Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe plays a Jamaican maid in Tower Heist which also stars award winning actors Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy.
Gabby made her debut as an actress in the movie Precious where she played the title Precious wherein she earned an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. In the movie Tower Heist she shows her versatility as she portrays the character of a sassy Jamaican maid. In an interview she shares how it’s like to work on such a big project which involves big Hollywood actors.
When asked about how different it was to work on a big project such as Tower Heist compared to Precious, Gabby explained how she did not feel much difference between the two for in regards to being given what she wants, she was able to get them during the shoot of both movies. However, she says that Tower Heist is a much bigger production, equipment or set-wise based on how big the green rooms are.
According to her it was Brett Ratner, the director of the film, who asked that she participate in the movie and that the role was actually written specifically for her. For a film as big as this, she of course immediately took the role. She also shared how since Precious, she never had trouble looking for projects and how it is the filmmakers and producers who seem to be giving her projects and specifically make roles for her. She said that being an Oscar nominee definitely gave the right amount of respect especially on drama. She also shared how this helped her to simply show her funny side since she’s known for her dramatic role. As a result, her versatility simply shows which helped her land parts in SNL and now in Tower Heist. According to Gabby, if there’s any challenge in her role it would be Brett’s request for her to talk with a Jamaican accent. At first she was not down with it as she did not feel comfortable but Brett thought it would be funny. The Jamaican accent did not come to be as hard as imagined to pull off because Gabby’s bestfriend is apparently Jamaican and that helped a lot.
Finally, Gabby shared how much of an Eddie Murphy fan she is which surprise a lot of people because they think she is way younger than she actually is. There is one part in Tower Heist wherein she unexpectedly flirts with Eddie Murphy (at least on Eddie’s part) which was Brett’s idea. Watch it below.
