Mo’Nique Never Doubted She’d Work With Lee Daniels Again Despite Yearslong Feud: ‘I’m Willing to Fight for This Friendship’
Lee Daniels’ new horror movie “The Deliverance” marks a reunion for the director and his Oscar-winning “Precious” star Mo’Nique following a yearslong feud.
Despite the animosity that stemmed from Mo’Nique’s public criticism of Daniels and “Precious” producer Oprah Winfrey, the actor never doubted that they would work together again. “He’s my friend,” Mo’Nique told me at the “Deliverance” premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night at Netflix’s Tudum Theater.
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“You ever have somebody in your life where your chemistry is right there but something happened and it pulls you apart, but you don’t forget the heart of the person?” she continued. “You don’t forget the purity of this person and you say, ‘I’m willing to fight for this friendship.’”
Daniels recalled their first day on set of “The Deliverance.” “It was emotional,” he said. “It was like, ‘We had been fighting all this time about what?’ But then it was just like, ‘OK, bitch, say your fucking line.’ She was like, ‘OK, Mr. Daniels!’”
“The Deliverance,” inspired by true events, tells the story of Ebony (Andra Day), a single bi-racial mother with three children (Anthony B. Jenkins, Caleb McLaughlin and Demi Singleton) who moves her recovering addict mom Alberta (Glenn Close) into their new house to help take care of the kids. As Ebony faces scrutiny from a social worker (Mo’Nique), the family must also battle a demon that is possessing the kids. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor plays a pastor hoping to rid them of the evil spirit.
Close’s transformation into Alberta includes teased wigs, heavy makeup and a body-hugging wardrobe. Daniels explains she is based on many white women who are frequently a fixture in Black communities. “She was terrified,” Daniels said about Close. “She was like, ‘Lee, I don’t know about this.’ I told her to put on some weight and then told the costume designer to take her clothes in. She was like, ‘What am I doing here?’ But then she understood that it’s about body positivity and Black women are comfortable in whatever shape they are in. The gates then opened and she became Alberta. It clicked, but Hollywood has trained her to think a certain way about her body whereas Black women are comfortable with whatever they wear.”
Close recalled her hesitancy to slip into Alberta’s booty shorts: “But you can’t go in and say, ‘No no, no.’ You have to say, ‘Give it to me.’ I think I said to Lee, ‘I look like a hooker.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, exactly.’”
Day said she was “honored” that Daniels, who directed her to an Oscar nomination for “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” believed she was a strong enough actress to work alongside Close and Mo’Nique. “At first, I was like, ‘This is so intimidating’ and it was overwhelming,” Day said. “But then I just got excited. I prayed on it and I thought, ‘I believe I’m here for a reason,’ and I want to learn from [Close]. I want to learn how she works and how she gets in there.”
As for a potential sequel, Daniels said, “Here’s the thing, if there is one, I will be producing it and getting those coins. I did it because I was terrified of doing a genre I have never stepped into before. But that box is checked. Onto the next.”
“The Deliverance” is in theaters now and streams on Netflix Aug. 30.
See more photos from the “Deliverance” premiere below.
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