The anticipation of the release of Precious is steady building. In a new interview, director Lee Daniels discusses his talented cast and his how his unconventional background guides him as a filmmaker.

CS: Interesting. I wanted to ask about the casting. Everyone's really surprised by Mo'Nique in this but I remember seeing "Shadowboxer" and she really jumped out because I remember seeing her hosting "Showtime at the Apollo" and seeing her in that movie, I couldn't believe it was her, so I see her in this and she's taken that to a whole 'nother level. I know you have a background in talent management, so how do you know, like Mariah and her, can actually do this type of material? And Gabby as well? Where do your instincts come from to know that you can make the movie you want to make with them?
Daniels: I didn't go to film school and I didn't even finish college, so I just have a third eye and an understanding about people and about what I can do with that person. Mo'Nique and I had worked together on "Shadowboxer" so we were friends, and I think they understand me. I like working with friends. They happen to be my very good friends, I mean that they know my insecurities, they know my fears, my dreams, my past with drugs. They know me, and so they know everything about me. They also know the material, and so what happens is that they connect me to... knowing everything about me... to what they understand to be... the material. So that before I yell "Action," we're not on the same page, we're not on the same paragraph, we're not on the same sentence or even the same word, we're on the same syllable. We are one, you know? And it's harder for me to work with people like Gabby, who was new to understanding who I was, because my rehearsal period is none. I don't rehearse the lines. We sort of talk about everything, and really, it's hard to get somebody to talk about themselves, so I normally download what it is that I'm going through at the moment, what my problems are, what happened to me as a child. So days into them hearing enough about me (laughs), they'll start opening up about them, and then we sort of find our way. It's very therapeutic.

Read the full interview here.