Gabourey Sidibe burst on the scene in 2009 as the titular star of Lee Daniels’ Precious, a film based on the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. As a then unknown actress, she commanded the screen with the ease of a seasoned pro, so much so, she was rewarded with an Academy Award nomination for her big screen debut.
In that film, Sidibe’s character, Claireece “Precious” Jones, lived a very troubled life mired in physical and sexual abuse; however, it was the emotional abuse her character endured that exemplified art imitating life, particularly where her size is concerned. Despite moving on to films like Tower Heist (opposite Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy) and landing small screen roles in television series including “The Big C,” “American Horror Story” and her current role on the FOX hit “Empire,” her frame is still often a focal point, resulting in merciless teasing, including still being mockingly referred to as “Precious.”
In her new (and first) book, This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare, Gabourey Sidibe discusses her life growing up in New York and her rise to fame as a movie and television star. While the book does show off her humorous side, including stories about her first job as a phone sex operator, she also gets deeply personal when she shares her experiences with “celebrity, haters, fashion, race, and weight,” her struggles with bulimia, and having undergone weight loss surgery.
Recently, as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival, the award-winning actress was in the Windy City to chat about the book; the session, moderated by Chicago-based writer Britt Julious, was Sidibe at her best: interactive, engaging, and witty.
When she decided to write the book, she didn’t initially plan to take a biographical approach. “When I started writing it, I didn’t intend on it being a memoir at all; I really thought it was going to be a collection of essays,” she told the Chicago crowd. “I decided to write what mattered to me.”
Sidibe, a gifted storyteller, more than entertained the audience with topics including her love affair with [Black] Twitter, casual, on-the-street encounters with fans, and her friendship with director Lee Daniels; however, things took a more serious tone when she talked about her battles with depression.
For her, it was important to include this subject matter in her book. “I wrote about depression because it was a huge deal to me. I had actually been showing signs of depression since I was nine years old but everyone ignored it.” She went even further by discussing African-Americans and mental illness, a topic that has long been taboo.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health reported that, “African Americans are 20% more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population.”
The notion of “suffering in silence” is all too familiar to Sidibe as she asserted, “Depression is a real thing for all of us—for every human being regardless of gender or sexuality or race.” She added, “But for some reason, I think in the Black community, it’s hard to wrap your head around being sick with something that you can’t see.” Knowing something was “medically wrong” with her, she took her mental health into her own hands and eventually got the help she needed.
Sidibe hilariously and candidly engaged the audience throughout the evening and judging by the long line of fans who eagerly waited for her to sign their copy of her book, a follow-up to This Is Just My Face might not be too far behind.
LaShawn Williams is a freelance writer and editor from Chicago, Illinois. She is an arts and entertainment enthusiast who has a serious thing for stand-up comedy, music and dance. Follow her on Twitter:@MsWilliamsWorld.
