| By Elliot V. Kotek With the brilliant and controversial Monster's Ball, Lee Daniels became the first African-American sole producer of an Academy Award-winning film. Period. The ensuing blast of history registered by Halle Berry's win (the first by an African-American actress), Denzel Washington's receipt of his statuette and Sidney Poitier's lifetime achievement award had the night hailed as a marquee moment for black filmmakers. But despite the honor of Oscar and the film's profitability, Monster's failed to garner an NAACP Image Award, and saw the Renaissance man reproached by Daniels's familial fan-base. Defying the ensuing deal-makers who wooed him with mega-dollars and the deriders who suggested that Lee tackle more consumer-friendly issues, Daniels's subsequent film, The Woodsman, was no less controversial, creating audience empathy for Kevin Bacon's pedophilic character, winning awards at Cannes and prompting a post-Sundance bidding war among art-house distributors who rewarded the raw material. In the powerful and painterly Shadowboxer, which provokes its audience to ponder violence, love and the family unit in an innovative fashion certain to create discussion and discourse long after the final credits roll, Daniels takes the opportunity to make his directorial debut. Moving Pictures Magazine: It seems impossible to separate the influence of music from your films.
Lee Daniels: I can only bring my world into my films. How you keep cinema real is by bringing your reality and what you know to be your reality to the vision you're creating. My world is hip-hop; that's what I know and so I incorporate that into everything I work on. I'm classical and I'm R&B also, but I'm a strong believer in the voice of hip-hop. I put as much effort into my music as I do into the actors I work with. In one of the killing scenes in Shadowboxer, I even have hip-hop playing together with classical music in the background. Some people had issues with that, but I work with what my instincts tell me... In The Woodsman, I busted out James Brown. It's a really serious moment but Mr. Brown was speaking to me. The music is lyrical. MPM: And your use of musicians who act is also synonymous with your projects - Mos Def, Eve, Macy Gray, P. Diddy...
Lee Daniels: They're generally hungrier to prove that they're actors too, so you get more from them; they'll jump through bigger hoops for you. And they understand me; they understand my vernacular, and so it makes it easier for me. MPM: Macy Gray's been seen a lot lately [Lackawanna Blues, Domino]. What's her character in Shadowboxer like?
Lee Daniels: Macy's character is obsessed with sex and it's to her demise. [Laughs] And she's a revelation, a highlight of making this film. Macy also wrote some of the music. Originally I said I wasn't looking for her sound, but then she told me that she was classically trained. And her score for the film blew me away. The soundtrack features Jill Scott, N.E.R.D., Yo-Yo Ma... MPM: Shadowboxer stars Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding Jr., Stephen Dorff; The Woodsman (2004) showed off the talents of Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Mos Def, Eve; Monster's Ball (2001) had Halle Berry, Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Peter Boyle, P. Diddy. Given that you're making independent films, how can you draw such impressive talent to these projects?
Lee Daniels: It all starts with the script. It has to. Monster's Ball carved a niche for me as a specific kind of filmmaker. People enjoy working with me, and all egos are checked at the door. My projects are like a play - there's no money for special hair or make-up or trainer - and they enjoy that world of poverty. We'll run three or four takes of a shot if we're lucky, and people like that style, that pace. People were unhappy with me when I cast Halle; I got a lot of heat for that decision. But I cast people because they're perfect for the role. Sure, I realize that certain people are also going to fill seats, but Halle was perfect for that role, and P. Diddy was perfect for his role. I had opposition to Mos Def in The Woodsman, too; others said, "How can a black guy be a cop?" and I said, "Because they are cops!" In Shadowboxer, the [full-figured] comedienne Mo'Nique plays a crack addict who has an affair with a beautiful white man. People asked me, "Who would believe that?" But if you've walked the streets of New York or looked at the back pages of The Village Voice, you see that it's a reality. Sometimes it's a problem only because people don't want to accept things on screen as "normal." MPM: Couldn't you do pretty much anything you wanted after the financial and critical success of Monster's Ball?
Lee Daniels: When I finished Monster's Ball, people were offering me $2 million to produce one project, $1 million for another; but the stories didn't place people of color in roles in a positive way. I don't have to have messages in my films, but I have two kids and it's important for me to not sell out. New York is very expensive and I need the money, but I felt that if, on my way, I can continue to tell the truth, then ultimately my kids would be proud of me. When I gave producers the script for The Woodsman, they thought I was on crack. Why would I want to do this film? And despite everyone saying they wanted to work with me after Monster's, I felt like I was back where I started from, knocking on doors for cash.
MPM: And Roc-a-Fella/Roc-a-Wear mega-music producer Damon Dash stepped in?
Lee Daniels: Damon Dash helped me produce Shadowboxer, and he was also involved with The Woodsman. He gave me money at a time I needed it. It's bizarre how my world is so connected with the hip-hop world. MPM: You've been incredibly successful as a producer. Why change it up?
Lee Daniels: I did it to learn better how to work with my directors, because I'm so hard on them. I loved it. You don't get as much money as when you're producing and you work a lot harder, but inevitably I felt I wanted the story told a certain way. I'm going to direct again. After seeing Shadowboxer, Lenny Kravitz wants me to direct him in a project, so we're going to do a musical together. MPM: And your next project... your first to be filmed outside of Philadelphia?
Lee Daniels: Right. I'm producing Tennessee [set to star another major name in music (and jewelry) - Janet Jackson]. I'm excited about going away to do that. Given the title, I couldn't very well shoot it in PA. I do love shooting in Philly, though; the people are so incredible, so honest. And people from Philly have an incredible sense of style and sense of music. People forget that American Bandstand started there; Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle and lots of soul and R&B groups started there. Also, you know where you stand in Philly. If someone is a racist, then they'll tell you to your face. It's direct and honest; refreshingly and breathtakingly honest. Philly keeps me in line, keeps my ego in check, and I feel that I'm helping a lot of people who ordinarily wouldn't have help. I'm responsible for people I grew up with having a normal job. My sister is a casting director and works on my films with me, and it's great to see someone I grew up with who is not working at McDonald's or selling crack. As I get older, I notice my motivations turn further away from myself and towards my kids or towards a greater cause. MPM: Do your twins share your taste in tunes?
Lee Daniels: My son is scary. He listens to rap and I don't like it - I don't like the words. He's so innocent. I don't stop him because he'll hear it on the streets anyway. He does have a taste for Mozart and he can separate that from Sondheim and Muddy Waters, but he knows that I don't prefer rap so he's expressing himself that way. My daughter can sing really well, but I don't want them in the business if I can help it. MPM: And you're still doing the PSAs to encourage people of color to vote?
Lee Daniels: I work with Clinton; we do these PSAs and I really get off on it. My grandmother was a politician in Philadelphia and my mother marched with Martin Luther King - she got her teeth knocked out. I only found out about it because I was in L.A. or something and didn't vote, and I didn't think much of it, and my mother asked me if I'd voted and when I said no, she said, "I got my teeth knocked out for you to have this privilege." So now I guilt celebrities into participating: LL Cool J, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Puffy... Anyone I can get. MPM: The Festivale de Cannes takes place this May. You were there with The Woodsman - what was that experience like for you?
Lee Daniels: I don't know how to describe it. It was like it didn't happen to me; I blocked it out, as if it was almost impossible... especially when people have told you that you shouldn't be doing this film and mind-fuck you into thinking that you shouldn't be doing it. Then when you start getting awards for it, it's like dreams are happening. It was sort of depressing when Monster's wasn't recognized by the [NAACP] Image Awards. A lot of people had problems with the film. My family had problems with the film - they felt why portray this woman with this white man; something didn't work for them. MPM: Shadowboxer...
Lee Daniels: African Americans haven't identified with my work yet and it was important for me to make a film that they would identify with, so I went for a very specific look. This film is more thug, and Cuba Gooding Jr. appears in a way the audience has never seen before. I don't think you could have called him sexy in any of his previous roles; he is very sexy in this film. The film is violent, it's sexual in content, it's graphic... it feeds all one's primal needs. It's a thriller. It's a little ghetto, a little "Euro," a little homo... I knew exactly what I was doing when I shot this film... [The characters] come from a world that I understand. | 
