Ella Curry Meets Cast of Secret Life of Bees




I have more mothers than any three girls off the street. They are the moons shinin’ over me.
-Lily


Listen to the Intimate Conversation with Queen Latifah, Ella Curry and the Media.



Starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo, a powerhouse ensemble of women from the world of music and film, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES is the touching story about the need for love, sisterhood and redemption that explores the undeniable desire for a sense of belonging and the often daunting journeys that we must navigate to achieve it.

Set in South Carolina, the home of the intelligent and independent honey-making Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Keys and Okonedo) is suddenly thrust into upheaval with the arrival of fourteen year-old Lily Owens (Fanning) and her caretaker Rosaleen (Hudson). Surrounded by the unexpected comforts, grace and deep rooted spirituality Lily (Fanning) encounters in the Boatwright home, she soon forms a maternal bond with each of these women whose unique and special gifts help reconcile the loss of her mother. Through the strength and female empowerment that embodies the Boatwright sisters, Lily ultimately comes to the realization that sometimes you must leave home in order to find it.


Owning and operating a successful bee farm and honey-making business, August Boatwright (Latifah) is the family matriarch running the household with a firm but loving hand with her sisters, the fiercely independent music teacher June (Keys) and the innocent childlike May (Okonedo). The Boatwright sisters’ lives are disrupted when fourteen year-old Lily Owens (Fanning) and her caretaker Rosaleen (Hudson) appear on their doorstep seeking refuge. After fleeing with Rosaleen to Tiburon, South Carolina, a place surrounded by mystery and a strong connection to Lily’s mother, they find shelter at the Boatwright household.

Lily is immediately taken under the wing of August Boatwright (Latifah) as her new beekeeping apprentice. There she is given a comfortable place to explore and, for the first time in her life, just be. Lily also discovers joy in the simple pleasures of life through her deepening relationship with the Boatwright sisters and soon comes into her own, determined to enjoy the sweet nectar of life for the first time. As a budding young woman who has left the place she once called home, Lily unexpectedly finds her true home and a family she has always yearned for.

Tristan Wilds stars as August’s godson and Lily’s newfound friend, Zachary Lincoln Taylor, a hardworking teenager who dreams of becoming a lawyer; Nate Parker as a young man head over heels in love with marriage resistant June Boatwright (Keys), Hilarie Burton as the mother Lily only remembers in her dreams and Paul Bettany as her embittered and widowed father.


THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES is written for the screen and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and is based upon the award-winning novel of the same title by Sue Monk Kidd.
The film is produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, James Lassiter, Will Smith and Joe Pichirallo; executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith and co-produced by Ed Cathell, III, Ewan Leslie and Aldric Porter.

Warren Alan Young (TALK TO ME) is the production designer, the director of photography is Rogier Stoffers, N.S.C. (SCHOOL OF ROCK) with costume designer Sandra Hernandez (THE 25th HOUR), edited by Terilyn A. Shropshire, A.C.E. (LOVE & BASKETBALL), music by Mark Isham (CRASH) and music supervisor Linda Cohen (THERE WILL BE BLOOD).


CAST

Lily Owens
DAKOTA FANNING

August Boatwright
QUEEN LATIFAH

Rosaleen Daise
JENNIFER HUDSON

June Boatwright
ALICIA KEYS

May Boatwright
SOPHIE OKONEDO

T. Ray Owens
PAUL BETTANY

Deborah Owens
HILARIE BURTON

Zach Taylor
TRISTAN WILDS

Neil
NATE PARKER

Greta
SHONDRELLA AVERY

Doll
RENÉE CLARK

Violet
SHARON MORRIS

Cressie
NICKY BUGGS

Sugar Girl
JASMINE BURKE

Young Lilys
EMMA SAGE BOWMAN
EMILY ALYN LIND
ADDY MILLER


Teenager
TAYLOR KOWALSKI

Frank Posey
BOB HUNGERFORD

Mechanic
RICHARD TODD SULLIVAN

Posey’s Buddy
CHRIS MOORE

Sheriff Gaston
BILL OBERST, JR.

Young White Policeman
CULLEN DEAN MOSS

Driver
WALT ELDER

Mr. Kirven
DAN BEENE

Mr. Forrest
JOE CHREST

Miss Lacy
ROBIN MULLINS

White Man #1
TOM CONDER

White Man #3
JAY PEARSON

Sheriff Brooks
DAN COX

Police Officer
QUENTIN KERR