You can never say Mo’Nique backs away from touchy subjects in the African-American community.
Not in her comedy and not in film.
The actress, who won an Oscar for her performance as Mary, the deeply flawed, abusive mother in the film “Precious,” takes on another powerful role as the mother of a young gay teen in a conservative Southern town in “Blackbird.”
"Blackbird," directed by Patrik-Ian Polk, will be shown in Atlanta at 7:15 p.m. and 9:35 p.m. Thursday at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive N.E., as part of the Out on Film festival, which runs through Oct. 9.
In addition to Mo’Nique, it stars Isaiah Washington as the father and Julian Walker as 17-year-old Randy Rousseau, a talented member of his church’s choir, who must come to accept and love who he is.
In the coming-of-age film, Mo’Nique stars as his devoutly religious mother, Claire, who is also struggling to handle the disappearance of her daughter. It gets worse when she discovers her son is gay.
Mo’Nique got a call about the film from Washington. She had never worked with him before but said she has always admired his work.
After reading the first page of the script, Mo’Nique said she got the same feeling she had after reading a few pages of the script for “Precious.”
“If they put on the screen what’s on this paper, it’s going to save lives,” she said. The topic of being gay in the black community or the issue of homophobia in the African-American community has not been explored much on film.
“It’s been swept under the carpet for so long,” she said.
She believes people should be “allowed to be who they are meant to be.”
She and her husband, Sidney Hicks, serve as executive producers through Hicks Media.
Mo’Nique calls Walker “fearless.” Other young black actors backed away from the role over concerns that playing a gay role might affect their career. Walker, she said, dived right in.
That reaction also speaks to the homophobia in the black community.
“No one thought Matt Damon was gay when he played Liberace’s boyfriend,” she said. “No one thought Michael Douglas was gay when he played Liberace.”
“Blackbird” is just one of several projects keeping Mo’Nique busy.
She’s also starring with Queen Latifah, whose real name is Dana Owens, on a project for HBO Films on blues legend Bessie Smith.
Mo’Nique plays Ma Rainey, known as the “Mother of the Blues,” who was born in Columbus, Ga., in 1886.
In her private life, Mo’Nique is also moving ahead.
She’s shed 100 pounds the “old-fashioned” way with exercise and watching what she eats.
“I just left dance class this morning,” said the actress and comedian, who lives in Atlanta. “Baby, you tell Beyonce she don’t want none of this.”
The loss has not gone unnoticed. She said she has been approached by weight loss companies, which she declined to identify, with “seven-figure deals” to endorse their products. But after she and her husband researched the products, they opted to pass on the deals.
“We said we could not endorse what we knew could be damaging down the road,” she said. “My principles wouldn’t let me sign up for it. I couldn’t put my name on that.”
Mo’Nique said she was motivated to lose the extra pounds because she wanted to be around for her children and to see her grandchildren. And because she doesn’t “want to be a burden on my family due to self-neglect.”
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