02:02 PM EDT 04/13/2013
Mo'Nique
Octavia Spencer: How I Beat Out Oscar Winners for The Help
Originally posted 12/06/2011 12:30PM
Octavia Spencer is getting Oscar buzz for her performance in The Help, but the actress now reveals that she faced stiff competition from some former Oscar winners for the role as sassy maid Minny Jackson.
Spencer, 41, told Anderson Cooper during an interview on his talk show set to air Tuesday that other actresses considered for the part included Queen Latifah, Mo'Nique and Jennifer Hudson.
"There were a lot of big name people who were out there and being considered for this role. How did you get this role?" Cooper asked.
Watch the Oscar Nominations Live!
Originally posted 01/25/2011 08:15AM
Join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Tuesday morning when the 83rd Academy Award nominations are announced live at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Following some brief segments that celebrate the year in movies as well as the upcoming Oscar and a discussion of 2010's movie trends, Academy president Tom Sherak and last year's Supporting Actress winner, Mo'Nique, will take the stage in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater to reveal the nominees.
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Mo'Nique's Brother Apologizes for Sexually Abusing His Sister
Originally posted 04/19/2010 06:50PM
The brother of Oscar-winning actress Mo'Nique admitted to Oprah Winfrey on Monday that he repeatedly molested his little sister starting when she was only 7 years old.
Mo'Nique, who won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, has spoken publicly about the abuse at the hands of Gerald Imes, saying she channeled "that monster" when she played the brutal mother in the film.
"I'm sorry, Mo'Nique. I'm sorry," Imes said Monday on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "I betrayed everybody's trust. I broke that trust. I broke that bond." Mo'Nique declined to be involved in Imes's interview or respond to his apology.
Imes blamed the sexual abuse, which happened over a period of two years mostly while Imes believed Mo'Nique was sleeping, on the fact that he too had been molested and was masking his pain with drugs.
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Which Hollywood A-Listers Could Pull Off Disney Villains?
Originally posted 03/31/2010 10:00AM
Glenn Close was sheer evil perfection as the live-action version of Cruella De Vil in the 1996 remake of the Disney classic 101 Dalmatians. And while that creepy character sought to clothe herself in cuddly lap dogs, Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent takes it up a notch, cursing a baby to death by spinning wheel and turning into a dragon! She's so ominous, in fact, she may be the first Disney villain to get her own feature.
The Maleficent movie would, according to The Hollywood Reporter re-tell the 1959 fairy tale from the point of view of the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil." Already rumored to be a front-runner for the delightfully devilish role: Angelina Jolie.
But wouldn't the equally gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones be able to bring to life her evil elegance? Her background is in theater and dancing after all. Another casting contender: Kim Cattrall, who has proven time after time she is equally bewitching and b----y!
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Mo'Nique Wins Her Oscar for Precious
Originally posted 03/07/2010 10:00PM
Its title proved prescient. Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire was a double winner during the middle point of the 2010 Academy Awards on Sunday night.
Even though she seemingly had a lock on the Supporting Actress Oscar, Mo'Nique triggered a welcome jolt that reverberated through Hollywood's Kodak Theatre when her name was announced. She first thanked the Academy "for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics."
She then paid tribute to Gone with the Wind Supporting Actress Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American ever to win an Oscar (in 1940), and "for enduring all she had to, so I wouldn't have to."
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Christoph Waltz, Up Early Oscar Winners
Originally posted 03/07/2010 09:00PM
Music and laugher kicked off the 2010 Academy Awards from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. In a non-traditional first, the show actually opened with the 10 Best Actor and Actress nominees introduced alphabetically before escorts rose from the audience and guided them to their seats.
Then the fun began.
Neil Patrick Harris, who hosted the Tonys and Emmys last year, delivered the show's opening musical number, "No One Wants to Do It Alone," essentially setting the stage for hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin – who spent their opening dialogue poking fun at the top nominees who had just been seated.
"There's that damn Helen Mirren," said Martin – prompting Baldwin to say, "Steve, that's Dame Helen Mirren."
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What's Your Fantasy Oscars Red Carpet Sighting?
Originally posted 03/07/2010 06:00PM
The nominees are in – and pundits have been making predictions for weeks. But what about those unpredictable factors – the red carpet run-ins and new couplings that will make this year's Academy Awards super memorable?
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Which Oscar Virgin Are You Rooting For?
Originally posted 03/07/2010 09:00AM
There will be a whole lot of green on the red carpet Sunday night. No, the procession into the 2010 Academy Awards isn't getting a makeover. This year's pool of nominees are just a fresh-faced bunch of newcomers!
The first-time Oscar nominees are as varied as their roles. From Christoph Waltz, who is the favorite among best supporting actor contenders for his role as an evil Nazi colonel in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, to Mo'Nique, who is the front runner in the best supporting actress category for playing an abusive mother in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.
Her competition includes film alum Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart and big-screen newbie Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air. The best actress race also has some young blood: An Education's Carey Mulligan and Precious's Gabourey Sidibe, who was an unknown receptionist before landing this, her first, role.
The Academy's votes will be revealed Sunday night. But now it's your turn:
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Predictions: Who Will Win at the Oscars
Originally posted 03/06/2010 06:30PM
The votes are in, the pre-parties are in full swing, and all of Hollywood is hoping it won't rain: The 82nd Annual Academy Awards are just a day away! PEOPLE movies editor Samantha Miller takes a look at who will – and who should – take home Oscar gold Sunday night.
BEST PICTURE
Nominees: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Up, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, A Serious Man, Inglourious Basterds, Up in the Air
Ten movies were nominated this year, but the biggest race has narrowed to two – and it's a down-to-the-wire thriller. In one corner, there's Avatar, which blew away box office records and renewed audiences' excitement about going to the movies. Its wondrous special effects made us all feel like kids again, from the blockbuster battles to the smallest touches (loved the seeds that floated like tiny jellyfish). Meanwhile, the indie Iraq War tale The Hurt Locker is every bit as thrilling as its behemoth rival. The drama about a bomb-disposal squad delivers nail-biting tension, magnetic performances, and a provocative portrait of men under pressure that sticks with you like desert grit. Hurt Locker deservedly snapped up many of the pre-Oscar awards, so the odds are in its favor. For the biggest prize of all, though, with millions of fans watching, it's hard not to pull for the big, bold Avatar, for the way it reinvented how we see movies.
SHOULD WIN: Avatar
WILL WIN: The Hurt Locker
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Independent Spirit Awards 2010
Gabourey Sidibe: From $2 a Day to Independent Spirit Awards Win
Originally posted 03/06/2010 01:30AM
Who knew how far $2 could go? Gabourey Sidibe's mom, who used to pay her daughter that amount each day to attend school, does now.
"I saved up my money for a week so I could see Welcome to the Dollhouse," Sidibe, the Independent Spirit Awards' best female lead winner, said in her beaming acceptance speech Friday night. She excitedly explained that it was the first film that made her think: "I could do that." A notion that gave birth to her own independent spirit and an Oscar-nominated performance in her first film, Precious.
Her costar Mo'Nique credited their "low-budget, independent film's" leaders for teaching her how to bring her A-game and score yet another trophy this awards season for best supporting female.
But it wasn't all about the best feature film of the year, Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire. Crazy Heart star Jeff Bridges continued his winning streak for best male lead, exclaiming to his wife that his Spirit award trophy would "really tie the room together!" He explained to PEOPLE after that it was his "little
nod to The Dude."
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