After Will Smith Queen Latifah is the only person to have crossed so successfully into hip-hop, movies and television. Even though Queen received her first Oscar nomination for her performance in 2002s Chicago she still hasnt forgotten her music or comedy roots. Her next album is being released this month, her next big budget movie is Taxi with Jimmy Fallon and her latest is a film she produced herself, The Cookout.
Check out the website for The Cookout
Daniel Robert Epstein: When I spoke to Tim Meadows I asked him why rappers are always late.
Queen Latifah: Man we dont play that, no Im kidding. Everything happens at night for us. This is early.
DRE: 5pm is early?
QL: Yes.
DRE: What made you do this movie?
QL: One of my good buddies Ramsey Gbelawoe, who helped me get into this business, wrote the script. Shakim [Compere] came up with the concept because he had gone to a cookout, and for those that dont know, a cookout is barbeque. He had gone to one and the elements of this story happened to him. His whole family had shown up and some of them were buck wild. He thought there was a story in that. So the Flava Unit got together and we started fleshing out the idea and making it into a complete concept. Then Ramsey came in and wrote it. We had already sold the idea to Lions Gate. We got Lance [Rivera] to direct it because he had been down with us for a while so we wanted to give him an opportunity. The reason we did this particular kind of movie was because we want to make fairly inexpensive urban films. We didnt want to tell the typical story of some hood stories that we all see all the time. Theyve been told well by some people so we wanted to make something that was more of a family oriented comedy. Maybe people think urban means black but for us urban means citified which means people from the city can identify with it. Its not just for black people.
DRE: Were you always going to play the psycho security guard?
QL: I wasnt attached to this when we first sold it. It was just something that we thought would be a good idea. The story didnt require me and I knew I was shooting another movie at the time but this role was a fun little role. Shes off her rocker. I thought I could come in and play that nut. We thought it would be a fun way to get Queen Latifah in the movie which from a business perspective would help promote it.
DRE: When did you realize you were good at comedy?
QL: There was a lot of humor in my house growing up. I didnt think I was comedian funny and I still dont think that. But I think I have a pretty good sense of humor and good comedic timing which I figured out when I was doing Living Single because people in the business made that observation. Little things like that were put in my ear over the year. Im not one of those people who has to look pretty all the time in the movie. Im willing to take chances which Ive been doing since Set it Off.
DRE: Did you ad-lib anything in The Cookout?
QL: There was some little bits. I asked for the gold tooth then I just started sucking on it. We sort of developed the character on the spot.
DRE: Were you thinking of anyone in particular when you made up the character?
QL: Any damn fake rent a cop. Anyone thats ever harassed you in a supermarket or clothing store. Theres plenty of them out there. They make you take your shoes off and they really get off on that stuff. I figured my character would have a bit of a power trip. The difference is that she has that machine gun in her office. Dont ask me how she got the weapon.
DRE: How was it shutting down big chunks of New York City streets to shoot Taxi?
QL: That was fun. Its always good to not have traffic to deal with. When we shot Taxi it was like the perfect storm of traffic. There was the UN convention so every delegate in the world was here. It was damn near impossible to get some of those shots and we lost a lot of money in New York trying to nail those shots. Maybe a couple of months earlier we would have been fine.
DRE: How was it going back and forth between the two movies?
QL: They are two totally different movies. I was so tuned up for Taxi that I could just go back to The Cookout and relax a bit. They are both comedies so I was able to stay in the comedy place. It was different when I was doing Set it Off and Living Single at the same time because I had to go from gangster to happy. Its almost like schizophrenia and thats where my acting coach comes in. He doesnt show me how to act but how to switch from Queen Latifah to Dana Owen to whatever character Im playing.
DRE: When is your next album coming out?
QL: My singing album is coming out September 28 through Universal. Its called The Dana Owens Project. Its an eclectic mixture of jazz, blues, soul and a couple of pop tracks on there. Its all covers of 30s to the 80s anything from Diana Washington to Jose Feliciano.
DRE: What advice do you have for people wanting to break into any of the industries youre in?
QL: Its a hustle. You have to know who you are and where you are at all times and never lose track of that. Be seen wherever you can, local plays, talent shows or whatever it is you need to get a break.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the website for The Cookout
Daniel Robert Epstein: When I spoke to Tim Meadows I asked him why rappers are always late.
Queen Latifah: Man we dont play that, no Im kidding. Everything happens at night for us. This is early.
DRE: 5pm is early?
QL: Yes.
DRE: What made you do this movie?
QL: One of my good buddies Ramsey Gbelawoe, who helped me get into this business, wrote the script. Shakim [Compere] came up with the concept because he had gone to a cookout, and for those that dont know, a cookout is barbeque. He had gone to one and the elements of this story happened to him. His whole family had shown up and some of them were buck wild. He thought there was a story in that. So the Flava Unit got together and we started fleshing out the idea and making it into a complete concept. Then Ramsey came in and wrote it. We had already sold the idea to Lions Gate. We got Lance [Rivera] to direct it because he had been down with us for a while so we wanted to give him an opportunity. The reason we did this particular kind of movie was because we want to make fairly inexpensive urban films. We didnt want to tell the typical story of some hood stories that we all see all the time. Theyve been told well by some people so we wanted to make something that was more of a family oriented comedy. Maybe people think urban means black but for us urban means citified which means people from the city can identify with it. Its not just for black people.
DRE: Were you always going to play the psycho security guard?
QL: I wasnt attached to this when we first sold it. It was just something that we thought would be a good idea. The story didnt require me and I knew I was shooting another movie at the time but this role was a fun little role. Shes off her rocker. I thought I could come in and play that nut. We thought it would be a fun way to get Queen Latifah in the movie which from a business perspective would help promote it.
DRE: When did you realize you were good at comedy?
QL: There was a lot of humor in my house growing up. I didnt think I was comedian funny and I still dont think that. But I think I have a pretty good sense of humor and good comedic timing which I figured out when I was doing Living Single because people in the business made that observation. Little things like that were put in my ear over the year. Im not one of those people who has to look pretty all the time in the movie. Im willing to take chances which Ive been doing since Set it Off.
DRE: Did you ad-lib anything in The Cookout?
QL: There was some little bits. I asked for the gold tooth then I just started sucking on it. We sort of developed the character on the spot.
DRE: Were you thinking of anyone in particular when you made up the character?
QL: Any damn fake rent a cop. Anyone thats ever harassed you in a supermarket or clothing store. Theres plenty of them out there. They make you take your shoes off and they really get off on that stuff. I figured my character would have a bit of a power trip. The difference is that she has that machine gun in her office. Dont ask me how she got the weapon.
DRE: How was it shutting down big chunks of New York City streets to shoot Taxi?
QL: That was fun. Its always good to not have traffic to deal with. When we shot Taxi it was like the perfect storm of traffic. There was the UN convention so every delegate in the world was here. It was damn near impossible to get some of those shots and we lost a lot of money in New York trying to nail those shots. Maybe a couple of months earlier we would have been fine.
DRE: How was it going back and forth between the two movies?
QL: They are two totally different movies. I was so tuned up for Taxi that I could just go back to The Cookout and relax a bit. They are both comedies so I was able to stay in the comedy place. It was different when I was doing Set it Off and Living Single at the same time because I had to go from gangster to happy. Its almost like schizophrenia and thats where my acting coach comes in. He doesnt show me how to act but how to switch from Queen Latifah to Dana Owen to whatever character Im playing.
DRE: When is your next album coming out?
QL: My singing album is coming out September 28 through Universal. Its called The Dana Owens Project. Its an eclectic mixture of jazz, blues, soul and a couple of pop tracks on there. Its all covers of 30s to the 80s anything from Diana Washington to Jose Feliciano.
DRE: What advice do you have for people wanting to break into any of the industries youre in?
QL: Its a hustle. You have to know who you are and where you are at all times and never lose track of that. Be seen wherever you can, local plays, talent shows or whatever it is you need to get a break.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
AndersWolleck said:
CuntParade said:
total personal opinion, but i don't like the image portrayed by queen latifa (methodman and redman as well for that matter). i think it just supports ethnic labeling to a gross degree. but that's just me.
thats a weird statement from a man who's SG name is CuntParade
Well, your profile pic is a pussy! Or am I taking this too far?
CuntParade said:
total personal opinion, but i don't like the image portrayed by queen latifa (methodman and redman as well for that matter). i think it just supports ethnic labeling to a gross degree. but that's just me.
I agree entirely. bringing down the house, anyone?