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Interviewer
You're on the vert show. Here's how you know Gabby Sidibi is not used to her stardom just yet. On time for an interview.
Co-Host 1
Thinks she should be rolling in here about 15 minutes late.
Interviewer
I'll tell you what, she wins an Academy Award. I mean, this will be booked for 9, 10. She rolls in about 10:30.
Co-Host 2
Yeah, and we'll wait on it.
Interviewer
And we'll wait on it.
Co-Host 3
Right.
Interviewer
But she's not there just yet. Hey, Gabby.
Gabby Sidibe
Hi.
Interviewer
How are you today?
Gabby Sidibe
Thanks for waiting for me in the future.
Interviewer
Well, I will tell you that you are two minutes late, but you are worth the wait for sure.
Gabby Sidibe
Aww, thanks.
Interviewer
I thought, you know, initially when I found out that we were gonna have you on the show, I'm like, man, it's always so difficult to do interviews with teenagers cause they just don't talk a lot and what are we gonna do with a 16 year old? And then I found out you're 26 years old.
Gabby Sidibe
Surprise. I'm grown.
Interviewer
It happened quickly. It really happened quickly. Congratulations on all sort of the, what do you want to call it, like pre hype on the movie and your performance. Cause man, people are talking Academy Award already for you.
Gabby Sidibe
I know, isn't that crazy? It is. They've been talking about that for a while and it's been super premature and it scares me a little, but it's still nice. My name is Clarice Precious Jones. I want to be on the COVID of a magazine. I wish I had a light skinned boyfriend for real now. But first I want to be in one of them BET videos.
Interviewer
You're a dummy.
Gabby Sidibe
Don't nobody want you.
Interviewer
Don't nobody need you. School ain't gonna help nothing. Take your ass down to the welfare.
Co-Host 2
Gabby, I've seen Precious and I think you do a fantastic job in it. And if you do get a nomination for the Oscar, which of course you have to, then I think it's well deserved. But tell everybody how this came about in the first place.
Gabby Sidibe
Well, I seriously just went to an open casting call. I think they auditioned somewhere between 400 and 500 girls.
Co-Host 3
Wow.
Gabby Sidibe
Yeah, none of like, I didn't know anything about that until maybe my last day on set and I walk into an audition and I pretty much got it within three days. I walked audition on Monday, called back Tuesday and I was offered the role on Wednesday. So it happened pretty quickly.
Co-Host 3
What did you do for your audition?
Gabby Sidibe
I did one of the scenes. They gave me a scene where she meets Ms. Weiss, who is Mariah Carey's character for the first time.
Interviewer
And you were the very last person that auditioned for the role?
Gabby Sidibe
I think. So I would go with that.
Co-Host 1
Because your answer to that in the future is yeah. Cause once they saw me, duh, who else did they even have to look at?
Interviewer
Which was really the truth. Cause there was nobody else to look at.
Co-Host 1
But she doesn't have to say that, right?
Gabby Sidibe
I'll let other people say that.
Co-Host 2
Gabby has arrived, Everybody.
Interviewer
Gabby, what did you do before this? I mean, if you're 26 now, you know, everybody keeps saying that this is your first acting role. So what were you doing before this?
Gabby Sidibe
I was a college student. I wanted to be a psychologist. And so that's what I did for the most part. And I was a Receptionist.
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Really?
Gabby Sidibe
Yeah.
Co-Host 2
Now, Gabby, I've seen where you've said because of your degree in psychology, that you thought this in this movie might actually help more people than you being a therapist would.
Gabby Sidibe
Yeah, I kind of, like, I felt a lot of guilt for not actually being a therapist, but someone pointed out to me that I'll probably reach so many more people through this film and heal so many more people than I ever could as a therapist, and so I feel better about it now.
Co-Host 3
Did you get to attend the Sundance Film Festival when the film premiered and all the buzz got started?
Gabby Sidibe
Yeah, I did. That was, like. That was our very first outing. And it was amazing because Sundance is kind of like camp with celebrities in a weird way. Like, it's like everybody's super casual, but you'll go to the pizza shop, and there's Chris Rock. It's just amazing.
Interviewer
We're talking to Gabby Sadebi, who plays Precious in the movie Precious. The more we're talking to you, the more I realize how much of a stretch this role must have been for you. Cause you seem so funny and extroverted. And the role of Precious is one that's. She's so scarred and she's abused and she's introverted. I don't even know where to start. Like, where do you find that to act with when you're not that.
Gabby Sidibe
Well, I think a lot of that credit has to go to our amazing director, Lee Daniels, who is. You know, he's. You know, he produced Monster's Ball and, you know, the Woodsman. He is a talent, and he's amazing at pulling these performances out of people who wouldn't normally give them. And so I'd have to say that he pulled it out of me.
Co-Host 2
Now, of course, the other hype on the movie Oscar buzz is for Monique, who plays your mom in the movie. How was it acting with her?
Gabby Sidibe
Oh, it's amazing. Like, seriously, she is the embodiment of love. She's so funny. And so whenever we had a scene and, you know, our characters are in a constant fight. They don't like each other. But in between, she would hug me, and we would dance, we would sing, and she'd crack jokes, and my stomach would cramp up because she's that funny. She's so amazing to work with.
Interviewer
There must have been a high intimidating factor for you. I mean, you're on the set now, and we're gonna throw around names like Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry and Mariah Carey and Monique. And this is your first time on a Movie set. You must have been so nervous that first day.
Gabby Sidibe
Yeah, I was pretty scared. Well, the very first day, the only people I knew who were involved with it were Monique, Lenny Kravitz and Paula Patton. And so, like, Oprah and Tyler. Shout out to Tyler didn't come on until way later. And Mariah too. And so we'd already, like, done half the movie. But I was really, really scared when on my first day. But I had to suck it up and pretend like I belong there.
Interviewer
At any point. When you're on the set with all these actresses and these actors and you guys are just making small talk when you initially meet, you know, maybe they ask you what you've done before. Were you sort of embarrassed to say that? I gotta tell you guys, this is the first time I've ever done this.
Gabby Sidibe
No, I was actually super proud to say I don't have any acting experience. I mean, because I guess I was really proud to be on a set with these veterans, you know, like people. Not just, you know, people who were in the film, but casting, like, the crew who'd worked on 20 different movies and things like that. I was really proud to say this is my first time and I'm still in your company.
Interviewer
You know, when you turned around, they flipped you off. Right, right.
Gabby Sidibe
They probably did.
Co-Host 1
Except for Tyler Perry, who loved it because he loves stories like this. So, you know, this is his story too. Like, you know, not supposed to do it. And then all of a sudden it older than everybody else gets started and you're in, like, in big time. Yeah, like, he's like high fiving you. He's like, that's my little sister.
Co-Host 2
Aw.
Co-Host 3
When you were a kid and you were always dreaming of becoming an actress, who was it that you looked up to the most?
Gabby Sidibe
I never dreamed to become an actress. Really. Like, I seriously didn't want to. Like, I didn't want to do it. And my family's been telling me that I need to do it all my life, but I didn't want to. It wasn't until I was handed the role that I discovered that it's what I want to do with my life.
Interviewer
What an amazing story. So you're a receptionist beforehand, and then how do you even find out about the casting if you're not in that world?
Gabby Sidibe
Well, a friend of I'd done some college theater, which seriously wasn't a big deal, and a friend of mine at this college called me and told me about the audition and I didn't want to go in because I would have had to cut school, but I kind of cut school anyway. That's not good to do, kids. But I cut school, and I. Seriously, it just. It was so fast. One audition led to the callback, led to me getting the part like it was three days of my life, and it just kind of rolled out like that.
Co-Host 2
Now, Gabby, let's talk about Lenny Kravitz, because he is in the movie. He plays your nurse. And so, I mean, is he as hot in person as he seems? Like on posters and on tv?
Gabby Sidibe
Hotter. Because you could touch him.
Interviewer
They want to know, does he smell good? Does Lenny Kravitz smell good?
Gabby Sidibe
Yes. Like cologne?
Co-Host 3
Now that you've been thrust into the spotlight, like, I saw your picture and what was it, Us Weekly or Entertainment Weekly? They're now analyzing your fashion, your clothes, and all that kind of stuff. Is that totally stressing you out? You have to worry about how you're seen in the public eye now?
Gabby Sidibe
No, because I like to. I try to make sure that every time I leave in something, whether it's, like, jeans or, like, a David Meister dress, that I really, really like what I'm wearing and that I feel comfortable in it. So people can say whatever. Like, whether they like it or whether they hate it, they don't have to wear it. And so I try not to stress about it.
Interviewer
Well, good for you. I mean, this whole new world is opening up to you. Have you already started to do another movie before this one has even really officially come out yet?
Gabby Sidibe
Yeah, I just did a Sundance Lab film called Yelling to the sky, and that was really cool because it's a character completely different than Precious. And so that was really fun. Like, I got to be a bad girl who drinks 40s drink 40s.
Co-Host 1
Kids, this is a lot of warnings coming from Precious. Stay in school. Don't drink 40s.
Interviewer
So this is something you're sticking with? It wasn't like, a one or two movie thing, and then I'm out of the industry. This is your life now.
Gabby Sidibe
No. Yeah, I hope it's my life. I love. I love doing it. I love being on sets and, you know, and breathing life into a character. I think it's amazing, and I want to do it for as long as possible.
Interviewer
Well, congratulations. What a great start. And I hope after you win the Academy Award and the next time we have you on the show and you're 30 minutes late, that you're still as. As humble and as fun as you are right now. This is awesome.
Gabby Sidibe
We'll see. Thank you.
Interviewer
No promises.
Co-Host 3
All right.
Interviewer
Gabby, Thanks a lot.
Gabby Sidibe
Thank you guys.
Interviewer
Bye bye. What a sweetheart. She's awesome. How charming is she, man? Yeah, listen, it's the vert show
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This classic episode of The Bert Show features an engaging, candid interview with Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe. She shares insights about her breakout role as Precious in the film Precious, her unconventional path to acting, the whirlwind of fame, and her personal reflections on her journey from psychology student to Oscar buzz. The conversation is lively, humorous, and inspiring, capturing Gabby's down-to-earth personality and infectious laugh.
Gabby arrived on time and joked about not being used to stardom yet ([01:54]):
Surprise reveal – Gabby was 26 during Precious, not a teenager ([02:07]):
No formal training, just an open casting call ([03:21]):
Unique audition experience ([03:49]):
Life before acting ([04:29]):
Sundance Film Festival experience ([05:11]):
Stretching her acting abilities ([05:27]):
On acting with Monique ([06:25]):
Intimidation and Pride on Set ([07:08], [07:52]):
Did she always want to act? ([08:41]):
Spotlight pressure and fashion scrutiny ([09:59]):
Lenny Kravitz stories ([09:47]):
New film projects ([10:40]):
Desire to continue acting ([11:10]):
The episode is upbeat, humorous, and heartfelt throughout. Gabby's self-deprecating humor, humility, and inspirational candor shine, making for a memorable and motivating listen.
For anyone curious about Gabourey Sidibe’s beginnings, her approach to fame, and her authentic voice, this episode is a must-listen.