Precious’ might join “The C Word"0 comments

Gabourey Sidibe, who just had her acting debut in the film, “Precious," is now in negotiations for a part in the Showtime comedy pilot, “The C Word."

Laura Linney is the show’s star as John Benjamin Hickey ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen") and Phyllis Somerville ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button") are attached as regulars as well.  Sony TV and Original TV are producing the pilot together.

“The C Word" is about Cathy (Linney), a suburban wife, mother and a teacher forced to face a diagnosis of cancer but who manages to find the lighter side of a dark situation.  Hickey will play her brother and Somerville will be playing Linney’s neighbor.

Bill Condon is directing the pilot while Darlene Hunt, the show’s writer, is exec producing along with Neil Moritz, Vivian Cannon and Linney.

Sidibe is set to play a student in Cathy’s summer-school class.  The role could be recurring for the newcomer, whose breakthrough performance in “Precious" is creating Oscar buzz.

Sounds like a great cast and an interesting story line for a Showtime pilot.  And with all the Oscar talk about Sidibe, I will definitely check out “Precious" while it’s still in theaters.

Gabourey Sidibe Joins Zoë Kravitz In Indie Drama “Yelling To The Sky"

CLICK TO ENLARGE

News to me…

In addition to her role in the Showtime network TV pilot, The C-Word (which I wrote about HERE), Precious star Gabourey Sidibe is also co-starring in a feature-length film titled, Yelling To The Sky, written and directed by Victoria Mahoney.

The film, currently listed as being “in production," stars Zoë Kravitz (daughter of Lenny Kravitz), Tim Blake Nelson, and several others.

In short, the story goes… In a depraved NY neighborhood, the youngest of two mixed race sisters, Sweetness O’Hara (Zoë Kravitz), spends the better part of being seventeen navigating an identity between the known (a violent life of crime), and the unknown (a life of purpose and meaning).

Based on the film’s Facebook page, its screenplay has been the recipient of several accolades and acknowledgments, including its acceptance into the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters and Directors Labs, the annual Creative Producing Lab, the Mark Silverman Maryland Film Fellowship, and the presitigious Annenberg Film Fellowship grant for director Victoria Mahoney. Apparently, it’s a project that’s been in various stages of development since 2006, and now appears to be in front of cameras.

Prominent African American author, Walter Mosley is listed as an executive producer.

So, by all accounts, this sounds like a project to take note of, from henceforth, and I most certainly will do so.

And given its Sundance “roots," I’ll fully expect it to make its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, likely the next installment, in January 2010.

The above photo is one of several behind-the-scenes photos from the film shoot; in it is director Mahoney, Kravitz, and Sidibe. CLICK HERE for more images.

Stay tuned…