MO'NIQUE
Queen of comedy, Academy Award winner, and now 'Mother Dearest' opens up about her new film Blackbird and her personal connection to the LGBT
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
Thank you so much for doing this movie.
☚ Mo’Nique
Well, David, thank you so much, baby. I appreciate that. However, it was an honor for me to do it because people don't know about my relationship with the LGBT community before it had all those initials. When I was a young girl back in Baltimore some beautiful little black gay boys loved up on me like nobody's business. They gave me confidence. They would let me know how fabulous I was, baby. They would also let me know if an outfit was not right. They were just good to me. So this movie is truly my love letter to the community.
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
How did you get involved in it? How did it come into your space?
☚ Mo’Nique
Isaiah Washington—we share the same attorney, Ricky Anderson out of Houston—called Ricky up and said, “You know, I have something Mo'Nique and (her husband and business partner) Sidney may really be interested in doing and executive producing.” So when we got that script, we knew after page one it was something necessary to do. It was time. I know that story. I remember me and them babies wiping each other’s tears as they were telling me, “Mo'Nique, I can't go home! My mother don't love me! My friends won't accept me no more!” I know that story. So that's the reason why we had to get involved. I'm tired of reading the stories of our babies taking themselves away from here just because they weren’t being accepted. I’ve been in the clubs. I've seen those babies wanting to be loved so bad, honey. I remember telling them “I promise you, if you keep pushing it's going to be okay. And the moment you say I am who I am and I will not apologize watch life get better."
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
How was it playing the mother of a gay son? How did it impact you?
☚ Mo’Nique
I understand her. I know that woman. I know that woman as a woman. I know that woman as a man. I knew those babies’ parents. And I wanted to do her justice. What I dug about Clare was that she was open to change. Some parents stay locked in, even though they see the devastation their baby is going through. They stay locked into something they read in a book and were taught all their life. Most of them are too afraid to walk away from their conditioning. But Clare let me know that it is possible to change your heart and your mind; challenging but possible.
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
It’s commonly considered that homophobia runs rampant in the Black Community. Do you find this to be true? What do we do about this? Patrik was able to put together such amazing imagery and commentary of and on the Black Church. It brought me back to the experiences I had with the Black Church; with my coming out experience, and the coming out experience of millions of young people out there. What do we do about this? How do we work on getting religious leaders and religious families to become affirming and accepting?
☚ Mo’Nique
Keep showing up! Just keep showing up! And I say this in almost every interview that I've done. I'm 47, David. I'm not old enough to remember that there was a time when being black and white and in an interracial relationship was illegal.
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
Right. Right.
☚ Mo’Nique
But they kept showing up! You can’t stop love. You couldn't stop it. When they say two gay men cannot go into the church holding hands and loving each other in fear of what that church might do say or do, you must say “I am unafraid and I am not going to waiver” just by showing up and holding hands and loving who you love.
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
In light of the various black athletes coming out, Jussie Smollett's discussion/non-discussion of his sexuality on Ellen, and your film's treatment of homosexuality in the Black Community, where do we go from here?
☚ Mo’Nique
Well, I'm going to tell you why I keep saying to keep showing up. Blackbird is going to be a limited release. When you have a limited release it grows based on you showing up. Numbers matter. You gotta keep showing up. And when you show up, show up with no apologies.
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
This is your first film project since winning the Oscar. What took you so long?
☚ Mo’Nique
Blackbird made sense. If something else would have come along that made sense you would have seen me before Blackbird. But this film made sense. And just so people understand me, too, I didn't come to Hollywood to be an actress. I came to Hollywood to be a talk show host. So when you see me doing something in reference to acting it's something I really liked. It’s something that really moved me. It’s something that made sense.
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
What is the take-away message from Blackbird?
☚ Mo’Nique
The take-away message is acceptance: acceptance of oneself, acceptance of other people. And to know that when you really understand what the word 'love' means and the power it has, you can open up your heart to something different.
☛ Dave Bridgeforth
What's next for you?
☚ Mo’Nique
I hope tomorrow, because today is beautiful. You know, baby, I got to wake up with my husband and with my babies in the next room. I got to go workout this morning, I got to talk with you. Do you know how beautiful this day is?
