Few people in Hollywood can say they’ve always been relevant, but that’s an understatement for actress Vanessa Bell Calloway. Her breakthrough role came in 1988 when she stole our hearts as the beautiful Princess Imani Izzi in Coming to America, and she hasn’t left our screens since. Throughout the decades, she’s continued to give us memorable performances and that is true in 2025 as well. Bell Calloway stars in one of the top star-studded movies of the year, One Of Them Days, which releases Friday, Jan. 17. She shares the screen with Keke Palmer, an actress who is well on her way to following the trail Bell Calloway blazed. Now 67, the wife of an anesthesiologist and the mother of two grown daughters, she is a timeless wonder and our first cover star of 2025.
How have you been able to remain relevant across decades in Hollywood?
You know, the key to staying relevant in this industry is just to stay in the industry. You always say work begets work. You are just as good, as they say, as your last project. So when you can work, you continue to work. And as you go into each new project, you grow. I mean, that’s my responsibility is to grow now not only as an artist, but a human being, a mother or wife. Because all of my life lessons, they add to my characters when I get to portray them. So I think the key to staying relevant is you got to stay. You got to stay current. You got to do whatever everybody else is doing at the time. You know, whatever the trend is.
![Vanessa Bell Calloway](https://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/DSC03803-960x640.jpg)
How do you feel about the impact your roles have had on Black culture and representation in Hollywood?
When you do a movie, you never know the impact it’s going to have. You don’t take a job, saying, “Oh, this is going to be iconic,” or “This is going to be one of those movies that everybody just repeats lines from.” You don’t know. Sometimes what’s on paper doesn’t translate to the stage or to the screen. And sometimes something can be on paper and it could be like, oh this isn’t really it, but when you get the cast and you get everybody’s magic, then it becomes magic. So, you never know what’s going to be iconic. You just do it for the right reasons. I think that when you work for the right reasons and you’re there because you want to be, and you’re really there doing the work and really taking it seriously, whatever’s going to come of it, becomes of it. And when it becomes iconic or a movie that people love, that’s the icing on the cake.
Do you have a favorite role of yours?
I mean, something like Coming to America, I call it the gift that keeps on giving. And What’s Love Got to Do With It, Biker Boyz—some of my earlier movies—people come up to me all the time, reciting lines and letting me know what their life was like then, or what they were doing at the time. Especially Coming to America, I’ve had so many little Black girls or mothers of little Black girls come and say, you were the first Black princess we saw. And it made my daughter feel good to know that brown-skinned girls were beautiful. I get that a lot.
![Vanessa Bell Calloway](https://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/DSC03871-960x640.jpg)
What advice would you give to young Black women who want to follow in your footsteps?
Well, the one piece of advice I give to all young people is stay ready to be ready. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gotten an interview or a meeting with a producer or director and literally left the interview and went to costumes or left the interview and was at work the next day. I was ready. So, I didn’t have to get ready, you know, because sometimes that door opens, it may only open a little bit and you may have to kick it down. So, stay ready to be ready. I tell all young people that. But in regard to young Black women or anybody else, again, know your craft, study. I mean, being cute is good. And not everybody’s born an actress, but you can learn some things and some things you can’t. Some things you are really right for and some things you aren’t. So stay in your truth. Be honest with yourself. But if it’s for you, and if you love it, and you got to truly love it, this industry will have you on your knees crying sometimes, just like anything else.
What do you think about your co-star Keke Palmer?
I have so much respect for that young sister. She is out there getting it, honey. And I’m like, “Go, girl, go.” She ain’t playing, OK? She is taking her career in her hands, and she is deciding what she’s going to do. She’s making her own calls, and she’s doing it. And I just really expect to see a lot of great things coming from her every year.