Your new film, "Lee Daniels' The Butler," stars Forest Whitaker as a man who was a domestic servant in the White House from the 1950s through the 1980s. What did you think when you learned that there are butlers who serve the president?
It goes back to kings and queens. There are servers, and there are people that are served. There's something contradictory about that in a democracy, certainly. But someone's got to take care of them, too. And thank God, or else I wouldn't have a movie.
Did the success of your film "Precious" help get this one made?
It was a rough journey getting this film financed because the studios didn't want to do it. They weren't interested in this film at the budget that we had. The president of one studio told me, "If you were a Jewish filmmaker and this was a film about the Holocaust, we wouldn't have this problem."
Meaning, because it's about a black character, it wouldn't attract a wide audience?
I think that's what she meant. I appreciate her honesty.
Do you think people expect you to make movies exclusively about the black experience?
I'm not going to be labeled a black filmmaker. I am not here to just tell black stories. I'm here to tell all kinds of stories, musicals and dramas. Could I do a spaceship movie or black people on Mars or whatever? Sure. A comedy? Yes.
The film raises the idea that black servants who do their job with dignity are, in a way, being subversive by undermining racial stereotypes. Do you agree with that?
I think that for that time, absolutely, it was correct, and even for now I think there is some truth in that. I come from a family of domestics. I think most African-Americans of my age do. They were trusted by their bosses. I have met so many white people that spent more time with their nannies than they have with their own parents.
In the film, John Cusack plays Nixon, Robin Williams plays Eisenhower and Jane Fonda plays Nancy Reagan. How did you approach casting these historical figures?
I want to bring as many white people in to see this story as possible, so I need them to connect to the stars in the movie. I wanted people in Oklahoma to see it, and Nebraska and Idaho. We really studied the pictures of the presidents and their first ladies to see who was right and, once we had that narrowed down, who was willing to work for Lee Daniels money.
Did you discuss the possibility of having Obama in the film?
Initially, the script had Obama in it, but I thought that would have been overkill. And we didn't even know whether we could get him. He was doing a campaign, and if they had heard he was doing a movie in the middle of a campaign — God knows. I was tempted to call Oprah to call the president, but I couldn't bring myself to ask her.
How did you get Oprah Winfrey, who plays Forest Whitaker's character's wife, to act in the film?
Oprah was a producer on "Precious," and we were looking for things to do. I sent her something that was my version of a black "Misery," where she plays this serial killer. And Oprah said, "Are you bonkers?" That didn't work, so we developed this role.
In "Precious," you cast Mariah Carey as a woman who had a very fine mustache, and what she suffers in "The Butler" is incalculably worse. Do you have something against her?
She would think! Mariah is a very special friend, and I enjoy torturing her. She's like my little sister. When we did "Precious," I said: "If you want this job, you'll show up with no one — not a soul, no entourage, nothing. There will be no makeup on you. None."
Your next project might be a movie about Janis Joplin. What drew you to her?
The fact that she didn't know that she was at the forefront of the women's-lib movement. Sometimes we don't know what we're doing when we're in it. And I'm fascinated that she was just doing her thing and making history doing her thing.
Is there a part for Mariah in that movie?
I'll find something!
INTERVIEW HAS BEEN CONDENSED AND EDITED.
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