Mo'Nique

Mo'Nique

Mo'Nique at the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 23, 2010.
Born Monique Angela Imes
(1967-12-11) December 11, 1967
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other names Myelle Kaye
Occupation Actress, comedian, talk show host, author
Years active 1999–present
Spouse(s) Mark Jackson (m. 1997–2001)
Sidney Hicks (m. 2006)
Children 4
Website moniqueworldwide.com

Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes, previously Jackson; born December 11, 1967),[1][2] known professionally as Mo'Nique, is an American comedian and actress. She first gained fame for her role as Nicole "Nikki" Parker in the UPN series The Parkers while making a name as a stand-up comedian hosting a variety of venues, including Showtime at the Apollo. Mo'Nique transitioned to film with roles in such films as Phat Girlz, and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. In 2002, she with other female comedians earned a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.

In 2009, she received critical praise for her role as the abusive Mary Lee Johnston in the film Precious and won numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She hosted The Mo'Nique Show, a late-night talk show that premiered in 2009 on BET; it was cancelled in 2011. In 2015, she received rave reviews for her performance as Ma Rainey in the HBO biopic Bessie and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Early life

Mo'Nique was born in Baltimore, Maryland,[1] the daughter of engineer Alice Imes and drug counselor Steven Imes Jr.[3] She is the youngest of four children: sister Millicent is her personal assistant; brother Steve is her manager. Mo'Nique graduated from Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County in 1985[4] and attended Morgan State University.[5] She is a 1987 graduate of the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland.[6]

Before she was an actress, Monique worked as a customer service representative at the phone company MCI in Hunt Valley, MD.[7] She got her start in comedy at the downtown Baltimore Comedy Factory Outlet, when her brother Steve dared her to perform at an open mic night.

During a 2008 Essence magazine interview, Mo'Nique revealed that she was sexually abused by her brother Gerald from ages 7–11; he went on to sexually abuse another girl and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. After her twin boys were born in 2005, Mo'Nique cut off all contact with Gerald. On April 19, 2010, he admitted on Oprah to sexually abusing her over several years. He himself was abused by family members and struggled with substance abuse.[8]

Career

Television roles

Mo'Nique portrayed Nicole "Nikki" Parker on the UPN television series The Parkers from 1999 to 2004. She was featured on many leading stand-up venues such as Showtime at the Apollo, Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam, and Thank God You're Here. Monique tackles race issues in her stand up routines, for instance at the Montreal Just For Laugh Festival in 2000: white and black people, we're just mad at each other, we don't know why we're mad at each other. We're not each other's enemy. We're not the enemy. It's the Chinese people we need to watch out for”.[9]

She was also named hostess of Showtime at the Apollo. She is currently the hostess and executive producer of Mo'Nique's Fat Chance, a beauty pageant for plus-sized women, on the Oxygen cable network. She hosted the first season of Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School on VH1, where she crowned Saaphyri as the winner.

Mo'Nique's 2007 documentary I Coulda Been Your Cellmate!, focuses on incarcerated women. In interviews with individual women, she touches on the common factors that bring many women into the penal system. The documentary was related to her filming a comedy special at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, also known as The Farm. In 2007, Mo'Nique had a guest-starring role on the hit television series Ugly Betty as L'Amanda, Mode's weekend security guard.

Mo'Nique starred in The Mo'Nique Show, her own late-night talk show. Taped in Atlanta, the show premiered October 5, 2009, on BET.[10]

Film and video career

Mo'Nique has had a number of supporting roles in film. She appeared in the 2008 comedy film, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins with Martin Lawrence. She has had roles in Beerfest, 3 Strikes, Two Can Play That Game, Half Past Dead, and Garfield: The Movie, in which she voiced a CGI character but her role was cut from the movie. She also appeared in Soul Plane.

In 2005, Mo'Nique played a significant role in the Tony Scott bounty hunter thriller Domino, co-starring Keira Knightley and Mickey Rourke. In 2006, Mo'Nique was cast as the lead in Phat Girlz, a comedy about an aspiring plus size fashion designer struggling to find love and acceptance. The film was met with lukewarm response from critics and fans. It did earn back its $3 million production cost in its first weekend of release.[11]

She was featured in soul singer Anthony Hamilton's video "Sista Big Bones", the second single from his Ain't Nobody Worryin' album. She plays the role of a beautiful plus sized woman whom Anthony secretly admires because she has always loved herself.

Mo'Nique hosted the 2003 and 2004 BET Awards and appeared as the host again for the 2007 BET Awards. She received positive responses in July 2004 with her opening performance of Beyoncé's single "Crazy in Love"; as well as in 2007 by performing her "Déjà Vu".

Mo'Nique claimed on the January 28, 2008, Oprah Winfrey Show that Martin Lawrence gave her invaluable advice about show business: "He pulled me to the side and he said, 'Listen, don't ever let them tell you what you can't have.' Since that day, I've made some of the best deals I've ever made in my career because it keeps ringing in my head. ... It will stay with me forever."[12]

In 2009, Mo'Nique appeared in the film Precious, directed by Lee Daniels, portraying an inner-city teenager's abusive mother. She won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for her critically acclaimed performance in the film. The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) awarded Mo'Nique with the Best Supporting Actress Award in December 2009. They also announced that Mo'Nique received the AAFCA's first ever unanimous vote in an acting category. Moreover, she received "Best Supporting Actress" awards from the Stockholm International Film Festival, the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Online, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Utah Film Critics Association, the Detroit Film Critics Society, the Indiana Film Critics Association, the Online Film Critics Society, the National Society of Film Critics Awards, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the Critics Choice Awards. Time magazine ranked Mo'Nique's outstanding performance as the "Best Female Performance of 2009," beating performances by Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Carey Mulligan, Julianne Moore and Marion Cotillard. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, beating Penélope Cruz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick along with a Golden Globe Award, beating Penélope Cruz, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick and Julianne Moore, a Screen Actors Guild Award, Independent Spirit Award, and the BAFTA Award.[13][14][15][16]

In November 2009, Mo'Nique said, "I own the rights to Hattie McDaniel's life story, and I can't wait to tell that story, because that woman was absolutely amazing. She had to stand up to the adversity of black and white [society] at a time when we really weren't accepted. Mr. Lee Daniels is going to direct it, of course, and I'm going to be Miss Hattie McDaniel. I really hope I can do that woman justice."[17]

In 2014, Mo'Nique stars in Patrik-Ian Polk's drama film Blackbird as Claire Rousseau.

Theater

Mo'Nique's first play was Eve Ensler's Obie Award-winning production of The Vagina Monologues, in March 2002. Mo'Nique, along with Ella Joyce (Roc); Wendy Raquel Robinson (The Steve Harvey Show and The Game) and Vanessa Bell Calloway (What's Love Got to Do with It), were the first all black celebrity cast to perform The Vagina Monologues. Executive produced by YYP & Associates, LLC, the show was Executive Produced and Directed by noted theater producer/director, Yetta Young, and Co-Produced by Kellie R. Griffin, Lisa D. Washington and Anita M. Cal.

Books and radio

Mo'Nique is the author of the best-selling book Skinny Women Are Evil: Notes of a Bigg Girl in a Small-Minded World. She also released a 2006 cookbook called Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted.

Mo'nique was part of the Washington, DC, WHUR radio show with George Wilborn.

In 2006 she occasionally filled in for afternoon personality Michael Baisden when his contract with ABC Radio was in the process of getting renewed.[18]

In 2008, Radio One inked a deal for her to get her own radio show, Mo'Nique In the Afternoon (or The Mo'Nique Show) which premiered on several Radio One-owned Urban Adult Contemporary-formatted R&B/soul radio stations in July 2008. It mainly aired on those stations that had a local lineup as some Radio One stations did not carry it due to their contracts with Michael Baisden. The show lasted until March 18, 2009, when Mo'Nique decided to leave to "further her career in television, film, and comedy."[19]

Personal life

Mo'Nique and husband Sidney Hicks attending the 82nd Academy Awards.

Mo'Nique was briefly engaged to accountant Kenny Mung.[20]

From 1997-2001 she was married to Mark Jackson and was credited as Monique Imes-Jackson. They have a son named Shn Jackson.

Mo'Nique gave birth to twin sons Jonathan and David [21] in October 2005, which was 2 months early. In 2006 she married their father, Sidney Hicks. In a New York Times profile, she mentions that she and Hicks have an open marriage:

We have an agreement that we'll always be honest, and if sex happens with another person, that's not a deal breaker for us, that's not something where we'll have to say, 'Oh God, we've got to go to divorce court because you cheated on me.' Because we don't cheat.[22]

She repeated this view later on the January 28, 2008 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. She told Oprah that in her prior marriages, she was constantly searching for "that extra oomph".[23] Mo'Nique explained, "When I said I had an open marriage, people automatically jumped to sex. They automatically went there. But I've been best friends with my husband since we were 14 years old. When we say open, we're very honest. There are no secrets. Oftentimes you have people that are married, but they're strangers, and we refuse to be those people".[24] She concluded, "I've had to sneak and I've had to lie, and I don't want to do that any more. But my husband is so awesome and so fine and so—oh, girl....No other man can compare".[24]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000
3 Strikes Dahlia
2001
Baby Boy Patrice
Two Can Play That Game Diedre Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
2002
Half Past Dead Twitch's Girl
2004
Soul Plane Jamiqua Nominated — BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Box Office Movie
Hair Show Peaches Nominated — BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Theatrical Film
Garfield: The Movie Rat Role deleted in final cut of the film
2005
Shadowboxer Precious
Domino Lateesha Rodriquez
2006
Farce of the Penguins Vicky Voice
Irish Jam Psycho
Phat Girlz Jazmin Biltmore
Beerfest Cherry
2008
Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins Betty
2009
Steppin: The Movie Aunt Carla
Precious Mary Lee Johnston Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actress
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Bravest Performance Award
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Unforgettable Moment
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
BET Award for Best Actress
Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
Indiana Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
International Online Film Critics' Poll Award for Best Supporting Actress
Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the Year
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actress
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Stockholm Film Festival Award for Best Actress
Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Acting
Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Village Voice Film Poll – Best Supporting Actress
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble
Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated — Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — International Cinephile Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Nominated — St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Favorite Scene
Nominated — Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated — Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
Nominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
2014
Blackbird Claire Rousseau
About Barbara
2016 A Meyers Christmas Filming

Television

Title Year Role Notes
Moesha
19992000
Nicole "Nikki" Parker Season 4, Episode 18 "It Takes Two"
Season 4, Episode 22 "I Studied Twelve Years for This?"
Season 6, Episode 8 "The Candidate"
The Hughleys
2001
Nicole "Nikki" Parker Season 3, Episode 15 "Forty Acres and a Fool"
The Proud Family
2002
Boonnetta Voice;
Season 2, Episode 5 "Behind the Family Lines"
Good Fences
2003
Ruth Crisp Television film
Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television

Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

The Bernie Mac Show
2004
Lynette Season 3, Episode 16 "Who's That Lady"
The Parkers
19992004
Nicole "Nikki" Parker Lead role;
110 episodes
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005)

Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (2003)
Nominated — BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rugrats
2006
Aunt Moo Direct-to-DVD episode "Tales from the Crib: Three Jacks and a Beanstalk"
Nip/Tuck Evetta Washington Season 4, Episode 8 "Conor McNamara"
Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School
2007
Host/Herself 11 episodes
The Game Plus Size Actress Season 2, Episode 1 "Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Redux"
The Boondocks Jamiqua Voice;
Season 2, Episode 1 "...Or Die Trying"
Ugly Betty L'Amanda Season 2, Episode 8 "I See Me, I.C.U."
The Mo'Nique Show
20092011
Host/Herself 2 seasons - 251 episodes
Love & Hip Hop
2014
Host/Herself Season 4 Reunion Special - 2 episodes
Bessie
2015
Ma Rainey Television film
Pending - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated — Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries
Nominated — Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Movie or Miniseries
Nominated — Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Ensemble in a TV Moviee or Miniseries
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

References

  1. 1 2 "Mo'Nique: Biography – Actor, Executive Producer, Voice – Variety Profiles". Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
  2. Fernandez, Sofia M. (August 1, 2011). "'Mo'Nique Show' Put on Indefinite Hiatus". The Hollywood Reporter.
  3. John-Hall, Annette (2006-04-08). "Proudly 'phat' actress has a new, plus-sized role". AZ Central.com. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  4. "monique imes Milford Mill High School/Academy ‘85 BALTIMORE, MD". classmates.com. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
  5. Crockett, Sandra (1994-11-19). "Comedian has fine time just being Mo'Nique Laughing out LOUD". The Sun. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  6. "Broadcasting Institute of Maryland". Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  7. The Oprah Winfrey Show, Interview with the cast of Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. Original air date January 28, 2008.
  8. "Mo'Nique's Brother, Gerald Imes, Apologizes to Precious Star for Sexual Abuse - ABC News". ABC News. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  9. "Montreal Just For Laugh Festival 2000".
  10. BET Coming Soon Monique Show Official Page
  11. "Bottom 100". IMDb.com.
  12. "Martin Lawrence's Advice to Mo'Nique". Oprah.com. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  13. "The Hurt Locker Schools An Education, Avatar at Brit-Snubbing BAFTAs". E Online..
  14. "2009 Supporting Actress". The Film Experience.
  15. "OSCAR PREDICTION CHARTS". InContention.com. February 23, 2009.
  16. "Will Sandra Bullock, Mo'Nique Meet Their New Man, 'Oscar'". LexiB..
  17. Ben; Walters (2009-11-15). "Comic Mo'Nique takes dramatic turn in "Precious"". The Hollywood Reporter / Reuters.
  18. "Monique To Fill In For Michael Baisden". All Access. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  19. "Syndicated Personality Mo'Nique to End Mo'Nique Show". Radio Online. Archived from the original on March 17, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  20. Yarbrough, Marti (November 11, 2002). "Actress and comedienne Mo'Nique of the Parkers talks about her: career new book `Skinny Women are Evil' new fiance". JET Magazine.
  21. "Mo'Nique a New Mom Again – of Twins". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  22. Lee, Felicia R. (2007-08-05). "Luckily, There's Plenty of Her for Everybody". New York Times. p. 2.
  23. Sheri Salata (Producer). (Jan 28, 2008). The Oprah Winfrey Show. Chicago: Harpo Productions, Inc.
  24. 1 2 "Mo'Nique on her open marriage.". Oprah.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-31. Retrieved January 28, 2008.

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