Lil Mama discussed her portrayal of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in the VH1 biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story in a recent interview with vladtv.com.
According to the rapper-actor, it was her uncle who informed her about the role and insisted that she try out for it. After some phone calls, Mama was eventually plugged in with one of the producers of the film.
“I got the script,” Lil Mama said. “I came in and the casting agent looked at me and said, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing.’ Sent the tape out. I read for the director and from there I did the screen test and it was history. I found out I got the role after three tries and that’s pretty much the story.”
In preparation for the role, Lil Mama spent time with TLC members Chilli and T-Boz in pre-production rehearsals.
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“They would tell me about the way she moves, how I was really similar, but certain things I had to change a little bit in posture, or how she would react to certain situations,” Lil Mama said. “So it was very informative and it was very helpful in preparing for the role.”
During the vladtv.com interview, Lil Mama also spoke about a moment during filming where she says her performance moved Left Eye’s sister, Raindrop, to tears.
“After I got out of the scene, Rain started crying,” Lil Mama said. “And I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ And she said, ‘Nothing’s wrong. Everything is right.’ And that melted my heart to know that I pleased her ’cause your siblings, like that’s the closest thing to you.”
In an October interview with “Good Morning America,” Chilli spoke about Lil Mama’s portrayal of Left Eye.
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“First of all, when we saw her audition tape, we were like, ‘Okay, that’s it. She’s the one,'” Chilli said. “When she gets in character, with the dark contacts, we were talking to her sometimes, and it’s like, ‘Oh.’ It was strange for us sometimes. It freaked us out a little bit.”
Lil Mama is perhaps best known for her “Lip Gloss” single. She was a judge for the MTV dance contest “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
TLC released several hit singles throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Left Eye was killed in a car crash in La Ceiba, Honduras in 2002. She was 30.
TLC’s CrazySexyCool can be viewed below.
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