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Today, comedian Mo’Nique celebrates her 51st birthday. In the time she’s been in the industry, she’s shaken things up. She broke paradigms for the type of leading ladies we saw in television and film. Then she flipped it again, becoming a dramatic actress, winning a full Oscar. And since then, Mo’Nique has found herself a huge topic of conversation with the opinions she shares in the public space. Check them out on the following pages.
Health and exercise
I want women to see, especially us big women, that you don’t have to let them cut you and suck it out. You don’t have to let them staple you up. You don’t have to let them give you a pill. You don’t have to let them put a band around your organs. If you just put the work in, baby, I promise you, it comes off.
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Life After The Oscar
How did the Oscar change my life? What it did was that it gave me a new reality. And it let me know that an award wasn’t going to change my life – that I had to be in control of changing my life.
Why The Image Award Meant More
“That experience was amazing and I always understand why people say ‘Academy Award-winning’ because it’s conditioning and we believe that that Academy Award is the be all, end all.
“To me, it wasn’t the Oscar. For me, it was the Image Award because as a little girl who watched the Oscars, I didn’t see people who looked like me. So my dream never was getting an Oscar. But when I watched the Image Awards and I saw those women that looked like me getting called up on that stage, I said: ‘one day, baby, they gone call my name for that award.’ It was that award that made me feel like dreams do come true.”
Her Response To Lee Daniels Telling Her To Shut Up
Her discussion with Larissa (aka Bootz) from “Flavor of Love” and “Charm School”
“And the reason I’m having this conversation with you is because not too long ago, Mo’Nique was Larissa. And somebody had to dig in my ass repeatedly and said, ‘Listen little girl, grow up! Cuz you walking around with a chip on your shoulder and life will whip your ass if you keep acting like that.’ And I’ma still stand strong on it. Grow up. Know what you’re talking about before you start talking. Now, you done pissed me off.”
Confronting Charlamagne On His Lack of Support For Black Women
Speaking about big women as sexual beings
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Doing What’s Right
I come from a blue-collar town – and being from that place, you learn not to let anybody take advantage of you. You don’t let people mistreat you. You stand up for what’s right.
