*Academy Award winner Mo’Nique sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter regarding the #OscarsSoWhite issue, and revealed the reason why she turned down the tradition of best actor winners returning the following year to present the same award for the opposite gender:
“Well, I don’t live in California, I live in Georgia, so I said, ‘Sure, I’ll do that. I don’t have a problem with tradition. However,’ and it actually was my husband having the conversation, ‘you will have to fly Mo’Nique and her team out and you would have to pay for her team — for hair and makeup and wardrobe — because that’s a night where there’s a lot of picture-taking and it’s TV.’ And they said, ‘That’s not something that we do. We don’t fly anyone in and pay for anyone and put anyone up.’ And we said, ‘We understand. But that’s not something we do either. We don’t pay out money to come on your program. We understand tradition but it’s our tradition that we can’t do it for free.’ They said they understood and there were no hard feelings and we said maybe one day down the road we can do business. That’s what it was.”
Asked if she is joining Will & Jada Pinkett Smith in boycotting this year’s ceremony over the lack of minority nominees, she said she wouldn’t, but wasn’t planning on watching the Oscars anyway. “Because growing up as a little girl, I didn’t see people like me getting that award,” she said.
THR: But you won one. Against all odds you got an Oscar. And like you said, you didn’t campaign for it. You got it for the strength of your performance.
MO’NIQUE: I think that there are some performances that happen in this movie industry that the people say, “You can’t deny that performance.” But when you say you won one, what does that mean, that I should always watch the Oscars because I won one?
THR: What if they paid to fly your family out too?
MO’NIQUE: I put my family before fame. When you read those [show business] biographies, a lot of them say, “I gave everything to the business and nothing to my family. So when I got to the end of my journey there was no family there nor was there the business.” I don’t want that to be my story. So it’s not just the Oscars — it’s any awards show. Now if someone calls and says, “We want to offer you a movie deal,” and it makes sense, then yes. Because it’s a financial benefit for my family. We do what we need to do but not for the sake of having my picture taken.
What work by black actors and filmmakers did you feel was egregiously overlooked by the Academy this year?
I don’t put that kind of value onto an award show. But Idris Elba’s performance in Beast of No Nation was amazing. Michael B. Jordan in Creed was amazing. All of the brothers that played N.W.A. in Straight Outta Compton were amazing. But their award and reward will come when they get the paychecks that go along with those performances. If you ask any talent — black, white, asian, latino — would you rather have: a trophy or the multimillion-dollar paycheck that goes along with your performance, which would you rather have?
I would take the money.
(Laughs.) Right! You would take the money.
But sometimes you can have the money and the Oscar. And sometimes the Oscar gets you the money.
I agree with you, that is the tradition. But who does it get the bigger paychecks for?
I guess you’re saying just white actors.
So when you say, “Well, like, I guess white actors,” let’s not take a guess. Who gets attached to the big paychecks? How many stories have you read that a black actress signed a multimillion-dollar movie deal after winning the Oscar?
Halle Berry’s done well for herself. And Denzel Washington gets paid millions of dollars.
I said black actresses. Denzel Washington was already a multimillion-dollar actor. Now you named Halle Berry. Name me another one.
I can’t.
(Laughs.) As my husband has said to me over and over again, he says, “Mama, it’s not that they’re bad people. They just haven’t had the conversations that allow them to think differently.” So when people ask me about Hollywood and racism, it’s not that there’s racism and they are horrible people. No. We’ve just been conditioned and it’s a tradition that it’s only been done this way.
Do you resent your Oscar?
Here’s the thing: Please don’t ever put words in my mouth or think that you know what I’m thinking. I’m grateful for every award where some people said, “We think you deserve this.” May it be Maxine Waters Preparatory School where 12 women who are getting their life back on track said, “Mo’Nique, we want to give you this plaque.” I’m grateful for every award I’ve ever been given. I have never been resentful about anything because that would say a lot about me. No, I don’t resent it. I am simply saying I haven’t received the big paychecks yet.
Read Mo’Nique’s entire THR interview here.
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