Interview

Lee Daniels’s Precious, the new film adaptation of Sapphire’s 1996 novel Push, features stars like Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, and Mo’Nique. But the actor getting the most attention is a 26-year-old young woman from Harlem who never dreamed about being in front of a camera. Gabourey Sidibe spends most of her time in Precious saying next to nothing as she is physically and emotionally abused by her mother, becomes pregnant with her father’s child, and is taken under the wing of a tireless social worker. But the raw materials of a gifted actress are evident in Sidibe’s every gesture. Precious is a brutal account of poverty, illiteracy, hate, and urban isolation so well-crafted that it swept the awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s also going to turn a onetime college psychology student into an unexpected star.

MO'NIQUE: Here’s what I ask, because right now the world is scratching their heads, saying, “Who is this young lady, Gabby? We haven’t seen her before, and she’s done such an amazing job. Who is she?” Tell the world who you are.

GABOUREY SIDIBE: I’m just a girl from Harlem who ended up in the right place at the right time. I was a college student studying psychology, and a friend of mine told me about the audition for Precious. I had read that book because my mom made me. Actually, I hadn’t wanted to go to the audition because I had to cut school in order to do so. But I just went on autopilot, did the audition, and got a call back within an hour. I went back the next day and got another call within a half hour, saying that the director wanted to meet me. We talked for 45 minutes about nothing, and then he offered me the part. So what I am is just a very lucky girl.

MO'NIQUE: Wow. Now if you weren’t this incredible actress, would you be a psychologist?

SIDIBE: I think I’d be a research psychologist. Most of my life, I wanted to be a therapist, but then I just decided that I didn’t want to be in charge of giving people advice. I want to know everything there is to know about psychology. But a therapist? No. [laughs]

MO'NIQUE: Was acting something that you ever wanted to do?

SIDIBE: Not ever. Certainly not professionally. You know, I’d done little school plays and things, like I was a pirate in Peter Pan and I was Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz, but it was mostly for fun and I had bigger singing parts than acting parts. In fact, I didn’t want to pursue it because I didn’t want to subject myself to the opinion of the world.

MO'NIQUE: What do you think the opinion of the world is of you now?

SIDIBE: I try to stay off the Internet. [laughs] Just because people hurt my feelings sometimes. My audition tape somehow ended up on YouTube, and, like, 40,000 people have seen it, and a lot of people have commented that I’m an incredible actress. But other opinions weren’t so nice, physically or whatever.