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Lonette McKee

Lonette McKee, who played “Sister Williams” in the original version of the film Sparkle, gave an interview to Ebony.com in which she discussed the remake, her role or lack thereof in it, and her thoughts on the state of Black cinema in Hollywood.

Excerpts below:

EBONY: After all these years why do you think Sparkle still resonates with audiences today?

LM: It was a project where all the elements aligned to create a classic and that’s what happens with quality projects. We don’t have a whole lot of quality projects made, especially for Black films.

EBONY: Were you involved in the remake?

LM: Nope.

EBONY: Would you have liked to have been involved in the project?

LM: Let’s put it this way, if they contacted me I would have been there for them and shown up. But it doesn’t matter to me whether they called or didn’t. I don’t care. I got my own projects going on. One of our original producers is doing the remake so it is in very good hands and Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil are fabulous. They didn’t need us hanging around their set.

EBONY: After Sparkle, many pinned you to be the breakout star to reach mainstream success. However in a People Magazine interview you stated that after the film’s success you went “wild” and “experimented with coke for a year.” Do you attribute that period with affecting the direction of your career?

LM: I have a whole theory about people that make it or do something really big when they are in their early 20’s. First of all people are not fully developed in their early 20’s. None of us have a real grip on our own lives and our own personalities. So [my career] after Sparkle,wasn’t a product of my own doing as much it was a commentary on the state of where Black projects have been since then and still are today. Everybody said I would break out, but you can’t break out unless you’re offered decent film roles. The only roles I was offered is girlfriends and wives. Nobody came to me with projects as strong as theSparkle character. Plus I started out in the music industry and that was always my first love. I thought I’d make it as a musician like Alicia Keys. I was Alicia Keys before Alicia Keys but there wasn’t a place for me at the time in the industry. They didn’t know if I was a singer, writer, musician or actor. I said ‘Why can’t I do all of it?’ In that time they said ‘make up your mind.’ So my career went back and forth between the music scene and what few acting roles they were offering Black folks.

EBONY: Have you noticed any progress with the state of Black films since then?

LM: I’ve seen some progress because people like me capable of writing and that are multifaceted are writing now and wanting to direct their own film projects. I am fundraising for the film I wrote called “Dream Street,” which is a beautiful ensemble character driven dramatic film. But the real travesty is that it is still primarily funded by big corporate white money and they are still just as racist and just as reluctant to fund intelligent Black product as they were 30 years ago. So in that respect not much has really changed.

You can read the interview in full over at EBONY.com.

(The views contained herein are solely the views of their respective authors, and do not express the views of TV One. TV One does not take responsibility for their content.)