As a child, Lee Daniels endured playground bullies who taunted him for being black and gay. The abusive language wound up strengthening him.
“You get a resilience in you,” he said. “You’ve taken so many bullets as a child that you learn how to not take ‘no’ for an answer as an adult.”
He’s likely not hearing “no” very often these days.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for his directing of "Precious." The 2009 film earned a best picture nomination and starred Gabourey Sidibe, who was nominated for best actress, and Mo'Nique, who won a best supporting actress Oscar.
More recently, Daniels has been showered with accolades following the enormous success of this summer's "The Butler," starring Forest Whitaker. The $30 million movie has hauled in more than $115 million, and over Labor Day weekend became the first movie of the year to top U.S. box office charts three weekends in a row, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Last weekend, though, Daniels was humbled to stand before a group of young graduates.
“I’m speaking here today because I didn’t have the opportunity, I couldn’t afford to go to college,” he said during SCAD-Savannah’s fall commencement event, held Nov. 23 at at the Savannah Civic Center. “I was angry about that for a long time. This would have been the college that I went to.”
During his appearance, the faculty presented him with an honorary doctorate.
"You have now gone to SCAD, Lee!" congratulated the school's president, Paula Wallace.
Afterward, we were able to talk with him for a few minutes during a phone interview. He discussed the comical combination of his latest project’s relative austerity given its star power.
"All of my films are magical experiences. When you commit 18 hours a day of your life for four months, you have to really be driven by magic," he said. "This time, it was on a grander level. Jane Fonda, Oprah Winfrey, Vanessa Redgrave, John Cusack. The hits kept coming! We don't have any money on my films. These Hollywood stars come in and they're used to certain accommodations. I don't have anything for them but M&M's and stale potato chips."
He’s been gratified and a little surprised by the success of “The Butler.”
“I didn’t think I could do anything more rewarding than ‘Precious,’” he said. “I don’t do a film for public reaction. I do films that I want to see or that my kids will remember.”
And what of early Oscar buzz?
“I don’t do movies for awards and I don’t think about them. I only think about them when people like you ask about them,” said. Rather than gunning for awards, he said, he is grateful for audience reaction, “When people say, ‘Thank you for finally getting this story out.’”
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