Director's Dream Mo'Nique

Lee Daniels has said he cast Mo'Nique in 'Precious' because she wouldn't question him.

The director of the movie, which also features Mariah Carey as dowdy social worker Ms Weiss, claimed that Mo'Nique was a good friend.

He said: "Mo'Nique was the first person that I cast. We worked together on a film called "Shadowboxer." She's my very good friend and she doesn't - and for the most part, nor do any of the other actors - question me. They don't question me.

"If I ask you to throw the baby, she throws the baby. . . . I ask her don't shave her arms, she doesn't shave her arms. There are no questions."

Discussing his casting of Gabby Sidibe in the main role of Precious, Lee said he had a tough time narrowing possible actresses down.

He told the LA Times: "I interviewed over 400 girls . . . I looked for the truth. I was looking for girls that were Precious because, certainly, Hollywood didn't offer them.

"So I was at the 7-Eleven, on the train station stops, inside of the KFC, off the streets. I narrowed it down to 10 girls and they were phenomenal . . . a lot of them couldn't read, a lot of them were sexually abused. I learned so much about Precious through those 400 girls."