Staff Writer
Oprah Winfrey will be honored at the upcoming Santa Barbara Film Festival.
Winfrey will be honored for her recent performance as Gloria Gaines in Lee Daniels’ The Butler. She will be awarded the ‘Montecito Award’ for her role in the film.
The Santa Barbara Film Festival director Roger Durling said, “Ms. Winfrey, the actress, inhabits Gloria Gaines with such gusto – she makes you forget Oprah the impresario.”
He also added that “her performance is career-defining and reason to rejoice.”
In an interview earlier this year for Oprah.com, Winfrey said the strong ties and family unity is what originally drew her to the script.
“We love our children, we care for our families, we want the best for ourselves and for each other,” she says.
Winfrey immersed herself in her role in preparation for the film. She told the ITV daytime chat show Loose Women that she even spoke to her co-star Forest Whitaker’s wife Keisha about her methods.
“I wanted to have real chemistry [in the film]. I would just sort of ease my way over and go behind him [Whitaker] and rub his shoulders and just stand there and rub his shoulders.
“Sometimes sitting on set I would purposely go and sit next to him, I would put my hand on his knee and start rubbing his knee… I called his wife first and said ‘You know, I’m trying to build a relationship’ and it actually worked,” said Winfrey.
The Santa Barbara Film Festival, which begins on January 30, will also be honoring Whitaker with the ‘Kirk Douglas Award’.
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