Congrats Mo’Nique!
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” scooped the bulk of awards at the 20th Stockholm Film Festival, which wrapped up Sunday.
Mo’Nique won best actress for her powerful role as an abusive mother.
Below are excerpts from Mo’Nique’s chat with Moviefone.com about the film and her performance:
Did you have any idea that ‘Precious’ would turn out to be such a big deal when you signed on to do it?
We didn’t do it for it to turn out to be a big deal, we did it for it to change peoples’ lives. And I think whenever you do something that you totally surrender to, the universe gets involved. And we totally surrendered to this project with [director Lee Daniels].
Where did you look for inspiration for your character, Mary?
Well, I know that character. That character was my oldest brother Gerald, to me. So I was very aware of who that character was and when Mr. Daniels told me he needed me to play a monster, I reflected that.
You had to go to some pretty dark places in the film, does that wear on you emotionally?
You know, I won’t say dark, I would say I had to go to some very honest places. And, no, it didn’t wear on me because I dealt with it. So when Mr. Daniels said, “Action,” I totally knew it was a character and not something that I had to be deprogrammed for.
What do you think the backing of Oprah and Tyler Perry does for the film?
Well, we all know that when Oprah Winfrey says, “I like it” … What does that mean? That means you can purchase a small island anywhere in the world, if you like [laughs]. Oprah Winfrey understands that story — she’s spoken openly about being molested as a child. Tyler Perry has spoken of it. So they know those stories, they know those people. And when we start removing the labels, when they start looking at themselves as human beings, they can relate. So then they said, “How can we make sure the world hears this? Let’s put our names to it.”What would earning an Oscar nomination mean to you?
Any nomination would be appreciative, but we’ve already won it. We’ve already won. Because when you get an Asian brother that comes up to you and says, “Mo’Nique, what I’m going to say to you is going to sound really weird, but I have to say it. I am Mary Jones, and I was Mary Jones to my brother and my sister.” And now he’s sobbing and we’re embracing and I said, “Congratulations for your honesty, now go get you some help.” We’ve already won.
