Gabourey Sidibe received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her debut role in the 2009 film Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, and won instant fame for her heartbreaking portrayal of the movie’s title character. Since then she has appeared on three seasons of American Horror Story, was a cast member of the Showtime series The Big C, and hosted Saturday Night Live. She currently plays Becky on Fox’s popular musical drama series Empire. In her new memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not To Stare, Sidibe describes her Bed-Stuy childhood and family life, her first job as a phone sex talker, and her unconventional rise to celebrity.  

If you would like to do some background reading and watching before attending the Author Event with Gabourey Sidibe in conversation with Tracey Matisak on Thursday, May 4, 2017, follow the links below for some highlights from her promising and accomplished career.

Watch the behind-the-scenes footage from Gabourey Sidibe's This Is Just My Face cover shoot.

The star has more than a million followers on her @gabby3shabby Instagram page.

In Precious, Sidibe played a 16-year-old girl pregnant with her father’s child for the second time who is trying to escape abuse at the hands of her mother. The film won numerous awards, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award. Sidibe received Golden Globe and Academy Award Best Actress nominations for her performance.

Gabourey Sidibe accepts the award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture at the 41st NAACP Image Awards.

The actress opens up about her recent weight-loss surgery in this excerpt from her memoir, featured in PEOPLE magazine.

She discusses social media and opens up about self-image in this InStyle magazine article.

_{Photo by Billy Ballard, InStyle Magazine}

Gabourey Sidibe will speak with Tracey Matisak on Thursday, May 4, 2017, 7:30 p.m. at Parkway Central Library, where she will discuss her new memoir, This Is Just My Face: Try Not To Stare.