern people are a different type of folk. Southern hospitality. And I get that honestly because my parents are from Mississippi and New Orleans. Although I’m from Chicago, I’m half city girl and half country girl and very proud of it. Having a strong mother and a powerful father - that dynamic together just made me
try to achieve the goals and dreams I want to leave back for my family.

Sonya:
Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

LisaRaye: Girl, 10 years from now is a real long time. Let’s do five years.

Sonya:
Okay . . . five years.

LisaRaye:
A business woman – out of TV. Let my money work for itself while I travel the
world being fabulous.

Stay tuned for more LisaRaye (on video) in a forthcoming issue of
Sonya’s Spotlight Video Web Magazine.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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