 In 8th grade, the vice principal told my mother I wasn't going to amount to anything. Here's Lee Daniels explain to us the genius of this man. Lee dramatizes and humanizes the corners of society that don't often get play and television. Lee Daniels is fierce. His vision is different than anyone I've ever worked with before. There's not a school for what it is that I have had, you know, I didn't go to film school. I'm a filmmaker. How'd I get there? When I was a young kid, a couple things changed my life. First was Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Leslie M. Warren, which was a musical. And the other was Sweet Charity with Paula Kelly and Shirley MacLean. Paula Kelly affected me so deeply, and she represented sheathness and sophistication. It was jaw-dropping. All of the work that I do has been sort of if you really study the music, even when it's not a musical, it's a big thing. When I was a young kid, I didn't know that there was such a thing. As a director, forget about white or black, but that there was such a thing that a director was. My dad was a cop that was killed in the line of duty. My mom was left to raise me and my siblings on her own. She was tired of me being bullied. She knew that the environment that I was in was not going to be a safe one. So she was very intuitive, my mom. She knew to get me out of those streets at a very ripe age. I knew that I was drawn to Hollywood. I still didn't really know that I wanted to direct. This girl that I was dating, the only girl that I've ever dated, gave me $7. So I had $7 and a bus ticket and a dream. When I came to Los Angeles, I was actually homeless, and I didn't think much about it. I was okay. I had snuck into the back of a church and I stayed there and the pastor discovered me and said, if you want to stay here, you got to clean. Okay. And I noticed that there was a theater that was there. I knew I could write. I knew I was a storyteller. And I said, do you mind if I put on one axe here? That's my first time actually directing. And I knew that that was meant for me, that whatever was my destiny was on the stage. That will change my life. I learned from the streets. I've used my life experiences and everything you see up on that screen is my life. And I'm not afraid to tell you my life because that's what an artist does. It wasn't until I felt comfortable with my sexuality and my color that my dreams were becoming fulfilled. Music has always been a part of the world that I'm into. So all of the work that I do, it plays a very strong part of the telling of the story. Drawn and sucked in by music because music, I believe, is a healer. I know what makes my heart beat fast or gives me goosebumps. For me, it's about making you feel that way, to give you goosebumps, to give you feeling. It's one of my favorite numbers ever. Here's the great part about it. Now in Star, they are in the exact same outfits when they can sing that song I Can Be. They're in the exact same outfit that Paula Kelley sent down to the shoe. Artists like she have paved the way for me to be here. So I honor her. Success is a combination of determination, confidence, and really a belief in a higher power. I'm sure there are far more talented directors than I. I know there are. It's not just about talent. It's about your drive with that talent. I often get asked, what does it take? How do I get in? And I think that the only answer for me is an unwavering belief in myself. I think that's what separated me from the people that I grew up with. You know, to dream is a big thing. I keep dreaming.