Funny, Fat and Fabulous: Unique Mo’Nique’s New Movie Role

Big, beautiful and loving it, award winning actress and comedian Mo’Nique Imes offers no apologies for her bold and sassy attitude. A Baltimore native who took to the stage 16 years ago on a dare from her brother, she’s come a long way from the comedy circuit. The actress who credits her big break as the day she quit a dead end job to pursue her dream says she hasn’t had it easy and was initially snubbed by agents and producers for various television and movie roles.

Mo’Nique and son Shalon. Photo: Shola Orol

“I had one agent who told me that I wouldn’t get any roles until I lost weight,” claims the actress who eventually landed a staring role on the hit television series ‘The Parkers’ and made history as the first female host of the nationally televised program, ‘Showtime at the Apollo.’ A role model for voluptuous women everywhere, she also penned the best-selling book ‘Skinny Women are Evil’ which became a New York Times bestseller in 2003. Her full-figured beauty pageant show ‘Mo’Nique’s F.A.T. (fabulous and thick) Chance’ on Oxygen Media became the highest-rated show in cable network’s history earning her an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Variety Special. The host of ‘Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School’ for VH1, Mo, as she’s affectionately known can be seen staring opposite Martin Lawrence in the hilarious comedy “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” where she plays his sassy and sexually charged sister Betty.

SOP: You are an extremely funny comedian who is equally and consistently personable at all times. What I love most about your character Betty Jenkins is that she seems to be borderline psychotic and can be mean and vicious – which is a far cry from the real Mo. Can you talk about how you see this role?

MO: I think Betty Jenkins is very real and that’s why she’s very relatable. We all have that one aunt in the family whom you love dearly but you’re nervous when she comes over cause you know she’s going to tell it and that’s who Betty Jenkins is. There have been times that I’ve been Betty Jenkins and I think she is very real to most especially to me for I know that character very well. She only jumps if you jump at her and if you lay into her she won’t hold back. She’s always ready for it and we all have one like that and mine is my aunt Joan. Once she had a drink in her hand and she fell down the steps, but did not spill her drink. Her knee was busted up, but when she got up she sipped and said ‘I ‘m all right — that’s my Betty Jenkins.

SOP: A lot of your previous roles are usually the funny, fat and fabulous girlfriend, sister or aunt. If, as you say, that most of your roles are similar where does the challenge come from?

MO: Anytime they say ‘action’ there’s the challenge. It comes when you think of Hattie McDaniel and all the black women that came before me because I am still walking here with my head up honoring what they did for me to get me here. The thing that I really take pride in when I play those roles is that Mo’Nique appreciates being sexy. Even at 250 pounds she appreciates being a sexy woman. I am always so proud when you see a fat girl doing it all and doing anything. I so appreciate when you stop looking at me and the character as fat. In this movie you just look at the character and fall in love with Betty Jenkins.

SOP: This is your first time working with director Malcolm D. Lee (Spike Lee’s cousin). What is he like as a director and how much improvisation versus ad-lib were you allowed as a comedian in this project?

MO: We are all professionals and we knew that Malcolm Lee was being looked at carefully. He’s a young black director and we wanted to respect that and we didn’t want to allow our play to interfere with his work so we all knew when we could play and when to say okay, it’s not costing money. It takes a great director to know how to steer that and to know how to work with that type of comedic talent and there were so many of us so that says a lot for Malcolm. It’s really hard for comedians to rehearse. It’s hard for me to practice. You have to say ‘let’s go’ and for me Malcolm Lee was brilliant with that. He knew that he couldn’t rehearse these people too much because this is already their world. They are already funny people.

SOP: In this movie Martin Lawrence plays a huge TV star that returns home after a nine year absence and gets a reality check on his assumed celebrity status by his family. Have you ever had a moment when you were told you’re not a celebrity or put in your place by your family members or friends?

MO: I am not a celebrity. I will let you make that determination because I never want to have that moment when I have to be reminded who I am for real, so I have people around me who will quickly say; ‘where are you going with this?’ I don’t like saying I am a celebrity. I am Mo’Nique. What you think of me is up to you so that way it will never put me in that place of being put back in my place.

SOP: This movie is being released in February during Black history Month. With a wealth of information out there and schools and colleges adding African history to their curriculum do you think Black History month is still relevant?

MO: Black history month has a lot of trickery to it and it’s such an insult that you give us only 28 of our history. When will we talk about history 100 years from now? Only in February? Black History Month needs to be every month because without us there is no history. It’s important for us not to accept it as just February and to teach us about us all the time.

SOP: What was it like working with Martin Lawrence?

MO: Martin Lawrence is the absolute professional. He is a leader and a great movie comes from the leader. He’s funny all the time.

‘Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins’ releases in theaters Feb. 8th

Monique and Martin Lawrence in movie “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins”. Photo: Universal Pictures

Visit www.blackflix.com for a full review.