On "Holiday" with Queen Latifah

She's beautiful, talented, plus-sized and just an inspiring force of nature! Queen Latifah is the poster child for the old saying "If you want it done right, do it yourself". She's a take-charge, actress, hip-hop artist, producer and, in her new romantic comedy Last Holiday, chief chef and bottle washer!

The usually glam star went plain for her role as a cookware saleswoman with a dream to be the chef in her own restaurant. Upon learning that she is dying, Latifah's character Georgia decides to blow her savings on a wild European holiday. Always cordial and friendly, Queen bounced into our interview wearing jeans, white tennies, brown camisole with floaty, flowered blouse on top, tons of gold bangle bracelets, big champagne colored diamond stud earrings and her hair in a swingy ponytail.

The upbeat diva, often very funny, spilled the goods on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, being a role model for so many teens and young women, her sorrow at the losses in New Orleans and her very favorite foods. Come on into Queen's kitchen...

TeenHollywood: We hear you love your grandma's cake. Did you pig out on it during the holidays or behave?

Queen: [laughs] I only got to eat a slice of the cake before I went away and now it's gone. My friend Tammy called me and said, "Dana [Queen's real name], why you gonna leave this cake at the house? Every time I come upstairs or downstairs, I gotta have a slice of cake!" She made 37 of those cakes. I told you that sour cream pound cake ain't no joke.

TeenHollywood: What was it about this movie that made you say, "Yes I should do this"?

Queen: I liked the idea of it. A girl finds out she only has three weeks to live and everything kinda takes off from there. There were a lot of things. #1 the idea of working with Paramount - we hadn't done anything before and there was some cool people up there. Then, the script- the idea of it and these particular writers and then the idea of playing a character who was laid out to be shy and meek.

TeenHollywood: Not exactly you.

Queen: Yeah. I have never played that type of character before and I like to challenge myself from one film to the next. And lastly and strangely enough, the idea of just being an actor. A lot of the films that I've been doing lately, we've also been producing. I love producing, but it requires a lot more energy to act and produce especially if you are hiring younger film directors. You tend to have a more hands on approach to the film because you just want to make sure that everything is covered. I was just ready to kick back and act, you know?

TeenHollywood: And you get to be glam in a glamorous place.

Queen: The idea of shooting in a foreign country appealed to my adventurous side. I've traveled many places in the world and I'm kind of one who can make their home anywhere. I can get a feel for the people and a lay of the land actually be able to survive there and be happy. So all of those things combined, sorta just excited me.

TeenHollywood: Speaking of being adventurous, did you actually ski and base jump?

Queen: Ahhh I did not base jump. But some of the stunts were just as scary as base jumping. I had to jump off of this platform that was at the edge of the dam. One bad bounce and someone doesn't catch me; we're going over this edge. I mean I did do some snowboarding and I tried to do some of the stunts, but no we had to hire the real deal.

TeenHollywood: You shot part of this film in New Orleans. What are your reflections of New Orleans pre the Katrina disaster?

Queen: [looks sad] I've always loved New Orleans. It is one of my favorite towns. I grew up in New York basically, New Jersey, but I spent a lot of time growing up in New York in the 1980's. New York was that place you could go to and be whoever you wanted to be. Do what you want to do. New Orleans was kinda the last frontier for that kind of living in America to me. I like the idea of people being whatever the hell they want to be and doing what they want to do, somewhere. And eating what they want to eat too. It's not always good for you, but New Orleans is that kind of town where they want you to always go there and have a good time.

TeenHollywood: People are really friendly?

Queen: Yeah. You go home and come on back and it's "How's it going baby, you having fun? You doing good? Come on over here and have some oysters!" You know they put the oysters on top of some fish on top of some fried thing; and some sauce. D**n! I never get that at home! I love New Orleans for the music and the culture. And to see what happened to it, broke my heart. To know that I worked with people from this town for months out of my life. It is one of the most life changing movies I've ever done in my life. It was really hard and sad. It was tough . So I did what I could to help out during the aftermath. I've tried to keep in contact with some of the choir members and the crew that we worked with. It's been tough. But they've been making it. These are some really strong and resilient people and they've been making it so far. I just hope the town comes back to what it once was.

TeenHollywood: There is a great gospel singing scene in the film where that choir really gets the "spirit". It seemed very real.

Queen: It was real. It was real. Choir members were catching the holy spirit right there. One of them passed out right there. And one of the producers was very concerned. "Is everything alright? Is she okay? [Laughing] "Oh everything is alright. She's gonna be just fine." Just let her get some air. People who don't go to church; or people who don't believe in God and who were on the set that day were moved and felt that energy. They were reenergized, reconnected in a way because that's a real choir. That church rocks.

TeenHollywood: This movie has a lot of fantastic food in it. If you could sit down and eat anything in the world, what would it be?

Queen: Wellllll, I'd have to visit a few places in the family. Definitely some of that cake we were talking about. I'd have to go for some of Aunt Marsha's mac and cheese, and then my Mama's fried cabbage; swing on down to Aunt Angel's for some strawberry-peach cobbler; swing on down to uncle Buddy's fried chicken with peas, potatoes, and onions cooked down until they are darn near mush. That's pretty much what I'd eat. [at this point we are drooling!]

TeenHollywood: You seem to feel comfortable glammed up or just wearing jeans. You are a role model for a lot of ladies to just be comfortable in their own skin. Can you talk about that? Got some advice?

Queen: I got my feelings hurt in so many different ways [in the past]. I hurt my own feelings by making decisions that were bad for me. And when you do that enough times, you realize that you are not doing it out of a place of love, but almost a self-hate. There's this guy that I know I shouldn't be with. Now after I've been with him and I feel like a tramp, I want to kill myself - that feels pretty bad. You do that to yourself once or twice and realize it doesn't feel good. Hold out and be strong and do the right thing. Wait for the right guy, someone who loves you really.

TeenHollywood: Great advice.

Queen: Just go straight through the pain. Whatever natural pain I had to go through, I just wanted to deal with then get it out of the way. I found that to be a much healthier way. I can definitely be destructive to myself in certain ways, but I've tried to chose not to be like that. [On body image] If you start judging yourself "Oh my butt's too big, my [boobs] are too big; my nose is too that or my hair is this. Or "so and so looks like this and he wants her". Then, it becomes that thing freshman year of high school or 7th/8th grade. And then you realize that you aren't her and you are not going to try to be her any longer.

TeenHollywood: You get some self-esteem.

Queen: Yeah. You start working on you and realize that there is only one you and you are as special as your mom has been telling you. And I kinda just grew through that period. Once I got through the physical awkwardness, I never gave up on myself through all of this.

TeenHollywood: You had the courage to show your talent.

Queen: I was still trying different things and experimenting with talent. You know, just jumping on the stage and going through that talent show and being scared to death at the first and then I'd find that one face and I just focus on them and it just comes out. You know it's all about overcoming fears and loving yourself enough to make the right choices. It's not about what you look like, but it's about your attitude and how you carry yourself and that shines through no matter who you are and people look at that.

TeenHollywood: Any more advice for teens and young people?

Queen: I also think that we have to keep young kids busy and try to keep them caught up in something other than themselves because if you think about yourself all the time you'll beat up on yourself all the time. Not just girls, guys can be hard on themselves too so put them in some type of extra-curricular activity. They won't have time to worry about that because they'll be too busy trying to get homework done so they can go practice and sleep.

TeenHollywood: Makes sense to me. Hey, congrats on getting your star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. What was going through your head at the time?

Queen: That me being where I'm at today is because of what Martin Luther King did back then and the millions of people who did what they did [in the Civil Rights movement]. That's what I was thinking about when I got that star. That star has never been about me. It's about me coming out here as a teenager and walking along that street and seeing some of the people that I admired on TV and thinking, "Hey, this could happen!" I'd love for this to happen". You know that inspiration - that dream. It's always been about that dream. Now you can walk up and down the street and see this girl who came from Newark, New Jersey. Just a normal kid from around the way who now has her name in granite, basically. It's not just for me, it's for everyone to share.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.