How do you know you’ve made it big in Hollywood—we mean, really, really big? One measure would be when Denzel Washington stops over your house to help punch up your script. And for free, no less. So we can pretty much agree that Lee Daniels has arrived big time. In 2001, after an unlikely career that took him from nursing-agency owner to casting director to talent-agency owner, he produced Monster’s Ball, which won its star, Halle Berry, an Academy Award. Next he directed Precious, another Oscar darling, which snagged a statue for comedian Mo’Nique. Then came The Butler, co-starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, which had uncredited assistance behind the scenes from one of cinema’s more powerful voices. “Denzel and I are friends and he was helping me with the sctipt,” Lee tells us. “I think we joked around about what would you do if you were playing the character? But at the time he couldn’t do it because he was unavailable anyway. Denzel is a dear friend of mine and he helped me incredibly with the story.”
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