On a recent wintry day in New York, Queen Latifah made her way to the posh and oh so stylish Mandarin Oriental, an upscale home away from home that occupies the 35th through 54th floors of the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. The hotel's lobby lounge, with its spectacular views of Central Park, is currently "the place" for drinks and light fare in midtown Manhattan.

In Last Holiday, Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a meek, nondescript saleswoman who allows her fears to control her life until she's compelled to live everyday as if it's her last.

Queen Latifah on playing roles originally scripted for men in Last Holiday and Taxi…

I reserve the right to be creative and to be able to re-conceptualize a lot of these movies that need to be switched for someone like me, that need a little flavor to them or that need a new twist on them that wasn't there before. A lot of the studios are open to it. Talent drives a lot of the scripts that you see. So, if a studio wants to work with me, the writers think they can figure out a way to make it happen and they're into the idea, then it's really not that difficult. I never limit myself to female roles let alone the African-American female - neither do my agent and my partner/manager. When they're out there looking for projects, they're looking for good pieces of work not just a role for a Black female.

Queen Latifah on having LL Cool J as a love interest…

There is no love interest like LL Cool J [smile]…It's interesting because we used to work together with Flavor Unit Management. We've known each other for a period of time. His wife is cool as hell and always has been. So, I have to act when I'm allowing myself to think that way about him. But working with him was really fun because we both come from music backgrounds and have made this transition into film. We still have our roots in music so we could sit around and rhyme. He'd start rhyming one of Eric B. & Rakim's records and we'll rhyme the whole song. Or, we'll start talking about this event in hip hop history or that one. Or, he'll start rhyming one of my records and I'll start rhyming one of his. It's more of a "relatability" because we come from this world of hip hop music and respect each other for having made the crossover into film. We're two of the few rappers to rap, have their own sitcom, go into films, become successful in film and then wind up working together.

I thought, as far as a role, this would be particularly good for LL because you don't usually see him play this kind of character and I thought it would show more of his range and make him more empathetic to people. It's a beautiful character that he plays in this film. He's still that strong guy, but without the cockiness, the brashness and the physicality that you see with many of his roles. It's not based on his body or what he can do physically. It's an emotional sensitive guy who has a crush on a girl. It's a classis love story with these two, but they're so shy. There's an innocence about it to me that's beautiful.  MORE >>>

Queen Latifah on what attracted her to the role of Georgia Byrd…

The role was an opportunity to play a character that is shy, meek, humble and always bending over backwards for somebody else. Someone who is afraid of a lot of things and scared to take a chance - cooks these wonderful meals, but won't eat them for fear of getting fat; has all this money in the bank, but won't spend it for fear of needing it; and won't approach this guy she's in love with for fear of being rejected. So she's someone who lives in fear and that's not something I embrace. Personally, I fear for certain things, but I don't embrace fear. I challenge fear generally, rebel against it or fight to overcome it. It's not a choice. There is no other choice but to choose your desires and your goals over the fear of not being able to accomplish them.

Queen Latifah on her Holiday hair and makeup…

My personal hairstylist did my makeup for a while. She didn't do the European work, just the New Orleans work. Another guy, Nathan, took over and finished out the European work. Personally, I hate my hair in this movie, but for where we were and who might have been doing Georgia Byrd's hair and the fact that it's still Black hair to a degree and some people don't really know how to work with it, we just figured that stylists in Europe gave Georgia Byrd this crazy a$$ hairstyle that I, as Dana Owens, would never wear, but Georgia Byrd might [smirk].

Queen Latifah on relating to the working person…

I tend to relate to people period. I'm a heart-to-heart kind of person. I definitely relate to the working man. That's what my family is. That's what I come from. I'm new money so to speak. So, I still relate to regular struggles. I still can remember my mom holding down two to three jobs, while taking care of two kids, taking care of all the bills and trying to go to school. My character is a hardworking woman who's not appreciated at her job. When Georgia is about to quit, she's made aware of how valuable she is to her company. That shouldn't happen and that's really not right. You should be rewarded for good work and not played games with mentally. Georgia has that attitude where she cares about working people because she's been treated unfairly at her own job.

Queen Latifah on taking risks…

I take risks in things that I think will only affect me or things that I'm really passionate about. I ride my motorcycles. I drive fast cars. That kind of stuff is fun for me. But, I'm not going to risk your life though. I'm not stupid like that.

I'm a pretty risky person. I'm the one you can pump up to do something. I can pump myself up, which is even worse. I can sit there, gas myself up, get in the first car of a roller coaster, scare the sh!t out of myself for about 30 seconds and do it again! All my life, I've been in a battle to overcome my fears.  MORE >>>.  

 

There's plenty to do. I'll never run out of things to accomplish as long as I'm alive because there's so much to learn and so much to do. I've learned a lot. I feel like I have so much further to grow personally, spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally. So, I'll be hanging around until God says, "You just come on back."

There's a lot I want to do for kids. There are so many charitable things my partner Shakim and I are working on besides our scholarship foundation. There are adventure camps, acting camps, fundraisers and real estate ventures. We'd still love to create a studio within a high school. We want to give back to kids mostly. Obviously, to be a parent at some point has always been on my mind. It is going to happen sooner or later before my mother kills me. More and more movies, more TV, more production…There's so much in the entertainment field. There are so many places to go within this field that I found my home when I landed here. There are a lot more avenues to go up and things that I can do. I like being able to hire people and give them jobs. I'd like to discover somebody.

Queen Latifah on developing leadership skills …

I went through my follower period too. At some point, you want to be accepted. You want to feel part of something. A lot of kids are facing that with gangs, groups or clubs. It could be a positive sort of acceptance or it could be negative. At the end of the day, you have to be your own leader. You have to make your own decisions. All those decisions come with consequences and if you're ready to live with them, then that's your choice. But nothing is free and anything is possible. Now that anything that you could possibly dream of is possible, what are you going to do? Often, it's the company that you keep. If you're going to run with a crew decide which crew to run with. You don't want to be a follower; you want to be a leader. Kids are going to face those challenges. At some point, any true leader has had to stand alone.

Queen Latifah on the execution of Stan "Tookie" Williams

I'm totally against it. It's not about what Tookie Williams did or didn't do; I'm just not with the death penalty. I'm against it. I feel like there are too many people who have died who are innocent. It's a flawed system - look at how many people are free based on DNA. Who knows what other scientific things will come up in the future to free other people or convict those who claimed innocence? I feel like it shows a great lack of compassion. We don't honor ourselves as human beings by murdering a human. Just lock them up and throw away the key. Set them loose with a bunch of savages like themselves to deal with their own future. But to kill someone, that's absolute. There's no coming back from that.

Queen Latifah on the state of women in hip hop…

Somebody has to move the music forward at all times. If you're not really doing anything new or fresh, then it's just the same ole same ole. It's consistency. Somebody has got to do it and keep it going and that takes support from the people around you so you can go through what you're going through. It's kind of hard for women even having a relationship and being a rapper because we have babies. We're the ones that have to have the kids. Guys can rap, get their girlfriends, marry them, have babies and life goes on in terms of a personal life and a family life. With us, it's a little more challenging to slip one in between albums. Any number of things can affect a woman who is trying to do her thing out here. But it's a matter of time before that hot new girl comes along and she's supported by her manager, supported by her record label and the money is put behind her to make her a success and she's going to do it. You need those components. It's not only that you can rhyme and automatically you're going to be what Queen Latifah is or what Lyte or Salt 'N Pepa were. It takes time to build that up and it takes financial support. It ain't cheap to get a record played on the radio these days.

Queen Latifah on Lil Kim…

I want to go see the girl. We've written letters to get on the list. It's a Catch 22 with Kim. I feel bad for Kim because she's pretty much the only one who really didn't do anything. She just didn't tell anything. In the circles that we move in, there's something to be said about that. But I think there's a smarter way that things could have been done for her and people could have acted on her behalf in a smarter way that would not have had her wind up in this situation.

Queen Latifah on maintaining her privacy…

I don't feel like I have to share every part of my life with the public. There are still things that are private to me that I like to keep to myself just for my own sanity.

Queen Latifah on the drawbacks of being a star…

The negative aspects are when you're trying to have an argument and people come up to you and say, "Aren't you Queen Latifah?"

You want to say, "Yeah, now get the hell out of my face! Don't you see me arguing? Go 'head on!"

But you can't say that because somebody will get their feelings hurt and you feel bad. It's a pain in the butt though when you're just trying to have a conversation. It's a compliment to you, but at the same time it's very hard for the people around you. Everybody who loves and cares about you has to ride this thing with you - good times and bad. It's good when everything is cool, but when she gets arrested, it's bad. It has its ups and downs like any other profession. The only problem is you have your mistakes in front of the world and other people get to have theirs behind closed doors. M

January 2006

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 RLP Ventures, LLC and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved.
MOSÆC, MOSAEC, mosaec.com, MoQuotable, MoNews and Pfolio  are trademarks of RLP Ventures, LLC.