Yummy Yolie

We played Q&A with young actress Yolie St. Villien. What’d we find out? Well, she has the inside scoop on Busta Rhymes, Jennifer Lopez, and Michael Jackson. Oh, and she gets compared to J-Lo a lot. One look at her and you’ll know why.

A lot of people may know you best as the girl in the red dress from Busta Rhymes’ “Pass the Courvoisier” video. Do you ever get recognized for that?
You know, I do. My hair was brown when I did that video and now I’m blonde so a lot of people don’t recognize me now until they actually talk to me. Then they’re like wait a minute, I’ve seen you before…they’re like, “Oh my God! You’re the girl in the red dress.” So I just go by “the girl in the red dress” now.

What’s it like hanging with Busta Rhymes?
It was great. I was a really, really huge fan of Busta Rhymes when I was growing up…it was really nice to meet him and to work with him.

So did you go to any of his parties?
No I didn’t. I got invited to a lot of those parties.

And you didn’t go?!
I’m actually really a homebody. I’m basically on set and after that I’m home. I think it’s because of L.A. When I was in New York I used to go out. New York is the city that never sleeps, and I had a lot of fun there. But L.A. is a very different town.

MORE OYE GIRLS:

EVA LONGORIA

JESSICA BURCIAGA

PAM RODRIGUEZ

CLAUDIA MOLINA

JEN JOHNSON

CC FONTANA

NIKKI TORRES

So which city has cooler people?
L.A. is really phony, and when you go out you’re not really going out to have a good time. You’re going out to meet people and look for what I call the BBD: the bigger and better deal.

What else do you like about New York?
It’s a very multicultural city. You have all types of people from different backgrounds, different personalities. And what’s cool about New York is that not everybody wants to be a star. Not everybody wants to be famous.

Exactly where in New York are you from?
I was born in Brooklyn. I was raised in both Brooklyn and Queens. They’re actually very different types of boroughs. I grew up in middle-class, pretty decent areas. My mom really struggled to keep me away from bad areas. But the cool thing about New York is that you can live on a very nice block and then like two blocks down there’ll be projects. Everyone is just jam-packed together. But I was basically kept away from that kind of atmosphere, unless I wanted to go the projects. Which I did…because I had friends that lived there.

Were you a good student growing up or were you a bad girl?
I was a good student. I cut a lot of school when I hit junior high school and high school, but I did study and I was a good kid.

Wait a minute, you said you cut a lot of school. How is that good?
Ha! I don’t know. I wasn’t really cutting school to do bad things. I was kind of a weird child—like very different from other kids…so I’d cut school and I would just walk around, just hang out.

You’re of Caribbean-Irish descent, what was it like growing up biracial?
It was really hard. A lot of people don’t address biracial kids and they don’t know how to relate to them or understand them…when I was growing up it was hard because I didn’t feel like I was accepted by both groups. I was too light for the black community. And then the white community—I didn’t really look like them. I had the skin, but the hair was really curly, and I didn’t really look like them. I identified more with the Latin culture, but I didn’t speak the language so that was a problem.

But then when I got older it was a blessing for me because I got to see both sides of the races. And I’m really thankful to God that I am biracial. I love it: I have the best of both worlds.

You’re a very attractive girl, who must surely get a lot of guys approaching you. Is there a particular type of guy that tends to go after you more?
I get all guys coming after me. I don’t know why. All kinds of races, all kinds of backgrounds. I just feel that a lot of people look at me as approachable. Yeah, I’m hot, I’m cute, but I’m down to earth.

How do guys generally approach you?
They use really, really bad lines. I mean I’ve heard the worst that you can possibly imagine. And I think what works to my disadvantage—and also to my advantage—is that I look really young. Without make up and with my hair not done, I look about 16 or 17. So I get a lot of guys who basically want to manipulate me because they think that I’m not experienced. And that’s really frustrating.

But you put them in their place, right?
I put them in their place quick! I don’t play that…that’s old news, I’ve been there done that. Don’t run me corny lines. It’s not gonna happen.

Okay, I won’t. What about you, what type of guys do you find most desirable?
I like honest men. I find that—not all men—but I do find that a lot of young men have a problem being honest. And that’s a big problem for me personally and for females in general.

But what are they dishonest about?
Well, most women want commitment or they want a relationship. They don’t want to just have sex and then that’s it…and men tend to not be honest about their intentions with women. I think there are all kinds of women, and if a guy wants a girl just to have sex with, I think he should find that girl—but he needs to be honest.

Well yeah, but if a guys meets a girl and says, “Hey I just want to have sex with you,” how many girls are going to go, “oh, okay.”
I think there are girls that will do that. Guys come up with corny lines anyway. I have no idea how some of these guys bag chicks…so just be honest and say, “hey, you look good so let’s just get it on.”

Hmm, I’ll try that and let you know how it works.
[laughs] Okay, let me know.

Besides honesty what are important characteristics of a man?
Having goals and maturity.

What about money?
I think as childbearers it’s our innate quality to want to have a guy that’s financially stable. But I think it’s unfair that we should want men that are financially stable when a lot of women aren’t financially stable.

So you’re a true feminist.
Yeah.

In our Dear Dons column a reader wrote in to ask what the best approach to making out is: being really “hands on” or being a gentleman? What do you think?
I think that timing is really important. If this is the first time that you’re making out with a girl, I would say take your time and let her kind of be the initiator. But I do like aggressive men.

So you’re confusing me now.
I do…no…but what I said is that timing is important. So after a couple of dates when you are making out, then I think that guys should be aggressive.

You were a stand-in for Jennifer Lopez and judging from your photos I can see why they would use you as a stand-in for her. Do you get a lot of compliments on your…um…well-endowed derriere?
Yes I do, and I have to say one thing about Jennifer Lopez. When I was her stand-in and I actually saw her body, it was almost identical to mine…I felt that as far as body shape and her looks I identified with her and that really made me feel good about my path in the business.

But yeah, I definitely get a lot of attention on my butt. Everyone calls me Baby J-Lo. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but I’ve always had the butt.

Well, congratulations!
Thank you. [laughs]

Did you get a chance to chat with Jennifer?
I didn’t get a chance to chat with her, but I did meet her. She was nice, but not extremely friendly.

By now all that fame and money has probably gone to her head.
Honestly, I think it has. But I can’t really fault her because if I was in that position I don’t know how I would be. Because you’re on this pedestal and people are always looking at your butt, and they’re always talking sh-t. So it must be hard for her to be friendly and happy-go-lucky all the time.

You’ve also worked with Michael Jackson.
I love him…I was in his video for “You Rock My World.” He was such an inspiration.

So are the rumors true?
He’s such a wonderful person. A lot of people have misconceptions about him. Yes, externally he is strange. It’s strange to imagine someone looking like that, but at the same time it’s so pure and innocent in a weird way…the way that he looks externally is the effect of being in the business…For us [the way he looks] is not normal, but my experiences being around people of all different races—and especially African-American males—it’s hard. A lot of people don’t really understand what kind of effect being dark-skinned has on you, and I think it had a really bad effect on him.

Our last question is always: any wisdom for Latino men?
One thing I want to say is that Latino men are hot! There’s definitely the Latin passion going on. And the only other thing I want to say that I’ve noticed, being from New York and growing up with Latin men in New York…coming out here I would say my advice to the Mexican-American men in California is to loosen up. I don’t feel comfortable, I feel that someone’s going to shoot me…[Latinos] are a beautiful group of people who are misunderstood…It’s a wonderful culture, a loving group of people…and that needs to be spread to other groups.