Carey drops the diva act
Lee Daniels had so much faith in Mariah Carey’s acting that when the director’s first choice to play a dowdy, no-nonsense social worker – Oscar-winner Helen Mirren – backed out, he quickly asked Carey to step in.
But Daniels was well aware that in hiring Mariah Carey the actress, he was also likely to get Mariah Carey the diva – a high-maintenance sideshow that would include an entourage of makeup artists, assistants, publicists and other hangers-on, running counter to the energy he wanted the superstar to exude in his searing drama “Precious.” He had cast her as the lead in last year’s film “Tennessee.”
So, as he gave her the role, he also issued a warning: Leave the diva act at home.
“If you come with a strip of makeup on,” he recalls telling her, “I will have a backup (actress).”
“I knew that she would be out of her safety zone, and I knew that there would be no one for her to rely on, to say, ‘Get me this, get me that,’ ” he said. “I could see in her eyes – ‘What is Lee doing to me?’ But I knew that she trusted me.”
By putting her faith in Daniels, Carey – who famously flopped in her movie debut “Glitter” in 2001 – may have finally proven to critics that formidable talent extends to more than just her voice. She’s garnered high praise for her turn in the film, which is being released nationwide on Nov. 6.
But more importantly for Carey, the role helped her shed some of the insecurities that not only hindered her in acting, but in real life.
“That was such a freeing experience for me,” Carey says during a recent interview. “By making me look so bad he brought out the ability to never be self-conscious again, and that was a gift that he gave me.”
After years of striving to reach an ideal – from her personal life to her music career – Carey, 39, is embracing life’s imperfections, an attitude summed up by the title of her latest album, “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.”
Producer Tricky, responsible for hits like Rihanna’s Grammy-winning “Umbrella,” was one of the main writers and producers of the “Memoirs,” along with Carey and The-Dream. Tricky says Carey is “is kind of letting people know, I’m not this perfect angel.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Ron Leibman is 72. Country singer Gene Watson is 66. David Morse (“St. Elsewhere”) is 56. Stephen Spinella (“24”) is 53. Joan Cusack is 47. Michael J. Nelson (“Mystery Science Theater 3000”) is 45. Luke Perry is 43. Actor Artie Lange (“MADtv”) is 42. Jane Krakowski (“30 Rock,” “Ally McBeal”) is 41. U-God of Wu-Tang Clan is 39. MC Lyte is 38. Singer NeeNa Lee is 34. Emily Deschanel (“Bones”) is 33. Michelle Trachtenberg (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Inspector Gadget”) is 24.