By Bonnie Siegler 

Queen Latifah is a study in contradiction, right down to her famous name.  The strength, majesty and magnetism of the title of Queen is tempered by the Arabic meaning of Latifah, a nickname given by a Muslim cousin: “delicate” or “sensitive”.  It’s a fitting juxtaposition for a woman who’s known for sizzling glamour at Hollywood events but when asked about her glam, she says she’s not one to doll up.  She’s a hip-hop pioneer who, a few years ago, relased a CD of sweetly crooned standards, titled simply “The Dana Owens Album”.  The decision to use her given name was a calculated one.  “The album is about me stripping my public persona and just letting myself free”, she explained at the time. 

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Queen Latifah has kept her roots in place by keeping her production offices, Flavor Unit Entertainment, in New Jersey, where her partner is a friend whom she has known since high school.  Oftentimes you’ll find her mother, Rita, a former teacher, hard at work too.  Her dad, Lance, a former policemen, travels with her a lot and manages security.  Since her Oscar-nominated turn in the big screen adaptation of “Chicago”, the actress has been in overdrive.  She has starred in or produced several projects during the past few years and her music career is still red-hot as she reveals in New Line’s re-invention of the 1988 John Waters cult classic film and the critically-acclaimed Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Hairspray”.  It features the all-star ensemble of John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad and Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle.  Latifaha ccepted the role without ever having seen the script, based on her previous collaborations with director/choreographer Adam Shankman (Bringing Down The House) and “Hairspray” producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who executive produced “Chicago”, for which the Queen received oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for her portrayal as mama Morton.  For Latifah, the part of Motormouth Maybelle hit close to home in many respects, perhaps culminating in her moving and spirited performance of “I Know Where I’ve Been”.  Hail to this persona of Hollywood royalty who now gets to the roots of her role in “Hairspray”….and other things. 

John Travolta compared you to Oprah with your universal feel good spirit.

Nice, that’s a good comparison. I can work with that. He was like, [I kind of look to you like Oprah?] He said that to me one day. I just thought it was the cutest thing. He’s all right, he’s a good guy.

Why did you have to be in this movie?

I just had to be in this movie. I just had to. It was Neil (Meron) and Craig (Zadan). I worked with them in “Chicago”. They’ve done this so many times and they do it well. And Adam Shankman, Adam is my boy. We worked together on “Bringing Down the House” so I knew what he would be bringing to the table and it was John. I felt comfortable with the team, that even though there was no script, I saw the original movie, I knew what the play was about. I knew they were going to do right by me because why else would they want me in it? They knew who they’re getting so I kind of trusted in that.  And the role of Maybelle – Maybelle and I both love music and understand the impact it can have in people’s lives.  Music can be the energy of change, and the change can happen and will happen, but sometimes you got to help movie it along.  So, the protest march in the movie was very special to me.  Not only because I get to sing a great song, but also because I felt the spirit of my own mother coming through.  She was a high school teacher who was very inspiring to her students and her own children.  She would always encourage and empower them and let them know that the world was theirs if they wanted it.  I think Maybelle is that same type of woman. 

Michelle Pfeiffer said your generosity as an actor – and person - allowed her to go where she needed to in her role as a racist woman.

Yeah, go there. Wasn’t she a good villain?

So it was never uncomfortable for you?

No. If you don’t commit to it and jump into it, and just go full out on it, then it’s not only going to be a bad performance, but it’s not going to really get the point across of how ridiculous things like size-ism and racism are. So yeah, she had to be the great villain, Velma Van Tussle, what a good name. I think she was amazing and she’s so not like that in real life that it was funny. She’s so sweet and giving in real life and sensitive.  I thought she rocked it.  She really- - she has that [sweet Michelle Pfeiffer?], you know what I mean?

How did you keep cracking each other up on set?

Because she would be losing it. She has to do all these takes where she’s just like uggghhh, things like that and it was just funny. How many ways can you do it? She’s doing different ways every time. She just made me laugh- it’s funny. It’s a comedy so I’m like trying not to laugh at some of the stuff that was really funny. John kind of made me laugh a lot too. He’s funny.

Is it easy for you to go between styles of music?

Yeah, because I’m actually not human. I’m a time jumper from another planet! Yeah, I like music. It can be from whatever era. It’s just something that beats within me, so going back and forth between different types of music isn’t difficult.  And I watched a lot of musicals growing up. I practiced that kind of singing. I didn’t really know what to do with it. I lived in Newark, I mean, what the hell was I going to do? It wasn’t like I was going to perform much of that. I mean, we did our school plays. That was about the only chance to get to sing songs like that but now it’s all paying off because here come the musicals again and I get a chance to have some fun with a lot of these songs.

What’s left to do in your career?

Sleep. I hear about it. It’s this elusive thing that people tell me about. Mostly people that don’t work, they know about it. They do a lot of it. People who drink a lot. What do I want to do? I don’t know, I want to do some kind of smart thriller, action kind of project. I want to get to shoot a gun again. That’s always fun for me because other than the gun range, you don’t do that in real life. And I wouldn’t mind doing some type of sci-fi. I like doing sci-fi. So some sort of big, non-cheesy, smart kind of science fiction thing. Maybe not a Star Wars but something in that vein could be kind of fun.

Blade Runner type?

Yeah, Blade Runner, something like that was cool. Total Recall, stuff like that. There’s not a whole bunch of those floating around so something like that would be a dream come true.

Could you develop that yourself?

I could if I had the great script. I damn sure could get it made, I’m almost 100% sure of that. Yeah, maybe I should call Tom Cruise, see what he’s got going on. "Got anything good? Can I kill somebody in one of your movies? Let me turn into a Transformer."

Do you also like sentimental movies?

[Gagging noise] No, I’m just kidding. I definitely do. I like a good tear jerker but I like having fun too. I ride motorcycles so that side of me wants to have fun. And I’ve done sentimental stuff; I just did Life Support for HBO and that was definitely a tear jerker. But I like to mix it up. I never like to do the same thing over and over because it is boring. It can get boring.

How did you get involved with “Arctic Tale”?

They just called and my agent told me she had a project that could be in the vein of “March of the Penguins” and I’m a big National Geographic fan anyway. I watch it at home all the time. So the way that they do movies and the footage they’re able to get always amazed me. So to be a part of something like that was kind of my own way of helping out with the environmental cause, maybe sort of bringing more light to people or bringing more attention to that entire cause because when you personalize it and make it about this cute little bear cub and this cute little walrus, it makes it more personal. Sometimes we just don’t get it. People don’t really make that connection. When you make things personal and you make them entertaining, people kind of can connect to it. I think it’s the same way people will connect to the messages in Hairspray. It’s entertaining but there are some messages in there.  Maybe because we don’t knock you over the head with it and tell you what to do that you could probably accept it a little more.

What kind of bikes do you ride?

I have a 900 RR and a 1300 Hayabusa and I have a chopper.

Describe the thrill you get from riding one of those motorcycles?

I feel close to God so to speak because at 80 miles an hour or 100 or 120, there’s nothing between you. There’s no car around you. And I feel close to my brother because it’s one of the things we used to do before he passed away was ride together. It’s just a freedom and it’s something that riders know because you ride past another motorcyclist and they give you a little nod. We’re just cool with each other because we get it. We realize we’re taking a chance to some degree but this thrill, there’s a freedom in it. There’s a oneness and there’s quiet time with your own thoughts because you’re on that bike by yourself usually. There’s nobody talking to you and you have to be very alert. You have to pay attention. Your senses are heightened because if you’re not careful, you could hurt yourself. So you’re always aware and observing and it’s just kind of like a peak.

Where can you get up to those speeds?

I’ve gotten up to those speeds in Jersey on the parkway. Smooth, nice smooth road, straightaways., I don’t really ride that fast most of the time. I just like riding. I ride around the city of Los Angeles too, and you’ve got to be careful because  people drive crazy out here.  Riders like to ride between cars a lot and you don’t see people. I drive my car and I don’t see motorcyclists coming sometimes and it’s kind of scary. So if you get out, I like to go to the beach, get out by the ocean or ride through the canyons or something. That’s nice.

Do you wear the leathers?

No, just a leather jacket.

What advice would you give young Hollywood who’s cutting up?

Most of young Hollywood is not cutting up though. Most of young Hollywood is doing all right.

Just three or four?

But they’re young. They probably just need to take it down a minute. Back up, take a step, look in the mirror, make sure you’re all right. Hire a damn driver. We all have to learn the hard way sometimes but it’s okay to ride in the backseat sometimes. It’s really all right. Designate a driver. That’s what I got to say to the young people because you can’t tell them, "Don’t do this, don’t do that." We all did it. We all tried things. That’s what life is about: learning, experiencing. You don’t learn sometimes unless you fall on your face but you don’t want to fall on your face too many times on the same things. You want to recognize when you have a problem dealing with something and just ask for help. I think most people will be compassionate to that idea but they also have to realize a lot of people are looking at them as role models. How do you want to use it? Do you want to use it for the greater good or do you want to use it for a bunch of wasted stuff? Yeah, come do this. I’m not saying that they do drugs or something but if they did, that’s not what you want to show. Smoking a cigarette? Hmm, it’s cool, she’s smoking. Maybe I should smoke. I used to smoke and I wish it wasn’t so freaking cool; I wasn’t trying to be cool. Because that’s why I wound up smoking and having to quit one of the hardest habits you can break. It’s a bitch quitting smoking and it tears your freaking lungs up. So I don’t know.

How can movies express messages to people in ways that books or articles cannot?

Movies are entertaining. At the end of the day, you want to entertain someone and you want to keep their attention. You can read a book and pick it up, put it down and an article you can do the same way. But in a movie, you’re here for the two hours to watch this film, so hopefully you’re captured by what you see on the screen. And I think the reason a lot of movies can penetrate is because you see yourself in them. You see real life scenarios. I was watching “Knocked Up”, people think that’s just a big comedy, just a big joke, but I found so many relatable issues, relatable themes in there. Just relationships and losing your identity sometimes in a relationship. I can relate to that guy who she thoughtwas cheating but he really just wanted to play fantasy football, just wanted to be one of the guys sometimes. I’ve seen my friends go through that; it’s happened to me before, but movies have a way of capturing your attention, especially when you see someone you know or yourself in them.

How do you tie Hairspray into all that?

Oh, definitely Hairspray.  When we talk about the racism, when we talk about the sizeism and I definitely relate to the confidence that Motormouth tries to get people to feel.  She has to be a pretty confident woman to own this record store, to be a host on TV, to have all these kids think that she’s actually cool enough to hang out with.  And to encourage Edna to just be herself. It’s all right, girl, just be you.  I think a lot of people make bad decisions when they don’t have high confidence. When their self esteem is low, they’re willing to tolerate stuff that they shouldn’t. Women will stay in an abusive relationship when they have low self esteem. A man will create one when he has low self esteem. A lot of what happens, a lot of the ills of the world probably have a lot to do with how a person feels about themselves on the inside. So I think “Hairspray”is one of those movies that kind of bring a little bit of attention to that and tries to get people to step out and be confident about themselves. Don’t give up. Try. It’s okay. They might close that door today but another one will open. Just keep moving forward.

Would you have liked to live in the ’60s era of “Hairspray”?

I don’t know, the ’60s were kinda hardcore. I probably would have been getting hosed down or bit by some dogs, but they were also pretty damn creative times.   No, I’m cool living right where I’m at. I’m going to reap the benefits that others already lived there.