By Gil Robertson
SPECIAL TO THE OBSERVER

“I want to be a movie star. I’m honored that my people know who I am, but I want everybody to know who I am. I want to go to Germany and have people say, ‘there goes MoNique.’ That’s what I’m working for, that’s what I’m reaching for.”

She shouldn’t have to reach far, as one of the reigning Queens of Comedy, MoNique has been very busy putting the ‘movie’ in front of star. Currently starring in the very hip and smart film, “Two Can Play At That Game,” the actress recently began her third season on the UPN comedy “The Parkers,” and if that wasn’t enough, she is also ready to unveil a clothing line bearing her designs and name this fall. MoNique is in no short supply of energy or optimism.

“You have to believe that your goals are reachable,” says the actress from her suite at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Marina Del Rey, Calif. “If you sit back and remind content where you are, then you’ll never know if you could have achieved more. Twelve years ago I set out to make the goals that I aimed for in this business a reality. I could have remained content with being a popular comedienne in Baltimore, but then that’s where I would have probably stayed. I wanted more, so I set my sights on conquering Hollywood.”

A Baltimore native, MoNique comes from the what-you-see-is-what-you-get school of thought. “With my work, I don’t have any serious agenda, and I’m also not trying to use my comedy to deal with some deep seeded emotional issue,” she says.

“I don’t care what you know what MoNique, because I don’t have any issues that I’m trying to hide. I think my fans know that and connect with me because I’m real. I come from the heart, I wear me right here (MoNique touches her heart with the palm of her hand). I’m just MoNique and I think that’s what people embrace.”

Indeed, there is something very pure about her and who she is. Original too. As she moves about her suite preparing to leave for her next appointment, MoNique projects a self-assuredness of someone who always knew that she was going to be successful, no matter what she did. She’s a woman with a vision that she still has yet to realize. “I knew the day I walked away from my job that I was going to make it. I knew what God had planned for me, and I know that I’m just starting to recognize his plan.”

Gil Robertson is an entertainment writer based in Beverly Hills, Calif. For more information about Gil, visit his web site at www.robertsontreatment.com.