Wednesday, November 13, 2009
Wednesday, November 13, 2009
INTERVIEW
Paula Patton Brings The Rain In "Precious"
In Paula Position: Actress Paula Patton in San Francisco
last month.
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
By Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO
Paula Patton recalls the day that she knew something special was going on with
"Precious", the new movie she stars in that expands its U.S. theatrical release
on Friday.
"We were at a screening . . . down in Provo, Utah and it was a primarily white
audience, and it was a remarkable thing. We were all standing up there and
there was this white man who stood up -- he was probably about 60 years old --
he stood up and was like, 'I never cried in a movie before and this is my story,
and thank you guys.'"
Ms. Patton, who has starred in big-budget films opposite such actors as
Denzel Washington
and Kevin Costner
said of the Provo moment that she was "overcome with emotion right away."
That is the effect that "Precious", directed by
Lee Daniels, has had on audiences who have seen
it. The winner of the
Sundance Grand Jury Award in January,
"Precious" made an record debut last Friday for a film in limited release,
grossing an astounding $1.8 million on just 18 screens, an average of $100,000
per screen. The film is executive produced by
Oprah
Winfrey and
Tyler Perry.
The experience in Provo, Ms. Patton said, "was very healing in a way, because at
that moment it's probably this realization that we had surpassed race and I
didn't know that was possible, and I didn't know that an audience like that
could embrace an all-black film and give it the love that it gave it. It
just blew me away."
The 33-year-old
USC Film School graduate also revealed that the
reaction at the Provo screening was "very healing for me as a black woman in
America." She speculated that Barack Obama's arrival as America's
president in January may have helped to open people's hearts more.
As Miss Rain, Paula Patton comforts Gabourey Sidibe, who stars as the title
character in "Precious", the new film directed by Lee Daniels and based on the
best-selling novel Push by Sapphire.
Lionsgate
Paula Patton has an integral role in Mr. Daniels film as Miss Rain, a remedial
reading and writing schoolteacher who inspires the title teenage character
(played by debut film actress Gabourey Sidibe) to believe in herself and reach
for the stars after a lifetime of abuse and poverty.
Just as her onscreen character plays a part in affecting Precious's life, a
life-changing event is occurring in Ms. Patton's off-screen life: the actress
and her husband songwriter/singer Robin Thicke announced recently that they are
expecting their first child sometime in the middle of next year.
Ms. Patton's feature film debut came in 2005 in the
Will Smith
comedy
"Hitch". And of "Precious", which is
based on Sapphire's best-selling novel
Push, one thing the Los Angeles-born
actress cites is the universal theme of love.
"Love is love", says Ms. Patton, who last month was in town here to talk to
several journalists about "Precious" and her role in it.
"If you have the capacity to love, you have the capacity to love anyone.
So that's how I wanted to play Miss Rain, with no stereotype."
"I liken this film to buying a ticket to a roller coaster ride, you know?
You go up, you go down, you scream, you cry, you laugh, and at the end of it
you're left a bit shaken but your heart is more open. You have more
compassion, you have less judgment for others . . . you're a better person for
it afterwards."
The Popcorn Reel movie review of "Precious" appears here on Friday.
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
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