At any press junket, the room livens up when the talent walks in the room-- tape recorders go on, reporters sit up straight and everyone greets the star with a bright hello. But when Queen Latifah walks into the room, the whole thing actually gets brighter-- everyone compliments her on her new haircut and her outfit, and as soon as she laughs, the spell has been cast. You can't become a movie star without some charisma, and Latifah has enough for about four movie careers.
As August Boatwright in The Secret Life of Bees, Latifah translates her immense energy and warmth into a maternal strength, playing the oldest of three sisters who take in a white orphan and her black caretaker at the height of the Civil Rights movement. She talked with a room full of admiring journalists about playing a black female character who isn't a stereotype, cooperating with her bee co-stars, and toward the end, things got a little political. Queen Latifah wants you to know you have no idea who she'll vote for in that voting booth!
How was working with the bees?
I was like, look guys, I'm not gonna smash one of y'all. Just don't sting me. And they were very fine to me, since they get moody sometimes, especially when it's cold outside. And we shot on some kind of chilly days.
And you read the book?
Yeah, but I had read it a few years back. When Gina's version [of the script] came about, I just read her version. I didn't read the book again. I tend to do that. If a movie has been remade, I try not to watch the original. Sometimes you start scrutinizing it in a different way, or you take away the creativity of the film version. How did you get yourself into the more emotional moments of the story?
Music is very important to me. I connect probably quicker through music than I do through any other medium. I could literally play one verse of a Clark Sisters record, or eights bars, and something strikes me in such a way that it brings me right there. Usually I'm looking to some type of gospel, which tends to get right to my spirit. This movie, I can honestly say, I was so present. I was so in August's body. It was like, I know this person. I felt like these are my sisters. This is where we live, this is what we do, Zach is my godson, all these women are my friends. I just felt her. I felt connected to where we were, what was going on at that moment. Like I said, more than any film that I've done in a long time.
Did you have relatives or ancestors who personally experienced the Civil Rights movement?
No, not really. I'm not related to any black person in the country... of course I got relatives! [The entire room bursts out laughing] My dad works with me on a lot of movies. Any question I had, I can just ask him, for someone who was actually around at that time. I also kind of grew up in the South. My grandmother and my aunts and uncles, a lot of them were from Maryland and Virginia. I experienced some racism in New York. Just go try to get a cab, you'll feel it. They'll pass me and pick you up. That immediately connects you to how painful it is. That's the kind of things that affected me as a kid. How did it feel to be part of a film that represents black women in such a range?
It's probably the thing that drew me most to the script, that you get to see these dynamic women. Everybody's different from one to the next. I think for the longest time in Hollywood that has been our complaint, that we were relegated to the maid, the comedian, the guys always had to wind up in a dress somehow, or the criminal. It was never the layers of who we really are and the dynamic ideas of who we really are. This is one of those films that exemplifies how we can be completely different from one to the next. It's just beautiful to watch. I feel very proud of being a part of it, and having it directed by an African-American woman.
What message do you think the urban, hip-hop community should take from this movie?
Dammit... now I've got to philosophize. One thing I hope the hip-hop community takes from it is how important it is to get your ass out there and vote. Get registered to vote. There was a time, not just a black person, but be walking with a black person while they register to vote and see if both your heads don't get cracked. People literally died for the right to vote. And I think while women are licking their wounds from the fact that Hillary isn't the presidential candidate, and that she's not the vice-presidential candidate, understand that women couldn't vote at a certain time too. Think about those women who went through hell so they could get you the right to vote. Make your own decision, because we have the right to do that. At least, bare minimum, exercise your right to be heard. What we love to do in the hip-hop community is be heard. There's no greater way to express yourself than to go in a voting booth and close that curtain behind you, and look at these buttons with these names on it-- it's in your hands, right then and there. I don't think people know how much fun it is to vote. We've really got to get the fun of voting out. It's fun to go in there, and no one knows what the heck you're about to do. Know what I mean? You feel so good when you come out of there. I think it's a great way to have your voice heard, and it's really a lot of fun. You feel like you're on a high when you come out of that polling place. I just think it's a wonderful day. I hope they take the importance at least of voting, and how we can affect change.
