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Best movie of the year? You better believe it
Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey and Paula Patton star in a powerful...
Starting as a producer (Monster's Ball, The Woodsman), Lee Daniels has taken a circuitous route to becoming one of the most talked-about directors in the U.S. Now, Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey have his back, his film Precious is setting records and bowling audiences over throughout the world, and everybody is talking about "the little film that could." Daniels spoke with us at the 2009 New York Film Festival.
You make a distinctive use of voiceover in the film, often using dialogue directly from Sapphire's novel. What made you decide to hew that path?
I had to stay true to the book. In the book, (Precious is) always in her head. The voiceover is a third main character in the book. You see her growth as someone who is learning how to read, going from being illiterate to someone who can read and write.
And did Sapphire have much involvement on the set? I saw she had a cameo in the film.
No, she just approved the script. She released it, actually. It was really incredible.
How did you first connect with the book? It can be such an overwhelming experience.
When I was 11, there was a girl in my neighborhood, she was 7. It was 3 in the afternoon, broad daylight, and she was naked. She was bleeding, she was crying, she was trying to cover herself, and she said, "My mommy's going to kill me." And I remember feeling nausea, anger, fear, and I remember looking at my mother, who was for the first time afraid. When I read Sapphire's book, it brought back those same feelings. So I wanted to try and help heal. I wanted to heal myself and others, if I could.
What kind of process has it been for you, trying to get this film out to the masses?
I never wanted to feel like I was hitting people over the head with anything. I wanted to do something that was very intimate and that was something that they would connect to. I know that audiences are hungry for this. I'm proud that we're able to marry worlds and to show black art.
Was it difficult to find star Gabby Sidibe?
We were having Precious camps. I started out calling ICM, and saying "Do you have a 300-pound . . ." and they'd say, "No." We then moved on to the 'hood, and then to Detroit, to Chicago, to Atlanta, to Compton, to Baltimore. Then, 400 girls later. . . .
The book is full of some absolutely horrifying moments. Was there ever a time on set where you reached a point where it just got to be too much?
Never. We didn't take ourselves seriously at all. We laughed from beginning to end. My rehearsal process is the most fun part of the job. My direction is a lot of grunting and waving my hands around. It's like putting on a play. We never looked on it as anything serious.
There was one moment when Mo'Nique had to throw a baby on a couch. It wasn't scripted, but we needed to show the insanity here. So she threw the baby, and I had to cut out really quick to the grandmother, because she (Mo'Nique) just broke out crying.
Mo'Nique has always been such a vibrant personality and a brilliant comedienne. How did you and she get to some of the dark places her character goes?
Mo'Nique and I had worked before on a movie called Shadowboxer and we were very good friends, so we had already established a relationship. We had an understanding.
I'm sure you're tired of hearing this question, but how did Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey come on board as presenters?
I'd given this movie to Oprah before I left for Sundance. But that was back when she was working full-time to support the president's campaign. Tyler's people saw the film at Sundance, and they showed it to him. Then he called Oprah. I needed some help with this one. I felt that Tyler would secure that for me and that Oprah would secure that for me.
The film is so different when compared to most of what's out there. Was there ever a time when you were worried about making a film that was accessible to the mainstream public?
My casting director said, "You're doing a movie about a 300-pound black girl. Anything's game."
