Mariah Carey
The mega-selling pop diva has earned plaudits for her unlikely supporting role in Precious.
If you tried to imagine the exact opposite of pampered pop diva Mariah Carey then Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) would spring to mind. The heroine of Sapphire's 1996 novel Push is 16, illiterate, penniless, grossly overweight, pregnant for the second time to her own father, and the victim of physical and mental abuse by her harpy mother (Mo'nique). Nevertheless, when Precious is transferred to an alternative school in Harlem under the patient Ms Rain (Paula Patton), and starts visiting a tough but sympathetic social worker, Mrs Weiss (Carey), she slowly begins to turn her life around.
So how come this uncompromising indie film, one of the best reviewed of last year, costars the likes of Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey? Gaynor Flynn found out at the Cannes Film Festival, where Carey – whose mid-90s marriage to Columbia Records exec Tommy Mottola was reportedly so fraught that she dreamed of being kidnapped just to get away from him – explained the emotions that she drew upon to play the part.
How did you come to be involved with this film?
I was a huge fan of the novel and I am not really an avid reader. A friend of mine passed me this book and said: "All women of colour must read this book." Then, years later, I became close with Lee Daniels, the director and he asked me to be a part of the movie. I was like: what would I even play? And he was like: let's just create this Mrs Weiss character and make her into someone that we can all kind of identify with. She's a social worker she's the complete opposite of me, so that was hard.
Have you ever met someone like Precious?
In my father's family there were a lot of troubled uncles and aunts and people that we weren't allowed to know who were in very intense situations that I couldn't even go into now. But yeah, I've met people who have gone through similar things. And I myself have been through things that I could draw on in terms of being able to empathise with her character.
How did you get into the mindset of Mrs Weiss?
It was like stripping away layers of myself and me as a celebrity, artist, whatever you want to say, and just becoming this person. So it was a big responsibility. I am very sensitive so I tend to cry a lot, and in between the scenes I was very much crying all the time because the story is so shocking. But as that character I had to hold that back and really be a champion for Precious.
What and/or whom helped you through the difficult moments in your life?
As a child, music helped me. My relationship with God helped me and my mother did instil faith in me. She was very much like: you are going to be a star. So music was my escape. And then as time went on different friends would help me to see that I could get out of the typical first relationship that I was in. Nobody wanted to say anything about it and it was an abusive relationship emotionally and in several different ways. That's in the past, but that helped me get to a place where I could grow and use all that stuff. And I look forward to acting more to be able to use all of those things.
More information? Check out the full review of Precious.
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Mariah's movies
The Bachelor (1999)
Movie: 2 stars
Mariah: 3 stars
Chris O'Donnell is so lacking in personality as a man who must marry in 24 hours or lose his massive inheritance that Carey's self-mocking cameo as a spoiled diva looks deliciously ironic.
Glitter (2001)
Movie: 2 stars
Mariah: 2 stars
The human miniskirt plays a fictitious version of herself in this throwback to the New York funk movement of the 1980s. She's not half as bad as some of the other players, but comes undone in a tearjerking final scene.
WiseGirls (2002)
Movie: 1 star
Mariah: 2 stars
Throw Mariah, Mira Sorvino and Melora Walters into this mob film set in an Italian restaurant and you have a bad episode of Law and Order with a few gags thrown in at best.
Tennessee (2008)
Movie: 1 star
Mariah: 1 star
A feelgood that is no good, Tennessee has Mariah playing a singer who meets two brothers on road trip. That's it, pretty much. So, how is that paint on the wall drying?
Precious (2009)
Movie: 5 stars
Mariah: 4 stars
Sans makeup and almost unrecognisable, Carey plays a sober and sympathetic social worker. Stripped of glitter, she proves she can really act. Who knew?
