FROM 'NOWHERE' TO 'SELMA': 'NEW BLACK' STAR SPEAKS!

“Middle of Nowhere,” the drama that impressed “Selma” producers so much that they hired its director Ava DuVernay, is at long last released on DVD.  For some insights, TASTY CLIPS talked with the amazing LORRAINE TOUSSAINT, who counts both films, ABC's "Forever," as well as a lauded turn on season two of “Orange is the New Black” among her credits.  “It was one of the best scripts I'd read in a really long time,” she opined.  “Ava's a wonderful writer but she's also gifted in not overwriting a part. There was so much room for the unspoken in her script that I signed on to do it immediately.”

Portraying the mother of a young woman who is trying to make a living while devoted to an incarcerated husband, Toussaint understood the fierce love that is depicted.  “You want [your children] to reach their full potential and anything that gets in the way of that is an enemy - including themselves,“ she said, “because that's what mothers do.”

Thankfully, her own mother overlooked the “delusional“ aspirations of her 10 year old daughter and enrolled Toussaint in an acting class. “I come from Trinidad,” she revealed.  “I may be showing my age but there was one black actress I knew of and that was Diahann Carroll [as “Julia”].  I thank her every time I see her because of the power of role models.  Sometimes you have to see it, to know that you can be it.” 

In “Selma,” she is being Ms. Amelia Boynton, the civil rights icon who is now 103 years old. “I met her while we were shooting in Montgomery,” said Toussaint.  “It was an honor.  You could feel the waves of passion coming off of this person.  I was very clear that I was sitting in the presence of a woman who has lived and is still living a purpose filled life.”   

Toussaint is pointed about critics of the authenticity of “Selma.” “Oh for God's sake, it’s art and an interpretation,” she said.  “It's such an uninteresting debate because I can't even say go to history books because history is written by the winner. Whoever the dominant culture is determines what history is.  How much of history does not reflect Black Americans or Black American contributions to history?  How much of history has not documented the slave trade or many of the atrocities all over the world?  How much of history has excluded women and people of color?  Even a documentary is from a particular perceptive.   It's an uninteresting discussion to me.” 

 “I say go see the film,” she adds. “Does it move you to dig deeper to find more facts about what happened? Does it open your heart and mind? Does it inspire and inform and entertain? I think “Selma” has met all of those benchmarks and surpassed them.” 

After ruling on "Orange is the New Black," Toussaint offered a glimmer of hope for more.  "She certainly took a hit literally and figuratively at the end of season two," she said, "but even I as an observer of that character have to say, I know she's dead, but are we sure she's dead?  That's Vee.  Is she really going to go out like that?  To honor the Netflix model I won't say much more about season three except Vee has fun and Vee was fun."

As for what’s next for Toussaint? “It’s the story of an extraordinary woman who led troops and was instrumental in changing the course of [America’s] Civil War - literally on the field and off,” she declared.  “Her name happened to be Harriet Tubman.  There's so much we don't know.” 

CLIPPETTES: The two actresses LIFETIME hired to star in their Aaliyah biopic, Zendaya Coleman (who quit) and Alexandra Shipp (who replaced her) are the front runners to play a younger version of Storm in the next X-Men flick…

Allen Hughes (who directed “Menace To Society,” “Dead Presidents,” & “The Book of Eli” with his twin brother Albert) will helm the History Channel reboot of “Roots.”…

The Blu-Ray to James Brown biopic “Get On Up” adds full song performances and featurettes “The Founding Father of Funk” and “On Stage with The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” to the mix of extras…

“The Adventures of Puss in Boots,” continuing the animated exploits of DreamWorks’ popular hero,  premiered on Netflix with voice work from John Leguizamo and Danny Trejo (“Machete”)…

TC ON TV: SAT, JAN 17 - WHITNEY (LIFETIME) to be followed by BOBBY BROWN: REMEMBERING WHITNEY and WHITNEY HOUSTON LIVE: HER GREATEST PERFORMANCES … LIFE OF A KING (UP): Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as neighborhood chess teacher Eugene Brown ... INSIDE EMPIRE (FOX): Behind the scenes of the hit series … SNL (NBC): Kevin Hart. 

SUN, JAN 18 - NICKI MINAJ - MY TIME AGAIN (MTV) … OPRAH WINFREY PRESENTS (OWN): Legends Who Paved The Way…

MON, JAN 19 - STAR WARS REBELS (DXD): Billy Dee Williams' Lando Calrissian gets animated ... LIGHT GIRLS (OWN) … THE NIGHTLY SHOW with LARRY WILMORE (COMEDY): Series Premiere!

TASTY QUIP: “Keep your grind right & it’ll keep your mind right. – MIKE EPPS on Twitter.