Why Rain Pryor isn't supporting the Richard Pryor biopic

• Courtesy Rain Pryor
• Rain Pryor couldn't care less that Oprah and Lee Daniels are involved.

A decade after Richard Pryor’s death, the long-awaited biopic on the iconic comic, actor, and cultural figure has some big Hollywood names attached — including director Lee Daniels, Oprah Winfrey, who will play Pryor’s grandmother Marie, and Mike Epps, cast in the lead role. But the film already has major detractors. Rain Pryor, oldest daughter of the legendary comedian, has been vocal about her objection to the film and the role of his fourth and seventh wife, Jennifer Lee Pryor, in the making of it.

Jennifer Lee Pryor remarried Richard in the years before he died after living with multiple sclerosis for nearly two decades. Though the validity of their marriage has been contested in court, Jennifer Lee Pryor still controls the Pryor estate. And she’s been very effective in influencing the outcome of creative projects that depict her former husband, such as the Showtime documentary Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic.

Before Rain Pryor brought her one-woman show Fried Chicken and Latkas to Atlanta a few weeks ago, she talked to me about why she isn’t in support of the forthcoming biopic or Mike Epps. You can read why in an excerpt of our Q&A below. As it turns out, Epps isn’t quite what Jennifer Lee Pryor originally had in mind, either. In a May 2013 interview, she expressed her preference for “somebody who’s authentic, who’s not a big star, because Richard’s the star, the material’s the star. But somebody who’s got good chops. I love Michael B. Jordan,” she said, referring to the actor who played the character Wallace in season 1 of “The Wire” and also starred in Fruitvale Station.

Epps must’ve won her over, based on a photo he tweeted last August that shows him kissing Mrs. Pryor’s hand with a caption that reads: “Had to kiss the ring of @JenniferLPryor for the blessing !you got to be stong to have been with the king” sic.

In a March 2014 interview, Rain Pryor had some choice words for Epps when asked about the making of the film. Basically, she suggested that Epps had initially sided with Pryor’s children before turning to Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor, to secure the role in the film. I’m not going to quote Rain here because I don’t want to add fuel to her fired-up response in that interview, but click the link if you prefer the full scoop.

Apparently, Epps isn’t trying to get caught up, either. When he appeared on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show” earlier this month, he gave a sample of his Richard Pryor impersonation. He also responded in the affirmative when asked about Jennifer Pryor’s involvement, and said that Kate Hudson will portray her. But when hit with a follow-up question about the whether or not Pryor’s children are playing any role in the film, Epps responded, “I’m just an actor for hire, I don’t get caught up in the family — I don’t even say nothing about that.”

Here’s what Rain had to say about the forthcoming biopic and Epps’ role in it when we talked in December:

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You’ve mentioned in earlier interviews that Mos Def is an actor who you thought would’ve capture your father’s essence on screen. How do you feel now that Mike Epps has been locked into the role by director Lee Daniels? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRgx4T1eVIQ

I’m not pleased with it. I’m not pleased with the film itself or the choices or any of it. First of all, there have been so many movies about dad, I don’t know why there has to be another one. I don’t know what new material you could tell about him if it’s not from the perspective of his kids — and if it’s not with the grace and honor and the ‘OK’ from his children. So anything you do outside of that to me is going on the hearsay of people who weren’t present.

Now if you want to rewrite history, rewrite history. But as an African-American woman, as a descendant, all I can say to them is be careful what you say and what you do because it will come back to bite you.

Have you seen the script?

No, the only thing I ever saw was a long time ago, before Lee was attached to the film. And according to one of my family members, he said Lee Daniels said he was going to rewrite the script. And so we’ll see.

What is your biggest worry — because I think from the outside looking in people see Lee Daniels involved and think about his past work (Precious, The Butler) and they see Oprah involved and they think, well, that’s Oprah. So what is your biggest concern?

My biggest concern is not getting the truth right, but availing yourself to someone else’s truth because they had the power at the time to change it. Do you know what I mean? My stepmother Jennifer Lee Pryor was never really a part of my dad’s life and she wants to rewrite history. She’s going to have to go ahead and rewrite history but at some point someone’s going to turn around and really ask us what was it like. And I don’t think that’s honoring my dad’s legacy.

And I don’t care if Oprah or Lee Daniels is involved. I’m so not a Hollywood person.