Lee Daniels is opening up about his highly anticipated Richard Pryor biopic!
"I'm nervous about it. I'm very nervous about it," the 54-year-old director told E! News' Alicia Quarles last night at the 2014 Gotham Independent Film Awards in NYC of his new film, which he also called a "rollercoaster."
The upcoming movie stars Mike Epps as the legendary (and sometimes controversial) comedian who died in 2005 at the age of 65 after a career than spanned several decades. His comedy often examined racial tensions and racial humor.
"I just think that he is an icon," Daniels gushed. "And he is an American hero and what he did for the civil rights movement in a very subliminal way...he's profound. It's hard. How do you empathize, sympathize, love someone that set himself on fire and was on crack [cocaine]?"
Daniels' good friend Oprah Winfrey is playing Pryor's mother, Marie Carter, who raised her son in the Illinois brothel she owned and worked in.
When asked if he's ever joked to Oprah's face about playing a "ho," Daniels laughed, "No! Oh, no, O! Oh, no, O!" LOL!
"She plays a madame of a brothel who is Richard's mother," Daniels added. "And she was a whore and she ran a brothel."
Watch the funny video for yourself!