'Precious' star Gabourey Sidibe with her Hollywood Breakthrough Award earlier this week.  Hopefully she'll ge some real recognition down the road.

Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles

In the pr battle for an Oscar nomination, every little bit helps and Gabourey Sidibe just landed a very subtle but significant win in her campaign to land a Best Actress nod.

Sidibe is absolutely heartbreaking as the title character in Lee Daniels' "Precious: Based on Push a Novel by Sapphire," but with the role being her professional acting debut some have questioned whether the first-time thespian was actually just playing herself in the drama.  This sort of scuttlebutt could diminish Sidibe's standing with SAG members who make up the largest portion of the Academy's membership.  No one will know for sure what Sidibe's fellow actors will think until SAG nods are announced in December, but the actress just landed what is believed to be her first post-"Precious" role in the new Showtime pilot "The C Word."

A potential new series for Laura Linney, the new dramedy finds the Oscar-nominee as Cathy, a suburban housewife having to find the lighter side of a recent cancer diagnosis.   Sidibe would play a student in Cathy's summer school class and the part would be recurring if Showtime picks up the series.  Linney' is reuniting with her "Kinsey" helmer Bill Condon who is directing showrunner Darlene Hunt's screenplay.

What's significant is that Awards Campaign has learned Sidibe landed the role completely on the basis of her audition.  It turns out most of the people in the room hadn't even seen her work in "Precious" yet.

And in a long Oscar season, that's a tidbit that can do wonders.

You'll be able to check out Sidibe's work yourself next Friday when "Precious" opens in limited release.  "The C Word" will begin shooting next month.

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