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She tells
Ms. Hughes that she worked almost as hard to get the
role in Chicago that landed her an Oscar nomination
as she did on the film itself because she had to audition
three times
"I really
did [want the role], because rarely do you get an opportunity
to work with a a film studio that really enjoys the
process of creating something great. And then with a
director who is known for Broadway, you just know youre
going ot get to sing. You're going to get to dance.
You're going to get to act. You don't often get to show
those three abilities, those three skills in one film,"
Queen Latifah said.
When Ms.
Hughes suggests Queen Latifah would be as good at portraying
Pearl Bailey as Jamie Foxx was as Ray Charles, Queen
Latifah said she was exploring that possibility, along
with some other renowned African American womens life
stories, including Bessie Smith, Etta James and Sarah
Vaughn.
She discusses
her box-office hit with Steve Martin, Bringing Down
the House, which she executive produced and other movie
projects in the pipeline, as well as her plans for her
production company.
Queen
Latifah also talks about something close to her heart
- her family foundation, the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship
Foundation, created after her brother, a young police
officer, was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1992
at the age of 24. Created by Queen Latifah and her mother,
a schoolteacher, the foundation provides scholarships
but also requires that scholarship recipients return
and serve as a mentor in their community to help spread
further the good works of the scholarship program.
In a surprise
visit thats become the hallmark of TV One on One, Queen
Latifah is joined by attorney Evans Onyanwu, an early
Lancelot Owens scholarship recipient from her hometown
of East Orange, NJ, who talks about how much this scholarship
program changed his life.
"...it
was not like a program where you're given a scholarship
and they say...you're on your own," Mr. Onyanwu said.
"The [Foundation] works with you, and they continue
to work with you throughout, and its really helped me
become the person that I am now."
Launched
in January 2004, TV One (www.tvoneonline.com)
serves 20 million subscribers, offering a broad range
of lifestyle and entertainment-oriented original programming,
classic series, movies, fashion and music designed to
entertain, inform and inspire a diverse audience of
adult African American viewers. TV One's investors include
Radio One [NASDAQ: ROIA and ROIAK; www.radio-one.com],
the largest radio company that primarily targets African
American and urban listeners; Comcast Corporation [NASDAQ:
CMCSA and CMCSK; www.comcast.com], the leading cable
television company in the country; The DirecTV Group;
Constellation Ventures; Syndicated Communications; Pacesetter
Capital Group; and Opportunity Capital Partners.
Editor's Note: Photos of Queen Latifah
and Ms. Hughes can be accessed at ftp://www.tv-one.info
User name is tvpress, password is tv1
PRESS CONTACT: Lynn McReynolds, 410-268-0275
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