Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making of “Akeelah and the Bee”
Angela’s Inspiration
You may remember that Angela’s character, Akeelah’s mom Tanya, wasn’t always so likeable. There were a lot of times where she attempted to stand in the way of Akeelah’s dream as a way to try to protect her. Though she eventually came around, she explained, in an interview with NPR, that it wasn’t hard for her to tap into this character, a woman who was struggle to provide and protect her children.
When I was making the movie, I had as an inspiration, my mom. She was a single parent, my sister and I, growing up in the housing projects. So she put down certain edicts. And it seemed strong at the time. She’d cut out every extracurricular, she’d cut out all the fun until you did what was your job, which was to get your studies. So I took as an inspiration for Tanya, my mom.
