(January 2009) - PCM's Kristyn had the opportunity
to sit in on a great conference call with actress Kimberly
Elise. She's starred in movies like Diary of A Mad Black
Woman, Beloved and The Manchurian Candidate.
Audiences will be able to see Elise's extraordinary
performance in the TNT presentation of Gifted Hands-The
Ben Carson Story opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. Elise is set
to play the role of Sonya Carson, a single mother who inspired
her son to study and work hard so that he could rise above
their inner-city roots, eventually becoming a world-renowned
pediatric neurosurgeon.
Check out the complete Q&A session that
we had with Kimberly and learn all about this upcoming film!
Gifted Hands will premiere on TNT on February 7 at 8:00
pm.
Q: What would you
say and feel it is about a story like Gifted Hands that
will resonate well with viewers?
Kimberly Elise: Well I think there's
a lot of things that are really identifiable. I'll speak
specifically about my character Sonya Carson, Ben's mother
being a single mother and battling mental illness and depression
in a time where there wasn't a lot of knowledge about it
and a lot of information and just having the courage to
go out and seek help for herself and knowing that she had
the responsibility of her children and work and realizing
that it was important to put herself first and take care
of her own health to take care of - to be able to take care
of her family.
I think that that's something that women
today, mothers today often have a hard time with putting
ourselves first and she sort of shows us how to do that
and that it's important and also I think it'll resonate
for people who are parents especially how important it is.
Education and reading and instilling those
values in our children and encouraging them to allow all
opportunities into their lives and that anything is possible.
And I think you know we've arrived into a day in our nation
and in our world where people are really inspired and really
believe that anything is possible and that anybody can achieve
anything and this story sort of validates that and I think
it'll sort of hit home with people.
Q: What kind of
preparation did you do for your role of Sonya, did you actually
go and meet Ben Carson?
Kimberly Elise: I actually got to
chat with his mother. And had you know a wonderful time
getting to know her and learning more about her background
and her child rearing philosophy and views on the world
and life and then also in one of his books she actually
wrote her own chapter, which really explores her marriage
and the tragedy there and her battle with depression and
mental illness and how she raised her boys, so I had a really
strong foundation going in.
Q: We were wondering
if being a mother yourself had any effect on how you approached
this movie and the role?
Kimberly Elise: Well I definitely
saw the value and then I could relate you know I'm a single
mother just like she is. And I'm raising two girls. She's
raising two boys and I definitely could understand and relate
to the challenges that come with that and the level of responsibility
we put on ourselves as the sole everything for our children.
And how overwhelming and scary that is sometimes,
but how you have to just persevere and be strong and keep
yourself healthy and physically, mentally, emotionally,
spiritually so that you can keep your children healthy and
I saw her doing that and the same for the things I have
to do every day with my own girls, and so I definitely connected
with her in that way.
Q: Is there anything that
you would say that makes filming, I know this is based on
a true story, is there anything that makes filming a true
story more challenging based on fiction, is there any more
added pressure to it?
Kimberly Elise: Well only self inflicted
pressure. You know I'm playing Ben Carson's mother of all
things. And so you know we're all very protective in want
our mothers well taken care of and so I'm you know I hold
that within myself and so I really wanted to do right by
her and she was so open in sharing her struggles and things
that could have been kept private and secret, she put out
there in a way to help other people and so I wanted to honor
that and just do right by her. And so every day I was conscious
of that and you know did a prayer every morning to you know
show the truth in the right way and honest way and in the
most respectful way.
