Queen Latifah Get "Joyful": "Music Just Gets Into Your Soul"

It's not easy being a glam Queen.

It's especially hard when someone extremely famous tempts you with her down-home homemade fudge.

"I only have one gripe with Dolly Parton," says the amazing Queen Latifah. "It's hard to lose any weight with her around."

The two filmed the must-see musical "Joyful Noise" together, and Parton had a high calorie way of saying a country hello on the set.

"She would bring the most delicious homemade fudge that she made in her own kitchen. We were like little addicts going, 'Where is it? Where is that Dolly fudge?'" says Queen Latifah whose real name is Dana Owens.

You can just call her Queen. Right now, she's laughing warmly.

By the way, Queen Latifah is one of the nicest, most genuine stars you will ever meet.

At the swanky Regency Hotel just a few days before Christmas, we have a little sit-down which probably marks the tenth time we've talked over the years. Queen Latifah looks sleek in black slacks and a white shirt. Her hair is in a ponytail and her skin is gorgeous smooth.

"Oh, I still believe in what my grandmother taught me. You wash your skin with pure baking soda and a little water. It works just wonders," she says.

That's not her only beauty secret.

She also loves Lash Exact Mascara by Covergirl. She's also a company spokeswoman. Her hair is silky because she likes to sleep in her hair conditioner and give it a rinse out in the morning. When she's on the run, she opts for a quick dab of Rosebud Salve as a lip-gloss, too.

PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE

Queen Latifah's biggest style tip is to add some joy to your life. Nothing looks more beautiful than a joyful face.

I witness that when we walk down a hallway of the hotel at just the same moment a few kids pop their heads out of their room.

Their jaws literally drop.

"It's her! From 'Hairspray,'" says one little girl.

"No," says a young boy. "From 'Ice Age.' She's the voice of the girl mammoth!'"

Queen Latifah has a million places to be, but she not only stops, but has a little chat with the kiddos,

"Hey you guy, what are you asking Santa for this Christmas." Her smile lights up when they give her the laundry list and then follow her down the hallway like lovesick little puppies.

 "JOYFUL NOISE"

Queen Latifah is joyful in other ways these days.

 "This movie is about love," Queen Latifah says of her new movie "Joyful Noise." "It's uplifting, which is what all of us need during these tough times."

The movie is about a small-town church choir where an old school choir director (Latifah) wants to do older, more known spirituals and bring their sound to a national choir competition in LA.

Enter a headstrong, rich local with big hair (Dolly Parton), who is also a singer in the choice. Along with the young people next to her, she wants to shake it up with more modern numbers that mean something like Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror."

Queen Latifah says that working with Dolly Parton was a thrill.

 "I wasn't surprised that I liked her as much as I did," she says. "It was a happy thrill to find out that she was everything I thought she would be and much more.

 "She was so humble, giving and cool," Queen Latifah says. "Dolly is just Dolly.

"I could barely keep my uncles off the phone. They were like, 'Tell Dolly, I love her!'

"I was like, 'OK, enough!'"  

QUEEN LATIFAH: "MUSIC SOOTHES ME."

Queen Latifah says that one of her ways to relax is to listen to gospel music.

"I grew up on it. I grew up between New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland churches. You didn't have a choice, but learn to love gospel music and I still love it."

Queen Latifah also went to vacation Bible school. "I used to stay with my aunt in Virginia and she directed a big mass choir in Virginia.

"I loved going to choir rehearsal and watch how they built a song," she says. "When the choir began to rock it, I had a joyful feeling."

"I loved when it was Christmas time and I came to learn all the new songs," she says.

"Gospel still soothes me. It's praise music. No matter what denomination that music has feeling to it," she says.

She says that music can change your life.

"The only time I can say I almost caught the Holy Ghost was in choir rehearsals. This song moved me to the point that I had to have a little talk with my grandmother," she recalls. "I said, 'Something about that music changed my life.' She said, I know what you're feeling.'

"Music just gets into your soul," says Queen Latifah with a big smile.

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