Before building an acting career portraying fierce fictional characters, Lala Anthony found her way into our hearts just being herself. At the height of its popularity, she hosted MTV’s video music show TRL as a VJ (video jockey) in the early aughts, quickly making herself a household name and the homegirl in our heads. Now, more than a decade after leaving the hosting stage, she’s dusting off her mic for a fun partnership with Dunkin’.
The company joined forces with Anthony to reprise her role as the beloved 2000s VJs for the world premiere of A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys) and Joey Fatone (*NSYNC), aka the Iced Boys, 3+ minute visualizer for their recently released song, “Iced Like My Coffee,” with Dunkin’.
Although it was a playful nod to her early career, Anthony says she doesn’t take the opportunity to return to her roots lightly.
“It was really exciting because Duncan called me about reviving my role as a VJ, and I don’t really host that much anymore so when I do it, it’s nostalgic, it’s fun,” Anthony tells ESSENCE.
Although she no longer hosts full time anymore, she does just about everything else. Along with running multiple beauty brands, she’s a producer, creative consultant, influencer and has held roles on multiple hit shows including BMF on Starz and The Chi on Showtime. Anthony says she credits her multi-hyphenate status to giving herself permission to explore multiple professional avenues and never allowing her career to be pigeonholed.
“You shouldn’t ever let people to put you in a box,” Anthony shares. “I think we live in a world now where you’re used to seeing people do more than one thing. There’s actors, there’s musicians, everyone’s crossing over, there’s entrepreneurs, people have products. We’re past the time time where you could only do one thing. You can try different things, move on, and then come back.”