MAHALIA’S VOICE

“The crossover between the ’50 and ’60s to today is so parallel and in such a scary way.”

“The crossover between the ’50s and ’60s to today is so parallel and in such a scary way.”

Danielle Brooks was preparing to play Mahalia Jackson, the Queen of Gospel, long before she got the part in Lifetime’s Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (April 3). “I was consciously reading, watching clips, just getting inspired. And that was before reading any script. I was like, ‘I want to be ready to get ready.’” Directed by Kenny Leon, who Brooks calls an “actor’s director” because he makes “sure that everybody’s voices are being heard,” Mahalia follows the course of Jackson’s life, from commercial success to her role in the Civil Rights movement with Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington. “I appreciate the fact that Martin listened to a Black woman,” Brooks says. “I’ve always been enamored of the relationship between Martin and Mahalia because I feel like it gets ignored a lot.” Brooks credits having a “seat at the table” on a film like Mahalia with her break on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, which she says showed her the impact her work could have on others. “I’m proud to have come from a show that knows what we do really does go beyond the paycheck and beyond getting to buy your mama a house.”

How did you prepare to play such an iconic figure?

It was really about knowing that people are going to have their opinions regardless of what you do. You just have to push through and know what God has given you and be at peace with that.

You started production just four months after having a baby. How did you handle that?

I have a great nanny, but she can’t work 24/7. So I would get home at 11 o’clock and then wake up at 4 a.m. to go over the lines for that day. Then I would get in the van at six or seven to go to work and have a full day.

Was it difficult to find Mahalia vocally?

We did one week in Atlanta with our music director. One day I was singing and it wasn’t right. Kenny was like, “It’s great!” I was like, “Call your mama, play it for your mama.” He plays it for his mom, and she says, “That’s supposed to be Mahalia? You half got it.” So we just kept working until we got it.

Do you see parallels between Mahalia’s life and the Black Lives Matter movement today?

The crossover between the ’50s and ’60s to today is so parallel and in such a scary way. Getting to step into Mahalia is such a huge deal to me because my daughter gets to see where she’s coming from, but also gets to see that through her mom. — H. Alan Scott