PUSH novel

As powerful and influential as Oprah Winfrey is, it's takes a deep subject matter to get her heavily involved with a project. Such is the case with her latest film, 'Precious: Based on a Novel by Sapphire,' in which she came on board with Tyler Perry as an executive producer.

Directed by Lee Daniels, the film is adapted from author Sapphire's best-selling novel about an overweight, illiterate African American teen from Harlem who discovers an alternate path after she begins attending a new school. Clareece "Precious" Jones is only a teenager, yet she's about to give birth to her second child. Unable to read or write, she shows little prospect for the future until discovering that she has been accepted into an alternative school.

There, with a little help from a sympathetic teacher (Paula Patton) and a kindly nurse (Lenny Kravitz), the young girl receives something that most teens never get -- a chance to start over. Mo'nique co-stars in an inspirational drama featuring the debut performance of newcomer Gabourey "Gabbie" Sidibe.

In speaking with Black Voices, Winfrey revealed her motivation for going beyond her TV show to promote the film.

With as many films as you're asked to promote, how did you choose this one?

Oprah Winfrey: Because Lee personally had sent it to me, and I had been trying to find a way to see it. He sent a real raggedy copy, by the way.

A bootleg version!

OW: Bootleg copy, looked like he made it at home himself. I was not even familiar with what it was. The moment I saw it up on the screen, I thought, "God, this reminds me of 'Push,' the book I had read years ago. I think when I finished watching it, I felt compelled to immediately call him. I'm lucky enough to have the connections that I can find a director anywhere in the world. He happened to be in Sundance getting an award the moment that I called him. I just volunteered my services, and that's how I got to be here today. I don't know what would have happened if he asked me, I would have probably said, "I can't put another thing on my schedule!" But the fact that I called him and said, "Tell me what I can do to help this movie." This was before he had a distributor for this movie.

Aside from promoting the film on your show, why is this different for you?

OW: Well, it's different for me because, first of all, the thing that moved me the most about this film, that really hit the guttural nerve for me, is the end credit that says "For Precious Girls Everywhere." I thought about that, brilliant the way he did it. I thought about every Precious girl. You've seen her on the subway, you seen her standing on the bus stop, you've seen her in the cold, you've seen her coming out of the drugstore, you see her in the grocery line, you see her pushing her babies down the street... and we don't see her. She becomes the invisible woman. She becomes the Ralph Ellison of today. And I thought, "How many times have I seen that woman? That girl? And not seen her. How many times have I looked away because I don't want to get into that, whatever that is." I said, "That won't happen to me again." At least I will acknowledge in spirit, in consciousness, in person if possible, the Preciouses of the world. They will no longer be invisible to me, because what this film does is raises the volume on all of their voices around the world. Raises the volume so that character gets heard, so that we understand the pain behind the backstory of the Preciouses of the word. I don't think there's anything better than that. As an African American, just to see yourself onscreen, on a billboard, in a video... is validating. To see that your story... I remember the very first time, I was probably 14 or 15, I read Maya Angelou's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,' and that book starts out with an Easter poem, and I grew up doing Easter poems. I couldn't believe that a black girl's story, starting out about reciting poems in a church was worthy of being written in a book! Like, "Oh my God!" The more I read that book the more I thought, "This is my story! This is my story!" So millions of girls and boys around the world are going to see that movie and say, "That's my story. That's my story." That is life changing to have your story validated on screen. It says that somebody, Lee Daniels, Sapphire, Geoffrey Fletcher... somebody thought that my story was worthy of telling. My story is of value, which means that I am of value.

Why do you think it has taken this long for Sapphire's book to be put on screen?

OW: Only 'cause she trusted Lee. Lots of people asked her before, but only because she trusted his vision. She was probably right. I don't know who those people were. You can't trust people with this kind of work. This would be really easy to mess up. Easy to mess up to the point where no studio would want to take it, nobody would really want to put it up on screen. So you had to have somebody who had the vision to take the book, maintain the essence of the book, and create a movie that could actually transpose the book in a way. A book is one thing and a movie is another. You can't try to make them the same.

Lee Daniels mentioned that he initially wanted you to play the role that Mo'Nique is playing, but, obviously, the script didn't get into your hands. As close as you are to the book, could you have played the role?

Oprah: I could've seen myself playing it, but I would have to say that I don't know anybody who could have done a better job than Mo'Nique. I don't know an actress who wouldn't have wanted to try to play that role. That is a meaty, and you get to go all the way there with that role. As divine order would have it, it was meant for Mo'Nique. I think she became transcendent in that role. She does what every actress wants to do, and that means take it all the way there, really meld the two. You use yourself but you lose yourself. She lost herself. You can't tell where Mo'Nique begins and Mary ends. There is no Mo'Nique. Sitting in that office in that last scene, she's gone.

Gabbie did such a phenomenal job. From those who have seen the film, she's getting high marks across the board.

OW: Isn't she wonderful? It's so exciting to hear that. When you look at her, she does it so well. You think she's illiterate. So when you meet her, you think you're going to meet this illiterate girl. It's interesting because I just met her a short time ago. This girl's bright! In order to do that role, the way that role needed to be done, you need to be intelligent enough to play illiterate. You can't be illiterate and do the role, because you wouldn't be able to take it to all the many other levels it needed to go to. The character Precious isn't just illiterate. She grows, there's a growth pattern there. You have to be able to act to show how far she grows in that space of time. It's great. She's the bright young newcomer. People are going to be talking about her. They're going to be talking about Mo'Nique.

Tyler Perry mentioned your name for one of the roles in his new film 'Colored Girls.' Will you do it?

OW: Yeah, I'm one of them. I don't even know what lady I am. I haven't acted in 10 years. We're going to see. He's writing a script, and let's see what happens. I want to see it. I love the idea of getting back to acting. I'm happiest when I'm doing it. Nothing makes me happier than being on set with a movie that I really care about. Acting is fun because you get to move yourself out of your own space and become somebody else. Acting is like a vacation for me. It's a relief.