Mo’Nique collected a basketful of Supporting Actress accolades over the course of the awards season for her gripping portrayal of Mary Jones, the relentlessly-monstrous mother in Precious. The versatile comedienne/actress/talk show host’s powerful performance not only earned her a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, NAACP Image, Sundance Film Festival, BAFTA and Independent Spirit Award, but was recognized as the best of 2010 by most critics’ guilds as well. Still, the icing on the cake arrived no March 7th when the talented sister won a well-deserved Academy Award.
Here, in the first interview I’ve ever conducted which actually brought me to tears, Mo’Nique reflects upon a variety of subjects, ranging from family to spiri
tuality to surviving incest to what winning the Oscar means to her. And she also talks about “Spread the Love,” the standup comedy victory tour during which she’ll be making stops in 20 cities around the country between now and the end of May.
Kam Williams: Hey, Mo’Nique. The last thing I said to you, when we spoke back in October, was that the next time we spoke I’d be congratulating you on your Oscar. Well, Congratulations, sister!
Mo’Nique: Thank you, brother, I appreciate that.
KW: It was easy to predict. Listen, I watch over 500 movies a year, and let me say that was not only the best performance of 2010, but in my opinion it would eve
n have won if they gave out an Oscar for the best performance of the decade.
M: Wow! Thank you, brother.
KW: Well, I want to thank you for still making yourself available to me now, because it often becomes impossible to land another interview with an actor or actress after they’ve just landed an Oscar nomination. They don’t even have to win the Oscar to suddenly be unavailable.
M: And that’s a damn shame, Kam. Me? I appreciate the brothers and sisters who were there before anybody was calling. So, how could I not talk to you?
KW: I certainly appreciate that, especially since I remember how over the years you’ve done a lot of little things for me like arrange to put a couple passes aside if you were doing a comedy show nearby. Speaking of standup, what inspired you to do this “Spread the Love Tour,” when you must already be very busy from hosting your late night TV talk show on BET?
M: Well, standup is my first love. When I told my husband [Sidney Hicks], “Baby, I’m ready to go. I’m ready to get back out there,” he said, “Okay, then let’s come up with a title. What are you trying to say?” and I said, “Let’s spread the love! Let’s spread the love with jokes, baby, through humor. Let’s laugh out loud, but while we doing it, we’re gonna be loving on each other at the same time.”
KW: I see that you’re taking DJ Ant on the road with you. What’s up with the music?
M: Oh, Lord, honey! As a comedienne, I always loved when the audience was entertained from the moment the doors opened up ‘till the time they closed. I never understood why people would have to sit patiently waiting in silence for the comedians to come on. I say, “Give ‘em a full show! Let ‘em feel good! Let ‘em party! Let that music move through ‘em, baby. So, by the time we come to the stage, the house is already on fire. The music helps amplify the experience.
KW: And why’d you decide to have two comedians accompanying you on the tour, Rodney Perry and Tone-X?
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