[a*shot*of*whiskey]

Welcome to the 1st The Secret Life of Bees/Deborah Owens Discussion Thread

Plot Synopsis:

From IMDB:

With pieces of her past all jumbled up in her head, young Lily Owens seizes an opportunity to leave behind her father and their South Carolina peach farm. Traveling with her nanny, Rosaleen, Lily encounters the Boatwrights, a trio of beekeeping sisters, who fold the girl into their strange, secret world. Written by IMDb Editors 14 year old Lily Owen tries to cope with her mother's death during the summer of 1964. She lives in South Carolina where racism is a difficult problem and the only woman in her life she can depend on is taken away because of her race. When she and Rosaleen reunite it's a quest to find out the truth about her mother's death 10 years prior. Written by Anonymous

The Secret Life of Bees IMDB page

From About.com

Lily Melissa Owens has a special relationship with bees. At night, they squeeze through the cracks of her bedroom wall by the hundreds and fly circles around her room until the air itself is pulsating with the beat of their wings. Finally, when she can no longer stand being the only witness to this apiary wonder, she rushes to awaken the only person available - her father. But the bees don't stick around and T. Ray, who is not amused with this apparent prank, promises to get out the Martha Whites if Lily wakes him again. "Martha Whites were a form of punishment only T. Ray could have dreamed up." T. Ray Owens is the hateful, peach-farming antagonist of Sue Monk Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees." When T. Ray is feeling particularly mean towards Lily, he pulls the Martha White grits down from the pantry and pours an anthill-sized pile on the kitchen floor for Lily to kneel in. It's a unique torture that inflicts Lily's knees with hundreds of tiny stinging wounds that turn into tiny blue welts over time.

Principal Cast:

Dakota Fanning – Lily Owens
Paul Bettany – T Ray Owens
Queen Latifah – August Boatwright
Jennifer Hudson – Rosaleen
Tristan Wilds – Zach
Alicia Keys –

Director - Gina Prince-Bythewood



Recent Articles

'Bees' keep a sweet role for Bettany By Leslie Simmons Jan 9, 2008 Paul Bettany has joined the cast of Fox Searchlight's drama "The Secret Life of Bees." Bettany will play widower, T. Ray Owens, the father of the film's 14-year-old central character, Lily Owens, played by Dakota Fanning. Gina Prince-Bythewood is directing the film, which begins shooting this week in North Carolina. The helmer also wrote the script, based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd. Bettany joins an ensemble cast that includes Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo and Tristan Wilds. Playing T. Ray's late wife Deborah Owens in flashbacks for the film is Hilarie Burton (CW Network's "One Tree Hill"). Set in the 1960s South, "Bees" revolves around Lily and her friend Rosaleen (Hudson), who flee their small town to escape their harsh upbringing and uncover the mysteries of Lily's late mother. Along the way, they are taken in by three sisters (Latifah, Okonedo, Keys) who teach them the art of beekeeping. Searchlight plans to release the film this year. "Bees" is produced by the Donners' Co. and Overbrook Entertainment. Bettany, who recently wrapped "Young Victoria" and "Inkheart," is represented by Melanie Greene Management, CAA and Independent Talent Group in the U.K. Burton is repped by Endeavor, Principal Entertainment and attorney Robert Strent.

Paul Bettany Joins 'The Secret Lives of Bees' Posted Jan 9th 2008 11:32AM by Monika Bartyzel Filed under: Drama, Casting After making a big impact on us all with his saucy Geoffrey Chaucer and then snaring Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind, it seemed like Paul Bettany's cinematic career was set on the road to superstardom. Instead, he's found himself a handful of roles that keep him around, but not on the tip of tongues -- like Lars Von Trier's Dogville, that Wimbledon movie, and The Da Vinci Code. Now he's got a bunch of films on the way and has just added another. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Bettany has signed on to the cast of The Secret Life of Bees. That's the flick I told you about last month that has Dakota Fanning fleeing her abusive dad with Jennifer Hudson and moving in with some eccentric sisters who make honey (played by Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys). While all this is going on, she uncovers details about the mystery that is her deceased mom. Bettany will play T. Ray Owens -- unsurprisingly, the widower and abusive dad of Dakota's Lily. That's a pretty darn good choice -- he resembles the young star, and I'm sure he can pull of a creepy and conflicted man. Also added to the cast is Hilarie Burton (One Tree Hill), who will play Lily's deceased mom Deborah in some flashbacks. I'm not a follower of One Tree, so you fans out there will have to comment over her suitability in the role. This could be a good little drama, and at the very least, should be a bit less fuss-causing than Dakota's Hounddog. Writer/director Gina Price-Bythewood will get production going later this week in North Carolina.

The Robesonian > News > The buzz about the ‘Bees’


THREAD REMINDER: IF YOU ARE GOING TO DISCUSS ANYTHING FROM THE BOOK, PLEASE USE SPOILER TAGS.

[Fi-na-na]

The story sounds really interesting. I think I might go to B&N tomorrow. I'm itching to know how Hilarie's character died.

[lonely sidewalk]

So this is the book thread as well?

[Sparkling_Diamond]

I'm going to read it too! In Dutch though bc I just checked my library's site and they don't have it in English. That's very rare, though, Belgium does know/has English books LOL. The title over here is 'Ver van Huis', which means 'Far from Home', BTW.

[Ness23]

Thanks for the tread, Laur.

[dreamer3]

Thanks for the thread. I'm too going to read it asap! I'm kinda hooked on the story after reading the plot.
I'm thinking to buy it online in English, though.

[jilliek]

Wait, so Laur you guys aren't doing a book club thread (in addition to the movie thread) so you guys can discuss the book more thoroughly? That way maybe you can do like "We're going to discuss Ch. 1 next week", etc. etc.

[Fi-na-na]

I bought the book tonight. I'm excited to start reading it before I go to bed.

[Sparkling_Diamond]

The little blond on the left is little Lily so the girl who'll share scenes with Hil

imgPlace.com | Free Image Hosting | Free Image Uploading | View Image - 61cdee2dc7c68bdac6e0a61a7dcf0385.jpg

I can't wait for Hil candids!

[Ness23]

Thanks for the link. I'm so excited about this movie.

[mjgchick]

aww that little girl looks just like Dakota lol but if we are hot going to Mama Sawyer I will be ecstatic to see Hil as a mom

[dreamer3]

Originally Posted by Sparkling_Diamond (View Post) The little blond on the left is little Lily so the girl who'll share scenes with Hil imgPlace.com | Free Image Hosting | Free Image Uploading | View Image - 61cdee2dc7c68bdac6e0a61a7dcf0385.jpg I can't wait for Hil candids!

Yeah, me too. Hopefully we'll get some pictures soon.
And thanks for the link, Karen.

[Amissy]

Wow I’m so excited for this film. I’m so happy Hilaire has decided to do a more mainstream film.

[Sparkling_Diamond]

Paul Bettany plays T. Ray Owens, Lily Owens father. We also met the mother (actress Hilarie Burton from One Tree Hill) whom plays Deborah Owens.

Ok, Addy is playing the role of Young Lily Owens from the book "The Secret Life of Bees", which is being made into a movie to be released in 2009. Lily Owens is played by Dakota Fanning, and Addy is her as a young child as she remembers back to when her mom was alive. The role of Young Lily Owens is actually being played by two little girls, Addy (8 years old) and Emily (5 years old). Here you see Emily when she came back from her shots in the movie. From what we understand, Emily is the body of Young Lily Owens, and Addy is the face. **Emily's mom is Barbara Alyn Woods who plays Deb Scott on One Tree Hill.**

source

This is the mother of young Lily blogging about her experiences. I'm liking the fact that there are two young Lily's. The more Lily's, the more Hil scenes. BTW, it's kinda cool Hil will be working with Barbara's daughter.

[Xbel]

Originally Posted by mjgchick (View Post) aww that little girl looks just like Dakota lol but if we are hot going to Mama Sawyer I will be ecstatic to see Hil as a mom

That's because it is