{alltv} Sidibe hits small screen in 'Big C'

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Gabourey Sidibe was asked what has surprised her most about the world of entertainment.

"How mean it is," she said, before quickly adding, "but also how fun it is. There are a lot of faces to this business."

Sidibe's face became well-known through her title role in the deep and depressing 2009 movie Precious, for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Now Sidibe is tackling TV with a multi-episode arc in the new series The Big C, which originates on Showtime in the United States and will debut in Canada Sept. 1 on Super Channel.

The Big C stars Laura Linney as an overly reserved teacher, wife and mother whose cancer diagnosis prompts her to take an altered approach to whatever time she has left. Sidibe plays the amusingly abrasive Andrea, one of Linney's high school students. Sidibe's role in The Big C is far removed from her role in Precious, where she played an illiterate 16-year-old trying to escape the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of her parents.

"It was awesome, it really was," Sidibe said of taking on something completely different. "But it's not like it's something super new, because I'm entirely different from Precious. So it wasn't a chore."

Sidibe describes herself as "sassy and sarcastic" in real life, so Andrea is closer to the real thing, we suspect.

"I think so - at least, she's closer to who I was at 17," Sidibe said. Having played troubled teenagers in both The Big C and Precious, it's interesting to meet Sidibe in person and discover she actually is a sweet, quick-witted and grounded 27-year-old.

Following Precious and the Oscar nomination, one might assume Sidibe would have her pick of many projects. But then there was the Howard Stern line of thinking, which suggested Sidibe's weight and appearance would render her a one-hit wonder.

"I do well, I work," Sidibe said with an infectious giggle.

"I mean, the idea of what I would do was kind of split between 'she'll never work again' or 'she'll only be able to do roles like Precious' or 'she'll have the world at her feet.' And I think I did well.

"I never think about what people say. I just know myself better than anyone else, so that's how I protect myself."

In the first episode of The Big C, there's a poignantly hilarious scene when Linney's character verbally dresses down Sidibe's character in an uncharacteristic form of tough love. We actually have spent a lot of time thinking about that scene since we saw it.

"Were you affected by it? Traumatized by it? So sorry about that," said Sidibe, again with that great giggle.

"I love working with Laura, she's really fun. I never got a chance to go to acting class, so every scene I'm in with her, I consider that to be acting class.

"I just watch her like a total freak, because I try to be as good as people say I am. I know it's weird, but I try to be good for her."