Entertainment, Movies - Army Times

Queen bee

With her chic new haircut and imposing 5-foot-10-inch stature, Queen Latifah would appear to be in full-on Hollywood glamour mode on a fall afternoon.

She is, after all, doing interviews to publicize her latest movie, “The Secret Life of Bees,” which recently opened.

And it is her name that receives top billing. Above the title. But then the Queen speaks.

And that voice — rich, deep, inflected with a drawl — part Newark, N.J., part Southern and sometimes punctuated by a chuckle or just a mischievous, playful look — reminds you that even now, with the top billing and the hotel suite to go with it, she’s still a down-home, keeping-it-real kind of woman.

“I just try to be myself wherever I go,” she says simply, with a shrug, as she sits back on a couch for a brief one-on-one.

Of course, it’s not that simple. In Hollywood, it never is, as hundreds of star stories have proved over the years. But there’s something about Latifah. At 38, she is a superstar.

The entertainer has achieved success not just as a recording artist, but as a film actress and pitchwoman, most notably for CoverGirl cosmetics (she even has her own line for CoverGirl) and Jenny Craig.

But Latifah has always been more than just a pretty face. After all, this is the young woman who took on the entire hip-hop community — and won a Grammy in the process — for her 1994 hit “U.N.I.T.Y.,” in which she rapped a challenge to stop using the terms “bitches” and “hos” in hip-hop.

Since 1989, when she released her first CD, the Newark native has been on a roll, morphing from just another rapper to becoming a leader of the genre.

She’s found success in television and film and has even delved into jazz music, all to critical acclaim. She earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in the movie musical “Chicago.” She won a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Emmy, for her performance in the HBO miniseries “Life Support.”

“She is, without question, a bona fide star,” says Hollywood producer Neil Meron, who worked with Latifah on the film version of the musicals “Chicago” and “Hairspray.” “In Hollywood, her name can green-light a project. That’s the true measure of the woman. People in the industry have a great deal of respect for her and her work.”

“The Secret Life of Bees,” based on the novel of the same name by Sue Monk Kidd, is about a search for love and serenity, set in the Jim Crow South during the civil rights era. The film also stars Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo.

“Probably the big thing that drew me most to this script was that you have all these dynamic women. Every one is different, from one to the next,” Latifah says. “For a long time in Hollywood, that’s been a big complaint. The roles [never showed] the layers of who we really are.”

In real life, Latifah’s refuge is her house in Colts Neck, N.J., the town she’s called home for several years now when not in Los Angeles or on location for another project.

“What I love about [the Jersey Shore] is it’s the best-kept secret in a way. I mean, people don’t really realize how nice our beaches are, which is kind of cool,” she says. “It’s just a great place to be, and it’s part of just growing up in New Jersey to me.

Director-screenwriter Gina Prince-Bythewood says Latifah’s spirit is why the actress was the first choice for the lead role in “The Secret Life of Bees.”

“Latifah just has this innate warmth and strength about her. She’s larger than life, and that’s what August had to be,” the director says.

“Queen is so warm, so vivacious, and so instantly you want to be her friend when you meet her,” co-star Okonedo says.

Latifah shrugs off such compliments. One senses that for all the accolades and accomplishments, the public persona of Latifah as a for-real homegirl is not an act.

For example, she’s the kind of star who, during a Newark press event for ”Hairspray“ in the summer of 2007, took down the security rope, much to the chagrin of her security detail, so she could wade into a crowd of fans to pose for pictures with them.

Perhaps part of this is because of Dana. That’s Latifah’s real name, and to her family and friends, it is Dana and her family who keep the whole Latifah phenomenon in check.

Queen Latifah’s projects include a hip-hop album tentatively scheduled for release in December, filming on a new movie due to begin this month, promoting her Queen collection with the CoverGirl line, and working on a clothing line for “curvaceous” women, as she put it. Also, she appeared as moderator Gwen Ifill in a parody of the vice presidential candidates debate on “Saturday Night Live” with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Jason Sudeikis as Joe Biden. Oh yes, she also says she plans to become good friends again with Jenny, as in Jenny Craig.

Asked what she might change about her life if given the chance, Latifah pauses for a long moment before deciding there’s not much she’d change.

“I wish I had learned a little more by people’s example rather than ... holding my hand in the fire and getting burned,” she says. “But really, I think I would probably just live more fearlessly.”