Terry McMillan Talks ‘A Day Late and a Dollar Short‘By Wilson Morales
April 14, 2014
Premiering this Saturday, April 19, at 8pm on Lifetime TV is the adaptation of Terry McMillan‘s New York Times bestseller ‘A Day Late and a Dollar Short,’ starring Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost, The Color Purple) and Golden Globe winner Ving Rhames. The film also stars Mekhi Phifer, Kimberly Elise, Anika Noni Rose and Tichina Arnold.
‘A Day Late and a Dollar Short’ is the uplifting story of a mother who tries to help her dysfunctional family through life’s ups and down.
When irascible matriarch Viola Price (Goldberg) learns that her next asthma attack will likely kill her, she is determined to fix her fractured family before she leaves this world, from her relationship with her husband to the lives of her four children and grandchildren. While on this quest, she must contend with sibling rivalry, teen pregnancy and drug addiction – and that is only one child. Additionally, her jailbird son needs to learn how to be a better father, her granddaughter is in bigger trouble than her daughter is willing to admit and Viola’s estranged husband needs saving from his scheming younger girlfriend. It’s the kind of meddling that the Price family hasn’t experienced from Viola in decades, and she won’t have an easy time bending her loved ones to her will.
For McMillan, whose successful novels (Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back) have been brought to the big screen, this is first adaptation to seen on television since Disappearing Acts was shown on HBO back in 2000. McMillan continues to write novels with the hope that more adaptations will be done, whether it be shown on film or television.
In speaking exclusively with Blackfilm.com, McMillan addresses ‘A Day Late’ coming to Lifetime, the cast, and future projects.
How did the project land over at Lifetime?
Terry McMillan: A long time ago Forest Whitaker and I were trying to figure out a way to turn this book into a series. I can’t even remember what happened and then Stephen Tolkin, who was one of the producers and writers on ABC’s ‘Brothers and Sisters,’ had also approached me a few years ago about turning it into a series. We approached BET and they weren’t interested, or they were interested but they couldn’t come up with any money to do it. Then Stephen ended up telling me about Bill Haber, whose produced the Broadway production of ‘Thurgood,’ which starred Laurence Fishburne. Stephen told me that Bill is also a good writer and director. They approached me about Lifetime doing it and I said sure. They talked to me about who they were trying to get, and I was flattered. That’s how it came about.
Did you have a say about the casting of Whoopi Goldberg as the lead?
TM: No and yes. Whenever there is a film made, and Fox, in the past, would want your blessing and your approval. The bottom line is that who wouldn’t Whoopi in a movie, plus she’s a great actress. I was just flattered that she was interested to be honest with you as well as the rest of the cast. I went to Toronto last August when they were shooting and they were going gaga over me and I was like, “Are they serious?” I’m standing with Anika Noni Rose, Whoopi, Ving Rhames and all of them and we were all drooling over each other. It was wonderful.
Is there anything different from the film and the novel?
TM: Well, there always have to be changes. It’s never the same. It felt like a miniseries, and that’s true for any adaptation. I don’t care if it’s for television or motion picture. I thought the script was really good. Shernold Edwards is Canadian, Black, and from Toronto. I met her briefly that day in Toronto but I read the script and she’s a good writer. She really nailed it. What I saw while I was in Toronto moved me. There was a large investment that everyone seem to have in the story because a lot of the actors identified with some of the struggles that these characters were having; and just the whole notion of family.
What sets this film apart from other urban dysfunctional dramas there have been in the past?
TM: That’s a hard question for me to answer because I haven’t seen all of the “urban” dramas. I don’t want to belittle other familiar films in almost any dramatic film that you see, there will always be some sort of edge to it. There’s always drama to any film and there’s always conflict. I don’t know how to say honestly without negating what other people have done and I don’t want to do that. I don’t like to do that and I don’t like to toot my own horn because I think there’s room for all types of stories and we need more of them. I would venture to say that we need more in television. I think there is often conflict amongst family members and that this story ultimately ends up dealing with respect for each other and their differences; as well as sometimes a lost is what triggers us to wake up. I think that’s what this story is about.
Will ‘Getting to Happy’ (the followup to Waiting To Exhale) ever get greenlit for the big screen?
TM: I don’t know; ever since Whitney Houston passed away and the head of Fox Tom Rothman is no longer there. A few weeks after Whitney passed they decided they didn’t need to find someone else but they wanted to tell the story without her character and I had major objections to that. I think that didn’t fit well with the studio and they had someone else try to write the script without that character and to me, the story didn’t make any sense. It was a different story but when you sell the rights to a studio, they have the rights to basically drop a character, add characters if they want to. They have that option and they went through quite a few drafts and they weren’t pleased. I haven’t seen the last one but now I think it’s dead in the water. I also think that story would also be a good series and not because I wrote it. I personally would love to see my last book, “Who Asked You?,” if we’re talking adaptation. I just think we need a variety of television shows but now that we have Netflix and Amazon and all these other alternative networks, you can get away with a lot more. I think we need some intelligent, dramatic and comedic, not slapstick, and compelling stories that are honest, uplifting and respectful.
What are you working on next?
TM: I’m working on a new novel called “I Almost Forgot About You”.
Will there be any recurring characters from any of your books?
TM: Nope. Totally new.
