JUST WRIGHT | An Interview with QUEEN LATIFAH

May 10th, 2010

It's been some time since there's been a Black on Black romantic film on the big screen, and while 'Love and Basketball' came out in 2000, Queen Latifah and Common are looking to use those words to describe their new film, 'Just Wright.'

Directed by Sanaa Hamri, Queen Latifah plays Leslie Wright, a physical therapist who's looking for Mr. Right and may have found him when she falls in love with her client, NBA All-Star Scott McKnight (played by Common).

The film also stars Paula Patton, Pam Grier, James Pickens, Jr., Laz Alonso, and Phylicia Rashad.

In Latifah's previous films, her romantic counterparts have included Mos Def ('Brown Sugar'), Henry Simmons ('Taxi'), Djimon Hounsou ('Beauty Shop'), and LL Cool J ('Last Holiday').

Blackfilm.com caught up with the New Jersey native as she spoke about her character, and casting Common as her love interest.

As a producer and star, how much did you shape the role of Leslie Wright because it seems to be an ideal glove fit for how we see Queen Latifah?

Queen Latifah: It was an ideal fit because we conceived it from the beginning. This was something Shakim (Compere) and I thought of. It might look like a little bit of me in there because I am a basketball ball lover and I am a very nurturing person. I think I'm a very determined and successful person in my own right as Leslie is. I have a great relationship with my father and my mom as Leslie does, and I wanted to show that. But she is not me. She has a lot of qualities that I have as well.

What about the idea that she is waiting for Mr. Right?

QL: Leslie will know, but I'm way different. I've had four or five Mr. Rights, but always turned into the runaway bride.

Being from New Jersey, was it always your choice to make the Nets the team where Scott plays? QL: We are from Jersey so we tend to gravitate everything from there. We try to show the state in a different way other than what a lot of people have it to be. It's very superficial and that's not what Jersey is all about. We're very dynamic and tucked in between New York and Philly. I grew up on the Nets. I lived near a barbershop where (former NBA player) Darryl Dawkins used to get his haircuts. I had his poster on the wall and he signed one for me. We are a fan of local teams and we would have taken the Nets, or the (New York) Knicks, or which ever team felt the most comfortable. This film had moved quite a bit before we settled in New Jersey. It was first going to be set in Chicago, then Miami, and then New Jersey. The business side of things was the reason it moved around. Can you talk about working with Common? QL: I'm glad that we have known each other already. Paula (Patton) and I are great friends and so is Common. Working with each other was like working with an old friend. You didn't have to create the chemistry and I hate having to do so. Most of the time, I have a say as to who's in the film; but not always. When you get to work with someone you know and Common and I are both Pisces, we just clicked on the same page. It was never a challenge to work on set.

How did the decision come to cast him and not some actor or player 6'5 or taller?

QL: (NBA player) Allen Iverson is not 6'5 or over, and he's one of the strongest players that ever played in the league. It's not about having some tall player to compliment us. It's about having the right person to play Scott McKnight the character. The character is not about looking like a basketball player. He's is person who is a basketball player but more importantly is a human being, looking for love, and having to navigate the same playing field that we all have to. But even more to the nth degree he has women throwing themselves at him all the time. I thought Common could relate more to a guy who has women throwing themselves at him all the time and having to decide who's the real one? Who wants to be with me for me and who wants to be with Common? I felt Common has real life experiences that he could bring to the role. Not to mention, he's gorgeous. Ladies love him and guys respect him and I felt he could bring all that stuff to the character and he could ball. He could bring the physicality to it. (Director) Sanaa (Hamri) felt that she could make it happen with him, so I was like, "Let's do it."

How was working with Pam Grier? QL: It's like working with a God. That's Foxy Brown! That's Coffy! It was pretty awesome. It was hard to concentrate with Pam Grier or Phylicia Rashad. What's next? QL: I have a book coming out called 'Put on Your Crown.' It will be out on May 6. I also have a jazz album due out in about a month.

JUST WRIGHT OPENS ON MAY 14, 2010