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Queen Latifah reminisces on the Blockbuster film that launched her acting career.
June 7th marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever theater release in which Lee tackled the subject of interracial relationships.
Written, produced and directed by Lee, Jungle Fever was set in 1990s New York City. The film starred Wesley Snipes who played the role of the successful media executive who leaves his Black wife (played by Lonette McKee) for a white woman (played by Annabella Sciorra).
The film also, as you might recall, debuted a young Queen Latifah who was then, an emerging hip-hop artist.
“I just remember it was hot, it was really hot,” Latifah tells ABC News. “It was summertime in Harlem. I had this tiny little [dressing] room.”
“I just remember being nervous and I didn’t really know what I was doing,” she reveals. “And I had a little bit of a cold so I kind of did what I could and got my feet wet.”
‘Spike Lee’s Lil’ Joints’ Returns with ‘2 Fists Up’
Despite Latifah’s admitted inexperience on a film set, she pulled it off like a pro as the Sylvia’s – an infamous Harlem soul food joint – waitress who criticizes the couple for flaunting their relationship publicly.
“It was like a really memorable scene in that film at the time so it was kind of fun to do that,” said Latifah.
Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett & Regina Hall Travel to ESSENCE Festival in New Film ‘Girl Trip’
Fast forward twenty-five years and Latifah is still slaying the big screen. In her latest film endeavor, she and Jada Pinkett-Smith join Regina Hall in an a road trip to attend the ESSENCE Festival in Girl Trip.
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