Film producer/director Lee Daniels, 49, is a whirlwind of energy with an irresistible passion for movies that cut deep propelled by his unusual casting choices.He produced the Oscar-winning Monster's Ball; directed the compelling The Woodsman; and the odd but fascinating Shadowboxer—and now is winning film prizes right and left with Precious. The self-described "part homo, part Euro, and part ghetto" African-American Daniels has been focusing all his energies on Precious, the bleak story of a 16-year-old Black, pregnant and illiterate teenage girl set in Harlem in 1987. ( The film is based on Sapphire's novel Push. )
The contest of wills between Precious ( played by newcomer Gabby Sidibe ) and her horrendous mother Mary ( played by stand up comic Mo'Nique ) is at the epicenter of the film which focuses on Precious's efforts to escape her fate when she enrolls in an alternative school and comes under the wing of a caring lesbian teacher ( played by Paula Patton ) and a tough social worker ( Mariah Carey ) . When we spoke Daniels was scurrying through airport security to make a flight, anxious then relieved when his missing passport was located. "Now my boyfriend can calm down," he said with a laugh. "Okay, I'm yours," he added as we began to talk about his "baby."
Windy City Times: I strongly identified with Precious escaping into a fantasy world. I'm sure so many queer audience members will—
Lee Daniels: [ Laughing ] That's my gay sensibility, isn't it? Someone said to me, this gay producer, "Lee, your gay sensibility is all throughout the film" and I was like, "I never tried to hide it!"
WCT: I think that's magnificent. I know there's a queer sensibility in the movies but there is a Black queer sensibility as well?
LEE DANIELS: Oh yeah, definitely. Like I've said before, "It's a little Euro, it's a little ghetto and it's a little homo."
WCT: That fantasy world she envisions just fires the imagination. Was that your experience as a young, closeted gay man as well?
LEE DANIELS: Yes. I often fantasized when bad things happened to me. As a gay kid we have our own way of escaping. I knew growing up—and my boyfriend points this out—because he can't figure out why I made it and other African Americans in my same situation didn't make it out of the ghetto. But it was that gay sensibility that knew, "I. Don't. Think. So." You know? I knew there was some glitter somewhere. [ Laughs ]
WCT: You just had to go find it.
LEE DANIELS: Yes, I did. Oftentimes what I did was … when I was being harassed as a gay kid or just in bad places I often fantasized. The fantasies are not really that strong in the book. They're hinted at in the book but I delved into them because the movie is me. You know? I had to marry the book with my own personal life. So, Precious really steps into my fantasies. [ Laughs ]
WCT: As bad as things are for Precious, how much worse would they have been if Precious had been a gay male high school teen in 1987?
LEE DANIELS: I think that we all are Precious. I think it would have been the same story.
WCT: The queer in me loves that the most maternal character in the movie is the lesbian teacher.
LEE DANIELS: There are so many subject matters to hit upon in this film—self-esteem issues, obesity, the social-service system—I tried to hit on so much but what people seem to miss which is what I try to hint at strongly is just how people from a specific socio-economic background feel about homosexuality and what I do in this film is I make our savior, this beautiful goddess, a lesbian. [ It ] fucks up a lot of people from a socioeconomic background that think homosexuality is the root of all evil that this person is the savior. It really freaks a lot of people out.
WCT: Your films are all such showcases for great performances of great depth. How do you get actors to go to such extremes on camera?
LEE DANIELS: [ Laughs hard ] I think it has a lot to do with me being gay. Yes I do, because I'm not afraid to get deep with these women.
WCT: I read that you're interested in doing a feature that focuses on men on the down low. Is that or any other gay-themed movie in the pipeline? Because I want you to do a big gay movie.
LEE DANIELS: Me, too. You know, I was going to do Brokeback Mountain. That was the most devastating thing. It's a very sore subject and I really want to delve deep into the down low in a way that is my version of American Beauty where we really understand it and it's effect on the community and on African-American women.
I went to do research for Precious at the Gay Men's Health Crisis in Chelsea ( in Manhattan ) and [ there was ] Marjorie [ Hill, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist ] , this fabulous Black woman. Honey, she gave me some information that was staggering. The people that were in there were not gay men; primarily, they were African-American women. And that shit was deep. I mean, what the fuck? Gay men—we have our shit together for the most part. But women who are in love with these FedEx workers and these UPS men, they got their legs spread wider than Baryshnikov, you know? And they're infecting our women and it's very disturbing to me because they're afraid to be out in the church and lose their jobs and lose their friends and be disconnected from the family. It's very hard being out, man. Ain't no fuckin' joke. Everybody thinks it's so easy to be out. It is not easy being out. I'd fuckin' have an office on Sunset Boulevard right now if I were on the DL. [ Laughs ] Life is easier.
WCT: That reminds me that several gay directors have gone on the record, saying that it might be prudent for leading-man types to stay closeted at this time. How do you feel about that, Lee?
LEE DANIELS: I feel horrible. I feel horrible. I have to say that I, in the beginning, was like that. "Oh, he's gay. He shows." Now what does that say? I think that's self-hatred. In the beginning of my career I was a perpetuator of that whole thing. I know guys now who are decision-makers that do that: "Oh, he's gay. We can't hire him." Well, fuck that. You know what? In any seed are the mavericks of the world, like my very good friend Rupert Everett. Could things have gone differently for him had he not at the height of his career exposed himself? We're more open, society is, to women that do it but I think that this is too much. But I don't think it's going to be for long, though. I'm not just being optimistic. I really don't believe that race or [ sexuality ] will be ... as much of an issue.
WCT: There's a lot to tackle.
LEE DANIELS: So much I want to do. It's all hitting me at once but I have to stay focused and pray that two people see Precious so I'm doing the dog-and-pony show first before I really commit wholeheartedly to the next thing. I think gay men and women will so identify with the characters and the truth in this because they're especially Precious.
