Mo'Nique: Queen of comedy turned drama queen

Many are seeing Oscar nominations in comedian Mo'Nique's future after her riveting role as a bitter, malicious mother in Lee Daniels's independent film, "Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push' by Sapphire," which opens Nov. 6.

The drama is about a teenage girl, played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, fighting years of emotional and sexual abuse from her parents. The 350-pound teenager is illiterate, pregnant by her father for the second time and ruthlessly abused by her mother.

"Precious" has been producing buzz and controversy since its introduction into independent film festivals. Could that buzz be due to the film's executive producer Oprah Winfrey and an appearance by Grammy Award-winner Mariah Carey? Or maybe it was the 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May and the three awards the film received from the Sundance Film Festival. Some are ranting, others are raving, but without a doubt, people are talking.

When Mo'Nique was asked by reporters at New York Daily News why she chose to step out of her familiar funny characters and take on such a dark role, she answered, "The story needed to be told. People are really dealing with this [kind of abuse]. When Lee Daniels called me and said, ‘Mo'Nique, I have something that might [mess] up your career,' I said ‘Sign me up, sugar!'"


Mo'Nique in "Precious," in which she plays an abusive mother. The independent film is generating Oscar buzz.