Lee Daniels on Mending Ties with Mo’Nique and Casting Her in ‘The Deliverance’

After decades of producing dramas like the Oscar-nominated Precious, The Butler, The Paperboy, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Lee Daniels is exploring the horror genre.

The Deliverance draws inspiration from the true-life story of LaToya Ammons, a Gary, Indiana mother who, in 2011, claimed her children had become possessed by a demonic spirit. Released in select theaters on Aug. 16 and streaming on Netflix on Aug. 30, the film marks Daniels’ reunion with Andra Day. Day, who won a Golden Globe for best actress and received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Billie Holiday, stars in the lead role as Ebony, a neglectful, alcoholic mother grappling with her own abandonment issues.

Daniels also reconnects with Mo’Nique, with whom he had a public falling out over financial expectations around promoting Precious. Mo’Nique won the best actress Oscar for that 2009 film.

“First of all, part of me trying to find my higher power [while working on this film] was also understanding what that meant,” Daniels tells The Hollywood Reporter. “And that meant forgiveness, that meant apologizing, even if I didn’t understand what I was apologizing for. I had to understand that she was hurt, and that is my sister, and that I love her.”

Joining Day and Mo’Nique onscreen in The Deliverance, which Daniels describes as a “faith-based thriller,” are Glenn Close, who stars as Alberta, Ebony’s mother who’s now found Jesus after not being the parent her daughter needed her to be as a child, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who portrays Reverend Bernice James.

“I was in a fantasy,” Daniels says of working with Ellis-Taylor. “To me, she represents the old school dolls. She represents Rosalind Cash. She represents Paula Kelly. She represents all those unspoken Black women that never got their credit. So many brilliant Black actors that I watched as a child. She has that old school soul that is giving them life. I get emotional because I love Black women, so it was really beautiful working with them.”

Addressing his initial reservations about bringing Ammons’ story to the screen, Daniels explains, “I had never heard of it before Precious. My producer who produced the first film that I had done — Tucker Tooley, we did Shadowboxer together — he gave it to me right after I did Precious. And I steered away from it for a couple of reasons. One, I felt that I didn’t want to do another story about abuse. This woman was abusing her kids — or what defines as abuse, because she was hitting the kids. And two, I know how I work. I’m an open portal. And I know what I demand. And I know the spirit works through me. So what kind of spirits do I want on me? So I was just like, “no, I’m not [going to do it].” But the story sort of sat with me for forever. We had never seen this story, through this lens of this African American woman, onscreen, and I just felt we’re in such dark times, and I don’t think people really know how dark of times we are in. And I felt like I needed to get reconnected to my higher power.”

Daniels appreciates Andra Day’s spirituality, which played a significant role in her casting as the lead. “When the battle happens [toward the end of the movie] and she’s speaking in tongues [the act of communicating in an unknown language that’s considered a divine gift], that was not rehearsed; that was not scripted. She started speaking in tongues. And I realized in that moment how powerful God is and how wonderful it was — I’m getting emotional talking about it — and how important it was to tell this, and why she was right for it. I knew that she always prayed on the set of Billie Holiday. I knew that she was really a devout Christian, and has always been teaching me, and praying for me and helping me learn how to pray better. And when she started speaking in tongues, the AD was like, “Okay, so wait, what? Can we cut?” I said, “No, no, no, no, no. Let it go until she wears herself out.”

Regarding reviews, Daniels firmly states, “Hell, no. How do you expect me to read or take seriously, for the most part, what white men who haven’t walked in my shoes, who haven’t been battered as a Black gay kid, who haven’t lived the HIV experience — they don’t have the lens, they don’t see the world the way I see the world as a Black man, as a queer man, so they will never understand my artistic vision. I used to take it seriously, but I can’t take it seriously anymore. Because if I do, then it reminds me of me being bullied as a kid. So, I can’t.”

Discussing his rekindled professional relationship with Mo’Nique, Daniels remarks, “Wasn’t that God working? First of all, part of me trying to find my higher power was also understanding what that meant. And that meant forgiveness, that meant apologizing, even if I didn’t understand what I was apologizing for. I had to understand that she was hurt, and that is my sister, and that I love her. And like, what is this about? You know what I mean? This is crazy. I love you, this is enough. So, not only am I going to apologize, but I’m going to apologize publicly to you, and we’re getting ready to work together. And then we’re going to work together again, how about that?”

On getting Glenn Close on board, Daniels says, “Black people know this woman. That’s part of the reason why I did it, because I know that we’ve never seen this white woman ever in this world, and that’s what I love about it. I love being fresh and original and provocative to our culture. But Glenn was trying [to understand] like, “Wait, so you want me to put on weight and then you’re gonna take these clothes in, and then what? And then baby hair, what?” But she did it. She’s a true thespian and it was just beautiful.”

When Daniels first saw Close after hair and makeup, he said, “I gagged on the floor and rolled over like a kid in a candy store, I was so happy. And she looked at me like, “what is this?” But Monique and Aunjanue and Andra really helped her with what body positivity was, and that was what she walked away with: that Black women have this sense of body positivity that she now can carry on through life. That was her life lesson on this movie. That’s Black women. And that’s, oh my God, that’s just a bigger gift than the film for me.”

Daniels briefly communicated with LaToya Ammons’ family during the early stages of the filmmaking process. “I did in the very beginning. [They were] so gracious. It’s my interpretation of her life story. I purposely didn’t want to meet her because I was nervous. But I spoke to her, I believe once or twice, in the beginning. And she’s lovely. She was at peace. What I’ve changed a little bit is I made her mother white because I have so many mixed-race friends and [I wanted to talk about] what it’s like to have a white mother and live in a Black girl’s body. And the deliverance person was actually a guy and not a girl. But there are so many women that do this work too, that don’t get recognized, so I changed that a little bit, and of course their names and such. I really wanted to separate as much as I could so I could make it my own story.”

The Deliverance is now playing in select theaters and streams on Netflix Aug. 30.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter