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From the category archives:
UF – The Actresses
Article Date: October 20, 2009
Article Headline: Making Precious
Article Source: ebonyjet.com
Since it made its premiere this past January at the Sundance Film Festival, few films have been as acclaimed or talked about than Precious. Based on the bestselling book, Push, by Sapphire, the film relates the tale of Precious, an overweight, unloved, pregnant, abused teen living a horrific existence and her painful and uplifting journey to self acceptance and love.
Precious is the second film to be directed by Lee Daniels, a former talent manager turned filmmaker.
After a talent search for months to find the perfect person to play Precious, Daniels discovered Gabourey Sidibe, a 24-year old college student and receptionist from Harlem with very little previous acting experience. Just last week we had a chance to talk to Daniels and Sidibe about her experience working on the film, why Daniels decided to direct such a difficult story and why he loves to make controversial films.
EBONY (to Daniels): You had a very successful career first as a talent manager then as a producer making films like Monster’s Ball and The Woodsman. Why did you decide to move into directing? There aren’t many film producers who have done that. Perhaps some creative urge that wasn’t being fulfilled?
DANIELS: I started out as a director in theater, which led me to casting, which led me to managing actors, which led me then to producing, which then led to directing. I’ve just come full circle. So people know me for my producing work, but I started out in theater. I had a life before Monster’s Ball.
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An Interview with Pam Grier: “I survived cancer…tomorrow is not given… I was given a second chance…”
www.hollywoodchicago.com did an amazing interview with Pam Grier…
Pam Grier has a strong, peaceful aura. After inventing the female action hero in her early 1970s hits “Coffy” and “Foxy Brown,” Grier has navigated her life through optimistic success. She was in Chicago for a book signing at Borders State Street, promoting ‘Foxy: My Life in Three Acts.”
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“Doggy Dogg World” is the third single from Snoop Doggy Dogg’s debut album Doggystyle.
This retro style video takes us back to the world of seventies. It presents Snoop as a pimpish owner of an old fashioned music club where a Dramatics live concert and party is going on. The video is a 1994 winner of an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video.
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While she was modelling for catalogues and print advertisements, she was also auditioning for soaps, and landed a role in the short-lived TV series Living Dolls. The obligatory period as a ‘resting’ actor (she didn’t work for six months) almost led her to throw in the towel. Then came her breakthrough role in the gritty Spike Lee film Jungle Fever.
Ironically, she almost didn’t get the part of a crack cocaine addict because she was too attractive.
Determined to succeed, she decided to make herself look as plain as possible. “I didn’t shave my legs, bathe or brush my teeth for days,” she says. “I was pretty gross.”
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