On the heels of her new movie, Joyful Noise, Queen Latifah talks candidly to More magazine as the December/January cover girl. She has come to terms with her imperfections, aging, and death while finding methods to the madness of actually being happy. . To read her entire feature, grab a copy of More magazine which hits newsstands Tuesday, November 22. Highlights include:
On her “assets” Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton are costarring in a new movie, Joyful Noise, which will be in theaters this December. “Can you imagine?…Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah singing, in one movie? All those breasts! We wish you all the breasts!”
On having kids: “I’m definitely going to adopt—or have—a child. I’ve wanted to adopt since I was 17 or 18 years old.”
Dolly Parton on Latifah: “She was fun to work with! She kind of towers over me, so we called each other Big and Small.”
On embracing her imperfections: “People say, ‘You have such beautiful skin!’ But guess what? I get pimples, too. I mean, shit, I’m a woman, I have hormones. Who knows what is going on? I’ve just got to roll with it…The reality is, I like imperfection. You take away from the world when you’re not yourself. Whatever is unique and special about you was designed by God. And when you try to be someone else, we don’t get you.”
On competing with Oprah on a day-time talk show: “I tried my best. But you can’t beat Oprah at her game.”
Queen Latifah on her friendship with Chicago costar, Catherine Zeta-Jones: “CZ! That’s my girl. She’s a rock star! Love her to death. Super family—Michael, the kids, everybody. You have to understand, that’s how she is—it’s ‘check your ego at the door.’ That’s how everyone was on the Chicago set.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones on Latifah: “I adore her. She is funny, smart and beautiful. Her talent raises the bar of any project she’s a part of.”
On being dirt poor and driving in a Flintstone-like car: “We had this car—we used to call it the Flintstone car! It was a Datsun B210, and it had a hole in the floor where you could see the street! But that little B210 Honey Bee took us so many places.”
On how caring too much almost ruined her: In an attempt to fast-track their Flavor Unit management and film production company into the music business, she and business partner Shakim Compere, a childhood friend, grew it too quickly, hiring too many people and losing track of expenses. She says, “Shakim and I—we had to have some tough love with ourselves. He’s a very generous person. I’m the same. So we were more concerned about taking care of everyone else, making sure the bills were paid, the payroll taxes, the health insurance. But we were the only two bringing in money! So we had to let a lot of people go, to restructure our situation and to detach emotionally.
On not being a diva: “Coming through my experience of being a young actor, when I had no power on the set and I was just kind of following everybody’s lead? Sure, I saw the big ‘whose balls are bigger’ sessions. And I just felt that when I got to a position where I had to say-so, there was a way to set a tone. If I’m not having fits, if I’m not having tantrums, if I’m not throwing a chair across the room? Probably no one else should be.”
On getting older and plastic surgery: “When I was a kid, I was always the one hanging with older cool people. I’ve met so many people all through my life who made growing older look good. Look at Jamie Lee Curtis, not getting plastic surgery and not changing her hair.”
On her “no regrets” past: “I don’t have any regrets. If I could have talked to my 19- or 20-year-old self, I would have said, “You’re going to be fine. It ain’t that serious!’ When you’re young, it’s like ‘Oh my God, it’s the end of the world!’”
On losing her brother 20 years ago: In her 2009 album Persona, she sings, “Wish I could share it all with Wink, and I can still see his face every time I blink.” She adds, “As my Aunt Elaine says, you never get over it, but you get through it…I think the most important thing I’ve learned is to not stop living. I know for a fact that my brother would not want me to stay there, stuck in that misery. If the person you lost loved you like them? There’s no way they would not want you to live your life to the maximum, to appreciate it, to go for your dreams, go for your goals.”
On lessons from her mom: “[She] did the best with what she had and moved up and up and up…No matter what our circumstances my mom taught me to carry myself with class. She told me to believe in myself but also helped me deal with rejection.”
Nikki Blonsky on Latifah, who filmed Hairspray with: “Working with Queen Latifah was one of the best experiences of my life,” she says. “I learned so much from her, and she always made me laugh, whether we were filming at 4PM or 4AM. She’s like the coolest big sister anyone could ask for!”
