Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

Queen Latifah’s upcoming HBO film hasn’t premiered yet and it is already garnering buzz. The rapper/actress will portray the late blues legend Bessie Smith in the cable biopic, where she will also serve as the executive producer. Latifah’s movie will focus on the blues great nicknamed “The Empress of the Blues,” and how she became one of the most popular singers in the 20s and 30s, despite her troubled personal life. During an appearance at the Televisions Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour, Latifah opens up about being offered the role 22 years ago, but she turned it down. Why did she turn it down? Latifah claims she wasn’t ready for it just let. According to Latifah:

If anything, I came to have a little more story. When the project came my way, I don’t think I had the life journey that went along with it. I got to live more of the blues.

MUST READ: Bow Down To Her Highness: Queen Latifah Pays Laid-Off Talk Show Employees With Her Own Cash!

What’s changed the former talk show host’s mind now? Latifah charges it was her admiration for the blues. Latifah remarked:

The blues, the blues, I’ve gained such a great amount of respect for the blues … The blues are just as stunning to me now as when this first came to me. If anything, I feel like I have a little more of the story of what Bessie had to say.

RELATED STORIES:

Queen Latifah: ‘Strong, Positive Black Men Have Been A Big Influence On Who I Am’ [EXCLUSIVE]

AM BUZZ: Queen Latifah’s New Role; Nelly & Floyd’s Ex Make It Official? & More,..

The Reign Is Over: The Queen Latifah Show Has Been Cancelled

The grand return of the Melanin Awards amplifies and honors the finest Black-owned beauty brands with honest reviews, and discusses the evolution of beauty in Hip-Hop culture.