PRECIOUS

PRECIOUS
Push pulled me in immediately. It’s one of the few books that, upon finishing it, I turnedright back to the first page and read it again. I was on a beach during a girls’ trip with myfriend Rhonda, who insisted I read it. The voice created by genius author Sapphirecompletely took me away. She gave such singular and significant expression to a girl anda world that are often invisible. It was challenging and intensely beautiful material.
I first worked with Lee Daniels on Tennessee, a film I did in 2008. He was theproducer, but he basically ended up directing me, and he totally got me. I was thrilledwhen I learned he had acquired the rights to Push, though not at all thinking I would beinvolved.
A trusted friend, actress and director Karen G, was working as an acting¹ coach withsome of the cast, especially the young women, and she let me know that something reallyincredible was happening on the set. One day, out of nowhere, with one day’s notice, Leeasked me to play the social worker character, Ms. Weiss (a role originally intended for thephenomenal Helen Mirren). I was over the moon, but a little freaked out too. I had a littlemore than one day to prepare. I learned my lines and did some deep, quick-and-dirtyimprovisation and backstory building with Karen. I loosely based Ms. Weiss on theupstate New York “Sweetie, it’s not normal” therapist Tommy and I used to see.
The entire process of filming was renegade and brilliant. Lee believed in me, and Ibelieved in him. I believed in the remarkable² cast, and of course I believed in thebrilliance that was on the page. Lee’s major concern was that I didn’t “look like MariahCarey.” He insisted on no makeup³ and even had a prosthetic nose made for me. We didn’tend up using it, but the application aggravated⁴ the rosacea around my nose, which,ironically, really worked for the character (now, ain’t that some peculiar⁵ mixed ish, tohave both keloids and rosacea).
I remember once, on set, Lee caught me applying a little blush and screamed, “NOMAKEUP, Mariah!” Another physical note he gave me was to “walk flat-footed!” (oh,these tippy toes). I was confident in my grasp of the Ms. Weiss character; the mostchallenging work was not to be emotionally moved by Mo’Nique’s amazing and powerfulperformance. Ms. Weiss had to be detached, but the human being in me struggled withthat. There was a moment when Mo’Nique’s sublime⁶ acting got into my heart, and aninvoluntary tear welled up in my eye. I discreetly⁷ wiped it away, hoping it wasn’t caughton camera.
What she and Gabby Sidibe brought to their characters was simply stunning⁸, stellarwork. I loved working on the film. My management at the time discouraged me fromdoing it, because it was last minute and low budget, but I knew it was a rare andexquisitely human story. It was also a creative stretch, which was artistically⁹ enriching forme. I was so proud to be involved. After Precious was screened at Sundance in 2009 andwon both an Audience Award and a Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic category (plus aSpecial Jury Prize for Mo’Nique), Tyler Perry and Oprah announced they would come onas producers, giving the film the marketing¹⁰, promotional support, and shine it deserved.
And it got glamorous¹¹. Cannes was the epitome¹² of red carpets, with tons ofinternational paparazzi (you better believe Ms. Weiss was left on the screen and MariahCarey, in full effect, was there). The European press tour was fabulous¹³, full of red carpets,dozens of couture gowns, and a thousand parties, including a secret one on RobertoCavalli’s yacht. Precious won awards wherever it went. The biggest night was the 82ndAnnual Academy Awards. The film received six nominations¹⁴, including best picture, bestdirector, and best actress, and won best supporting actress for Mo’Nique and best adaptedscreenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher—making him the first African American to win in thatcategory.
I also won a few awards for my small but significant role. I won the BreakthroughPerformance Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where Lee and I wereextra festive¹⁵, using our pet names onstage (me, “Kitten,” and him, “Cotton”), laughing,and whispering to each other. And, okay, maybe we were a little tipsy too, but it was oneof those bottles-on-all-the-tables award shows! Mostly we were totally thrilled.
I was thrilled. Not only did Precious give me public validation¹⁶ for my acting afterGlitter, but because Lee believed in me, I was able to believe in myself again as an actress.
It was evidence that with the right material and the right people (with the right vision), Icould seriously pursue acting. Lee later gave me another unexpected and challenging roleas Hattie Pearl, mother of Cecil Gaines (the main character) and field slave in The Butler.
Lee easily saw in me what so few dared to even look for, and we have a rare and realconnection. A trust.

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

4 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

5 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

6 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

7 discreetly   

ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地

参考例句：

• He had only known the perennial widow, the discreetly expensive Frenchwoman. 他只知道她是个永远那么年轻的寡妇，一个很会讲排场的法国女人。
• Sensing that Lilian wanted to be alone with Celia, Andrew discreetly disappeared. 安德鲁觉得莉莲想同西莉亚单独谈些什么，有意避开了。

8 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

9 artistically   

adv.艺术性地

参考例句：

• The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。
• The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

12 epitome   

n.典型，梗概

参考例句：

• He is the epitome of goodness.他是善良的典范。
• This handbook is a neat epitome of everyday hygiene.这本手册概括了日常卫生的要点。

13 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

14 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

15 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

16 validation   

n.确认

参考例句：

• If the countdown timer ever hits zero, do your validation processing. 处理这种情况的方法是在输入的同时使用递减计时器，每次击键重新计时。如果递减计时器变为零，就开始验证。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Although the validation control is a very widespread idiom, most such controls can be improved. 虽然确认控件是非常广泛的习惯用法，但还有很多有待改进的地方。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓