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BLACKBIRD (2014): MO’nique cast In Patrik-Ian Polk Directed Drama Film

MO’nique

MO’Nique cast in Patrik-Ian Polk‘s drama Blackbird. Nearly four years since she took home an Oscar for her devastating performance in Precious, Mo’Nique makes her first onscreen appearance in the new independent film, Blackbird.

We haven’t seen much of Mo’Nique following her awards sweep in 2009 and many have speculated she’s been passing on roles until the next Precious-like role comes along. We wondered how long we’d wait to see the actress again. Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over! It was announced earlier this week that Mo’Nique has joined the Patrik-Ian Polk directed film Blackbird as both an executive producer and star.

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Mo’Nique, a comedy veteran best known for her work in “The Parkers” and “Moesha” early on in her career, stunned critics and audiences everywhere with her tour de force performance of a child-abusing mother in Precious. Her performance would earn her numerous awards including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and an Independent Spirit Award. Precious, an independent feature directed by Lee Daniels, premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival – a fitting venue for this latest endeavor.

Like her “terrible mother” role in Precious, Mo’Nique plays another mother who isn’t going to be winning any “Mother of the Year” awards; an unsupportive mother to her young gay son in a small Southern Baptist community. An adaptation of the 2006 coming-of-age novel by Larry Duplechan, Blackbird is the story of Randy Rousseau (played by newcomer Julian Walker), a 17-year-old star singer in the church choir who struggles with his high school “misfit” status and recent sexual awakening and realization he is gay. The tight-knit Mississippi town with its religiously-conservative community is backdrop to a series of unfortunate events that only become more complicated with the sudden disappearance of his younger sister, resulting in the dissolve of his parents’ marriage. Mo’Nique plays the grief-stricken mother who blames her son’s sexuality for her daughter’s disappearance. We’re definitely in Precious territory.

Mo’Nique executive produces the film with husband, Sidney Hicks, through Hicks Media. Of the project, Hicks had this to say, “Blackbird is a film about the choices people are forced to make as they struggle to figure out how to be themselves,” Hicks continued. “And why should just being who you are be a struggle? Since Mo’Nique won the Oscar, we have received a flood of scripts, but nothing captured our attention until Isaiah — who we have a high level of respect for — sent us Blackbird. We became instant fans of Patrik-Ian Polk and knew we had to get behind this important film.”

If Mo’Nique’s follow up performance is anything like its predecessor; I’m definitely stoked to see it!

Tell us what you think of Mo’Nique’s return to the big screen below in the comments section below. For more Blackbird photos, videos, and information, visit our Blackbird Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, and “like” us on Facebook.

Source: IMDB

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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