Queen Latifah Interview, HairSpray

MoviesOnline recently sat down with Queen Latifah at the Los Angeles press day to talk with her about her new movie, "Hairspray.” Now, in 2007, the third generation of the John Waters’ story is neither a remake of the 1988 film nor a filmed version of the 2002 stage musical, but instead a "re-invention” based on the hit Broadway show.

For the character of music-loving mom Motormouth Maybelle, the filmmakers went straight to their first choice, Queen Latifah. The actor is a big star, a beautiful woman and, thanks to some hair-raising wigs, blonde. "Being blonde brought out a whole other side of me,” says Latifah, smiling. "It was a side I didn’t even know I had. I mean, I’ve had my hair lightened but it’s never been platinum like that before. It was cool. I felt like a super hero with all that hair. I felt powerful.”

Latifah accepted the role without ever having seen a 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 Latifah received Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal as Mama Morton. "I just relied on their collective expertise, and I was very comfortable that they were going to deliver all the things they promised…and they did,” she says.

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.”

"Well, Maybelle and I both love music and understand the impact it can have in people’s lives,” she says. "Music can be the energy of change, and change can happen and will happen, but sometimes you got to help move it along. So, the protest march in the movie was very special to me. Not only because I get to sing a great song that Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote, 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. She sees her kids and their friends as a powerful force for the future and understands that there is always more life to live, but you have to be willing and able to go find it. That’s what these kids in the movie do…and they do it all through the music.”

Blessed with style and substance, Queen Latifah has blossomed into a one-woman entertainment conglomerate. She is a musician, television and film actress, a label president, author and entrepreneur. Heralded by the press and the industry as a force to be reckoned with, Latifah has quite simply done it all and shows no sign of slowing down. She’s a fabulous person and we really appreciated her time. Here’s what she had to tell us about her new movie:

MoviesOnline: WERE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE STAGE SHOW AND THE PREVIOUS MOVIE?

LATIFAH: Yes. Mm-hmm. I hadn't seen the movie in quite a while but I definitely went and saw the play. And that's where Tevin Campbell is. Tevin Campbell, he's on Broadway. That was pretty much my extent of it.

MoviesOnline: HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THIS? WHAT WAS THE PROCESS?

LATIFAH: The idea of it came up. My agents called me. We came and met with Neil and Craig here at the Four Seasons and sat down and had some lunch and there was no script and most of the cast was not in place but I worked with them on "Chicago.” I know how they work. I have a good relationship with them. Adam was directing. I've worked with Adam. We had a great relationship so I knew that was going to be a breeze and it's his element. I think John was involved, too. John was probably the only person cast other than me. And so I kind of banked on the quality control of those guys that the script would be right and they talked to me about the character and how important she is to these kids really making a change. And I thought that was cool. And that I would have some good music to sing. That was nice.

MoviesOnline: MICHELLE SAID SHE DIDN'T GIVE ANY ADVICE TO THE YOUNGER CAST MEMBERS. DID ANYONE COME UP TO YOU? DID YOU GIVE THEM ANY ADVICE?

LATIFAH: I did give them a little bit of advice when they came to me. Some of it I can't repeat because this is very sensitive stuff, but you know those kids are all right. I mean they really, for the most part, from everything I could see, they have their heads on straight. They were responsible. They showed up, they showed up on time, they showed up ready to go. Time will help them and experience will help them learn how to be savvy in this business. And a couple bumps and bruises along the way will toughen them up a little bit but other than that they're good to go. They don't really need any advice. They did what they were supposed to do and did it well. So I'm not the type that's going to sit and preach to people if they don't need it just because I've been around the block a few times. Nah. The kids really impressed me, especially Nikki because she's never done this. So even for her, first movie, big movie, big cast, big stars, you know, Oscar winning producers, and she handled it like a champ. I mean she was poised, she was excited, she was humble and she rocked it. I can't even see anybody else as Tracy Turnblad.

MoviesOnline: DID YOU BASE YOUR CHARACTER ON SOMEONE FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD OR DID YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR PERFORMER OR SINGER IN MIND?

MoviesOnline: THE MOVIE IS FULL OF GREAT MUSICAL NUMBERS, BUT I FOUND YOUR NUMBER IN THE MARCH WAS THE SHOW STOPPER.

LATIFAH: Thank you.

MoviesOnline: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT FILMING THAT SCENE? WAS IT EMOTIONAL TO YOU?

LATIFAH: It was definitely emotional to me. It was something I would not allow myself to forget. And it's easy when you got a bunch of young people around you and they're cracking jokes all the time and they're talking. But I didn't feel that type of seriousness where I needed to make everybody be quiet, where I was so in the moment that I needed to have that. Sometimes it's like that on a movie set and you're in it and you don't want to hear a bunch of crazy stuff going on, but I would never have so much fun that I would allow myself to forget that somebody marched so I could do this. And someone got bit by a dog and hosed by fire hoses so that we could do this, so we could sit at this table together, all of us, of different nationalities and races and talk. Or dance. Or make music. Yeah, that scene was emotional, too. It was weird because they wet the street down, one of the streets we shot on. And it was like I'm looking at all these kids, these black people, and this truck is shooting this water out and I'm like, it just reminded me of seeing images of people getting hosed and falling down and running and fear. So, yeah, all that was in the back of my head. All that was like underneath.

MoviesOnline: I THOUGHT I SAW A TEAR COMING DOWN.

LATIFAH: You might have. You might have because I love that song. The song alone just gets me there. Just the lyrics, the melody and the emotion of it, so I mean I'm glad because this movie stays here for the whole time and there's a couple of scenes that give you a minute to catch your breath and just sort of go into a different place and then it shoots you right back up. So you leave feeling good. I got you on that.

MoviesOnline: SOMEONE SAID IF THERE WAS A TAG TEAM, IF THERE WAS GOING TO BE AN INTERRACIAL COMEDY, IT WAS GOING TO BE QUEEN LATIFAH AND ADAM SHANKMAN. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING THAT, ABOUT BEING PART OF A GO-TO TEAM?

LATIFAH: What? Adam's white or something? [laughs] Adam's not white! [laughs] I don't know about the go-to team. I'm with it. I'll sign up for that. That's cool. But me and Adam, we click, man. That's my boy. He's crazy. And so am I, so we work well together. And we just bonded a lot on "Bringing Down the House.” So I understand him and anytime we get to work together, we're about to do "All of Me Together,” the remake of "All of Me,” so we're going to be working together again and that's going to be fun again. I enjoy going to work and having a good time. It's tough when you got to work with people who just are in a bad mood all the damn time. So this is, I don't know, we had fun. Hopefully people will come to the theaters and make this movie a big success.

MoviesOnline: DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU'RE DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF HOLLYWOOD FOR TAKING THESE CHANCES?

LATIFAH: To do musicals?

MoviesOnline: TO DO THE INTERRACIAL MUSICAL?

LATIFAH: No. No, not really. I think if anything Hollywood's going to be mad because they didn't get a hold of that properly first. Neil and Craig scooped it up. They did what they had to do. No. That kind of stuff is interesting to watch. And I think what's different about this movie is it doesn't beat you over the head with it. It's all over the movie, it's there. But it's a comedy, you know what I mean? Some people I think get nervous going to watch movies that involve some racism or size-ism for that matter because they feel like they don't want to feel guilty about things or they don't want to feel like, "Yeah, my grandfather owned your grandfather, but that's not me.” You know what I mean? They don't want to feel bad about it. And black people don't want to feel like "Oh, there they go, dogging us out again.” You know? But this is not really that kind of movie. It speaks to it, it says something about it, but the way it deals with it keeps you in the right… It keeps you in a light place at the end of the day.

MoviesOnline: HOW WEIRD WAS IT TO WALK DOWN THE STREET WITH TRAVOLTA IN THAT GETUP?

LATIFAH: I didn't walk down the street with Travolta in that getup. I don't think I would walk down the street with Travolta.

MoviesOnline: THE MARCHING SCENE WHERE YOU’RE MARCHING TOGETHER.

LATIFAH: Oh that one. I'm thinking you thought I might be walking down the street [with him] while he's in the suit. I'm like why would we be doing that? Oh. [laughs] Thank you. Now we're cooking with gas. Okay. Okay. You know what? I tell you we just got used to him like that. I mean I saw more of him as Edna than I did of John because he'd come in, he'd go in three hours of makeup and when I'd see him, we'd be on set. So he'd come to set as Edna. And even if he took the suit off, he still had the face and the hair, you know, until we shot again. So I kind of got used to him that way. He really had the sensitivity that she needed and the kindness. Edna's like a sweet lady. You like Edna. She can be tough, too, but she had to find her inner tiger again. So I kind of, I was used to him in that way. Yeah. Seeing him around here as a dude is like, okay, yeah. He's dude, you know what I mean? What up, John? How's it going? He's nice like that anyway. He's a sweet guy.

MoviesOnline: ARE YOU DOING THE LILY TOMLIN PART IN THE "ALL OF ME”REMAKE?

LATIFAH: Yes. I got the cush job. [laughs] Whoever's not going to be Lily Tomlin is going to be doing some serious work. Yeah. But we're hearing a bunch of pitches. We're supposed to pick one next week, pick a writer next week. Everybody's been coming in and pitching. Adam's sister and New Line and they're kind of just weeding through the pile and then we'll decide.

MoviesOnline: HAS ANYONE ELSE BEEN ATTACHED?

LATIFAH: No, no, no. Just me, New Line and Adam. Adam's company. But Adam's not directing necessarily. We're just producing it together.

MoviesOnline: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT 60’S MUSIC AND LISTENING TO IT?

LATIFAH: I love it. I love it. And I feel like it's making a comeback too with people like Amy Winehouse and Lauren, what she used on her album and there's another girl Sharon something I've been listening to. Gosh, I can't remember her last name but I hope it kind of makes a comeback. I mean that kind of music, that rhythm, that sound, it's just, it's so simple and powerful. Yeah, I hope that comes right back, too. That’d be nice.

MoviesOnline: THE KIDS IN THE AUDIENCE THAT I SAT NEXT TO WERE DRESSED UP LIKE 60’S GIRLS AND THEY WERE MOVING TO THE MUSIC.

LATIFAH: Yeah. For sure.

MoviesOnline: THAT WASN'T THEIR GENERATION.

LATIFAH: No, it sure wasn't. But music is universal so if you do it right it's going to resonate with somebody, you know?

MoviesOnline: ARE YOU WORKING ON ANY RECORDING RIGHT NOW?

LATIFAH: Yes. I'm about to finish my album in the next two weeks. It'll be done by the 30th. Another half like jazz and eclectic stuff, you know, all covers. It'll be out on September 18th.

MoviesOnline: WHAT'S IT CALLED?

LATIFAH: "Trav’lin’ Light.”

"Hairspray” opens in theaters on July 20^th.