Watch CBS News

Lisa Gay Hamilton: In Oprah's Dream

With images that are often powerful and sometimes brutal, Beloved follows the painful saga of a runaway slave trying to carve out a life for herself and her children. Lisa Gay Hamilton plays the character, Sethe, as a young woman.

"It's not entertainment. It forces you to feel something. It forces you to think," says Hamilton. "It makes you take the time to go, 'Oh, my God, what did I just see?'"

It took Oprah Winfrey's vision and ten years of her devotion to the Toni Morrison novel to bring this story to the big screen.

Hamilton is thrilled to be a part of Oprah's dream.

"She is clearly on a mission to challenge women, to challenge America, to challenge humanity to be the best we can be," Hamilton says. "And that is truly and simply what life is really about."

A series regular on the Emmy-winning television drama The Practice, Hamilton has also made her mark in independent films like Palookaville and Drunks.

But Hamilton hopes her next role is the one that will "make her day." She stars opposite the macho man himself, Clint Eastwood, in True Crime.

"He's an awfully sexy older man. This is all I can say to you," says Hamilton. "His 30-something wife: go girl! Because he really is sexy. There's no question about it. Got no body fat, he's pumped, he looks great, you know. And he's got a two-year-old granddaughter and a two-year-old daughter. Hey, go figure."

In True Crime, which will be released early next year, Hamilton plays a feisty young woman who believes her husband has been falsely accused of murder. Eastwood is a reporter who joins in the fight to clear him.

©1998 CBS Worldwide Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.