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Mo’nique recently made waves when she revealed that former colleague and friend Lee Daniels admitted to her that she had been blackballed by Hollywood because she “did not play the game.”

Now, The Parkers actress is making her way back to the big screen, serving as producer and starring in an independent film called Blackbird. In it, Mo’nique plays a devout Christian mother, whose straight A, leader of the church choir son is gay. Because she believes the Bible condemns homosexuality, she and her son, played by newbie Julian Walker, have a tumultuous relationship.

In promotion of her new film, the comedienne dropped by The Breakfast Club and talked about her reputation as being difficult in Hollywood, the hit show Empireand her relationship with Lee.

On being able to say no and being labeled difficult:

“The difficulty comes in when [execs] are used to hearing ‘yes.’ The moment you get that ‘no,’ that can be difficult, because if we’re normally getting that ‘yes,’ and we run into the person that says ‘no’ that can be a little difficult. I’m not going to change my ‘no’ to a ‘yes.’ So I can see how people could say that.”

On her relationship with Lee Daniels:

“Lee Daniels and I are cool. You know how you have a friend and the friend goes to the left a little bit, and you wait for them to come on back over–that’s what it is. I’m just waiting for him to come on back over. I think Lee Daniels is one of the most brilliant visionaries of our generation.”

On Blackbird:

“I think every single person…has somebody in our family that’s dealing with or has dealt with their sexuality. The reason why Blackbird was so important was because so many of our babies are struggling with trying to accept who they are and being accepted. In this day and age, you have people still struggling with something that make you say ‘I can’t believe we’re still fighting with other human beings just to be who they are.”

Catch the full interview above and watch Blackbird when it hits theaters today.

SOURCE: Power 105 | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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