It’s been nearly a week since Gabourey Sidibe guest hosted Saturday Night Live. But although her duties there are over, talk about her “performances” have been the chatter around the water cooler all week.
The Oscar nominated Sidibe, who gained instant fame for her unique debut performance in the movie PRECIOUS, had been only a college student until she lucked into an audition for the movie role that changed her life. Up until then, she had never worked professionally as an actress before. And according to most who caught her on SNL last weekend — it showed!
As guest host, Sidibe often appeared nervous, under rehearsed, and totally in over her head. SNL is known for successfully presenting multiple live skits in one night, yet Sidibe presented no real character separation. In each skit, when she wasn’t stumbling over the dialogue, she was giving the same speech, gestures, facial expressions and flat line readings as the last. For the likely 300+ pound Sidibe who has been fighting claims there’s no place for her in show business, and has been looking for an opportunity to show the world she can play a role other than “Precious,” this was not a good first outing. If anything, she may have actually done herself more harm and proved her detractors more right. Here’s what MTV had to say:
The Academy Award-nominated star of “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” took to the Studio 8H stage to perform a doo-wop-style opening number, making light of the confusion between her and the downtrodden character she portrays in the film. “Movies are not real life. That’s something you should know,” she sang, adding, “Mariah Carey doesn’t have a mustache.”
The 26-year-old then sped through a hodgepodge of largely loud-mouthed and irritated characters. She donned dreadlocks to play a Jamaican nurse hawking a heal-thyself manual opposite Kristen Wiig’s Suze Orman. She yelled at kids on her front stoop as an elderly, know-it-all neighbor whose daddy used to sell “Wikipedias.” And she competed at the “2010 Public Employee of the Year Awards” as a surly St. Louis DMV worker.
If Sidibe truly wants to sustain a career in show business beyond her break out movie debut, her handlers should immediately get to work on damage control. Select her roles and appearances more carefully. Play to her strengths. Recognize her weaknesses as a talented but inexperienced actress and get her the proper training. And by all means, keep her out of comedy. It’s not funny when people are laughing at you rather than with you!
