Mo'Nique and "Empire" Rumor

Those who saw Lee Daniel's "Precious" know that Mo'Nique played the hell out of her role as a screwed up, abusive single mother in the film. If there were any doubts about her acting ability, they were all resolved with her performance in "Precious".



She won an Oscar for best supporting actress; and became quite disillusioned that she was being shunned by Hollywood in the five years since. Daniels allegedly said to her in a phone conversation that she has been "blackballed."

If you remember, when the "Precious" actress received her award in 2010, she dedicated her acceptance speech (some would say) to Hattie McDaniel, the first black woman to win an Oscar for playing maid roles in 1940. Mo'Nique said nothing to "thank" any of the relevant people associated with her win. Could that omission have contributed to her dilemma?
In an interview with "The Hollywood Reporter", Mo'Nique said this:

What I understood was that when I won that Oscar, things would change in all the ways you're saying: It should come with more respect, more choices and more money. It should, and it normally does. Hattie said, "After I won that award, it was as if I had done something wrong." It was the same with me. I thought, once you won the award, that's the top prize-- and so you're supposed to be treated as if you got the top prize. I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago. And he said to me, "Mo'Nique, you've been blackballed." And I said, "I've been blackballed? Why have I been blackballed?" And he said, "Because you didn't play the game." And I said, "Well, what game is that?" And he gave me no response. The next thing he said to me was, "Your husband is outbidding you." But he never asked me what [salary] we were asking for. You know my husband [actor and producer Sidney Hicks] and I had to change things so we wouldn't have to depend on others. So we do it independently. We're very proud of taking the independent route, and we have a movie coming out on April 24 called "Blackbird." (Watch the trailer.)

When asked if Daniels approached her about being on "Empire", Mo'Nique responded by providing a list of offers, saying she was offered the role in "The Butler" that Oprah Winfrey played. She also said Daniels offered her the role of Richard Pryor's grandmother in his upcoming Pryor film. She ended by saying, "Each of those things that he offered me was taken off the table. They all just went away." Mo'Nique also insisted that she's not "upset at anybody" because that's just part of the business.

During an interview with CNN's Don Lemon, Daniels said regarding Mo'Nique's dilemma, "Sometimes actors get in their own way."

"You have to thank producers of the film, you have to thank the studio, and she didn't understand that. People aren't going to respond well," he said. "I love her; I've spoken to her. She's brilliant, and I love working with brilliant people."

Daniels told Lemon that the actress didn't seem to understand that Hollywood is a business, saying "You've gotta play ball. This is not just show---it is show business." When asked if he thought the 47-year-old actress' treatment was race-related, Daniels admitted that he didn't like acknowledging race as a factor because doing so makes it real.

The rumor was that the role of EMPIRE's "Cookie Lyon" was initially offered to Mo'Nique. Would that have worked? Guess we'll never know. However, after seeing Taraji P. Henson take control of the character--- like Mo'Nique took control of her character in "Precious", it's hard to see anyone else playing Cookie's role on "Empire".

Nevertheless, viewers know what Mo'Nique is capable of doing with a script. That means she will probably nail whatever part plays. With their independent film, "Blackbird", debuting April 24, it doesn't appear that Mo'Nique is bothered by negative chatter. Guess action does speak louder than words.

AnyWho...

What do you think? Do you think Mo'Nique could play "Cookie Lyon" as well as Taraji?

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Copyright 2015 by Peggy Hatchet James