Kimberly Elise (“The Manchurian Candidate,” “John Q”) delivers a compelling, multi-layered performance as the troubled Michelle. Elise is simply astounding as she transverses a wide range of emotions while bringing Michelle to life onscreen.
In this interview, Kimberly Elise talks about getting into character, finding projects with depth, and the importance of “Woman, Thou Art Loosed.”
INTERVIEW WITH KIMBERLY ELISE ('Michelle'):
How familiar were you with the source material before working on the movie?
I wasn’t familiar at all. I’d actually never even heard of T.D. Jakes.
How did the script get to you?
Reuben Cannon sent it to me. I was at home in Minnesota – actually vacationing in Minnesota – and my agent sent me the script, and it came from Reuben. I read it and I just thought it was really amazing. I thought it was important and valuable and really relevant to some things going on in the world and life. I wanted to be a part of it so I said, “Yes, I’ll do it.”
When I read it I was like, “Wow, I wonder who will play this Bishop part?” I was calling a friend about what I was going to be working on and she was like, “As in T.D. Jakes?” I was like, “What do you mean?” She told me and then I went to the book store and saw all his books, and that’s how I discovered who T.D. Jakes was. I was pretty shocked. But I just believed in the project, the material, and what it was trying to do. So I didn’t know anything other than that.
Your characters are never just window dressing, they seem to always have depth. What do you seek out in a script?
Well, it’s not very interesting to me to just do fluffy, shallow stuff. That doesn’t help me grow as an artist. It doesn’t help me develop. My goal is to improve upon myself and challenge myself. If something on page is written one-dimensionally and I love the material, I’ll do it and try to make it three-dimensional. I'll try to make it more than what was originally intended. Directors and screenwriters appreciate that, if you can bring something even more to it than what was originally intended.
How involved was Bishop Jakes in helping you find and develop this character?
I didn’t really refer to him at all on that. We met once before we started shooting and that was just to rehearse our scenes. I really relied on the text and my own emotional base. Michelle sort of found her own voice and her own person. That’s generally how I do all my emotionally based work anyway.
Did you have anyone in your life that helped you relate to this character?
Well you know, we all know somebody who has been a victim of molestation whether we realize it or not. Nobody I know was specifically Michelle’s story, and couldn’t really lend help in that way. Everybody’s completely unique so I didn’t even look outside what was on the page to understand who Michelle was and make a choice on how she would be onscreen.
Is this the type of performance you take home with you at the end of the day?
You definitely take it home but the good part is that we shot the film in 12 days. Usually it takes three to four months. We did it in 12 days, which is crazy. But the good side of that was that she was only within me for 12 days. That wasn’t enough time for her to completely sort of inhabit and take over me 24 hours. Like in a film like “Beloved” playing Denver for six months, she definitely took over. It took me several weeks to let that go. But with this one, it was very fast and furious and I really had to be on my toes and be emotionally available immediately, constantly. It’s kind of a different thing.
It seems that short of a shooting schedule would add an additional amount of stress to performing.
For me, I sort of get into a zone. The good thing about being fast is that you don’t have time to get out of the zone. So I was able to stay within there and stay within Michelle and keep it flowing as we went through our days.
PAGE 2: Kimberly Elise on Tackling Difficult Subjects and Box Office News
