Queen Latifah’s 10 Best Movies And TV Shows

The best Queen Latifah movies and TV shows came after she had already established a solid career as a rapper in the early 1990s. Latifah released her debut album in 1989 when she was only 19 called All Hail the Queen, a release that topped out at sixth on the U.S. R&B and Hip-Hop Charts. By 1993, she had released three albums, with her third, Black Reign, certified gold and hitting 60th on the Billboard 200 albums chart. This led to her dipping her toes in Hollywood, and while she kept rapping, acting took the lead in her career.

Her first movie role actually came in 1991 when she was 21, and she took on a small role in the Spike Lee movie Jungle Fever as a waitress named Lashawn. This led to more movie roles before she enjoyed her breakout in the 1993 television series, Living Single. After a five-season run on the show, her career exploded, with roles in movies like Bringing Down the House, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Last Holiday, Hairspray, Girl’s Trip, and her successful TV adaptation of The Equalizer.

10

Bringing Down The House (2003)

Charlene Morton

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Bringing Down the House

PG-13

Comedy

Drama

Release Date

March 7, 2003

Runtime

105 minutes

Director

Adam Shankman

Writers

Jason Filardi

Producers

Ashok Amritraj, David Hoberman, Jane Bartelme

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Queen Latifah

    Queen Latifah

    Charlene Morton

  • Headshot of Steve Martin

    Steve Martin

    Peter Sanderson

  • Headshot Of Eugene Levy

    Eugene Levy

    Howie Rottman

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Joan Plowright

    Mrs. Virginia Arness

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Bringing Down the House allowed Queen Latifah to share the big screen with one of the world’s greatest comic actors, Steve Martin. In this film, Martin is Peter Sanderson, a workaholic tax attorney who is separated from his wife and has no time for his kids. He sets out on a blind date with a woman he has been talking to online. However, when the woman shows up, she is nothing like she looked like in their messages and is a felon who started chatting with him while she was in prison, lying the entire time.

Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez in Lila and Eve and Anthony Hopkins and Christ Rock in Bad Company

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Queen Latifah plays Charlene Morton, the woman in question, and Peter offers to help her expunge her criminal record, but this creates new problems between him and his estranged wife (Jean Smart). The film received mostly poor reviews from critics, but audiences seemed to enjoy it as Queen Latifah received honors at the Teen Choice Awards (Choice Movie Actress Comedy) and the NAACP Image Awards (Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture). She also received an MTV Movie Award nomination.

9

Star (2016-2019)

Carlotta Brown

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Star

TV-14

Drama

Music

Release Date

2016 – 2018

Network

FOX

Directors

Lee Daniels, Kevin Tancharoen, Chris Robinson, Bille Woodruff, Mario Van Peebles, Paul McCrane, Scott Peters, Tamra Davis, Tasha Smith, Anna Mastro, Jamie Travis

Writers

Kimberly A. Harrison, Jewel McPherson, Jen Klein, Karin Gist, Michael C. Martin, Ester Lou Weithers, Ruth Ferrera

Cast

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    Al Sharpton

    Rev. Al Sharpton

  • Headshot Of Ben Vereen In The A New Way Of Life 2022 Gala

    Ben Vereen

    Calvin

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    Big Boi

    Antwan ‘Big Boi’ Patton

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    Bill Winkler

    Judge Kallenbach

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Queen Latifah has starred in several TV shows over the years, and one that isn’t talked about as much is the music drama series Star. Airing on Fox from 2016 to 2019, the show follows three young singers who are seeking to become stars in the music industry. Those three musicians are Jude Demorest (Star Davis), Brittany O’Grady (Simone Davis-Rivera), and Ryan Destiny (Alex Crane Jones). Star Davis is the main character, an orphan who leaves her foster home and wants to make it in the world.

Queen Latifah stars in the Fox series as Carlotta Renee Brown, a woman who owns a beauty salon and worked with Star’s mother, Mary, in an R&B duo before she died. She serves as the surrogate mother of the three youngsters, although she doesn’t approve of their musical career aspirations. Co-created by Lee Daniels (Empire), the series lasted for three seasons and earned awards recognition at the Teen Choice Awards and GLAAD Media Awards.

8

Beauty Shop (2005)

Gina Norris

Beauty Shop

PG-13

Comedy

Romance

Release Date

June 1, 2005

Runtime

105 minutes

Director

Bille Woodruff

Cast

  • Headshot Of Queen Latifah

    Queen Latifah

  • Headshot OF Alicia Silverstone

    Alicia Silverstone

  • Headshot Of Andie MacDowell In The L’Oreal Light On Women Award Dinner during the 76th Cannes Film Festival

    Andie MacDowell

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    Alfre Woodard

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Barbershop was a successful comedy-drama starring Ice Cube as Calvin Palmer Jr., which followed a team of barbers at a local barber shop trying to survive the gentrification of South Chicago. The movie was a huge success and spawned a sequel that saw the introduction of a beauty shop next door where Calvin’s ex-lover Gina (Queen Latifah) works. The beauty shop women stole the show in the sequel, and they got a spin-off movie to themselves in 2005.

The cast of Beauty Shop also included Alicia Silverstone, Mena Suvari, Djimon Jounsou, Alfre Woodard, Andie MacDowell, and Kevin Bacon. The film didn’t have as much box office success, and it received mostly negative reviews. However, critics praised Queen Latifah’s lead performance, and she went on to want nominations at the Black Reel Awards, BET Awards, and the NAACP Awards. This also marked the end of the franchise until a third Barbershop movie came out 11 years later.

7

The Secret Life Of Bees (2008)

August Boatwright

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The Secret Life of Bees

PG-13

Adventure

Drama

Release Date

September 17, 2008

Runtime

114 minutes

Director

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Writers

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Producers

Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter, Lauren Shuler Donner, Will Smith

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  • Headshot oF Dakota Fanning

    Dakota Fanning

    Lily Owens

  • Headshot Of Queen Latifah

    Queen Latifah

    August Boatwright

  • Headshot Of Jennifer Hudson In The 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards

    Jennifer Hudson

    Rosaleen Daise

  • Headshot Of Alicia Keys

    Alicia Keys

    June Boatwright

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In 2008, Queen Latifah took on the lead role in a drama movie called The Secret Life of Bees​​​​​​. The film stars Dakota Fanning as Lily Owens, a 14-year-old living with her abusive father (Paul Bettany), who often only finds compassion and love from her dad’s maid, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson). After some racists beat Rosaleen for trying to register to vote, she runs with Lily to the home of August Boatwright, a successful beekeeper, played by Queen Latifah.

The Secret Life of Bees takes place in the 1960s and focuses on segregation and hateful racism that often led to violence and more, with the film mostly showing this through the eyes of a child. However, it was Queen Latifah who received the highest praise for her role as the strong woman who not only refused to give in to racial prejudices but also fought to protect even young white girls like Lily and her mother before her. The film won Outstanding Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards.

6

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Penny Escher

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Stranger Than Fiction

PG-13

Comedy

Drama

Fantasy

Romance

Release Date

November 10, 2006

Runtime

113 minutes

Director

Marc Forster

Writers

Zach Helm

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Will Ferrell In The premiere of Illumination's 'Despicable Me 4'

    Will Ferrell

    Harold Crick

  • Headshot OF Maggie Gyllenhaal

    Maggie Gyllenhaal

    Ana Pascal

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    Dustin Hoffman

    Professor Jules Hilbert

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    Emma Thompson

    Karen Eiffel

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Will Ferrell had a chance to take on a very different role when he starred in the Marc Forster fantasy comedy Stranger Than Fiction in 2006. While Ferrell was mostly known at the time for his broad slapstick comedies like Anchorman and Talladega Nights, this was a more nuanced comedy similar to the change that Jim Carrey attempted in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In Stranger Than Fiction, Ferrell is Harold Crick, an IRS agent who realizes one day that he is a fictional character in a novel.

He realizes this when he suddenly hears the author’s narration in a voiceover — a narration that indicates that Harold will die. From here, Harold sets out to figure out how he can save himself and if there is even a reason to go on living knowing you are just a character in someone else’s story. The movie had a modest box office success and received mostly positive reviews. Queen Latifah stars as Penny, an assistant helping the author finish the tragedy of Harold’s life.

5

Hustle (2022)

Teresa Sugarman

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Hustle

R

Sport

Comedy

Drama

ScreenRant logo

7/10

Release Date

June 8, 2022

Runtime

117 minutes

Director

Jeremiah Zagar

Writers

Taylor Materne, Will Fetters

Cast

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    Queen Latifah

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Juancho Hernangómez

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In 2022, Adam Sandler continued his trend of making serious movies in between his broad comedies and released the sports drama Hustle on Netflix. The film stars Sandler as Stanley Sugerman, an international NBA court looking for players overseas. When he discovers a phenom in Spain, he offers him a chance to make it in the NBA and offers to represent him with a chance in the NBA Draft. After a lot of work, Sugarmen gets Bo Cruz into the NBA Draft Combine and secures his way back into the NBA as well.

Hustle Movie Ending Explained Detail SR

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Queen Latifah stars as Teresa Sugerman, Stanley’s wife and the mother of his child. The struggles for Sugerman also include his travels keeping him away from his wife and child, and this is just as important as Bo’s attempts to make it in the NBA to do well by his family. The movie was released on Netflix and received universal acclaim, with a 93% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, and Latifah received a People’s Choice Award nomination for The Female Movie Star of 2022.

4

The Equalizer (2021–Present)

Robyn McCall

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The Equalizer

Drama

Crime

Action

58

9.3/10

Release Date

February 7, 2021

Network

CBS

Showrunner

Andrew W. Marlowe

Directors

Liz Friedlander

Writers

Andrew W. Marlowe

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Queen Latifah

    Queen Latifah

  • Headshot Of Adam Goldberg In The The Devil Los Angeles Premiere

    Adam Goldberg

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The Equalizer is an interesting franchise. It is one of the few that have movies and a TV show both in production concurrently, but with very different characters in the lead roles. Both are based on the classic 1980s series starring Edward Woodward as a former covert operations officer, Robert McCall, who now helps people in need. The movie has the same story, with Denzel Washington taking on the role of Robert. Meanwhile, the TV show has Queen Latifah in the role of Robyn McCall. Both Washington and Latifah are still making their movies/TV shows.

Queen Latifah's Robyn McCall smiles thoughtfully in The Equalizer

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1

On the TV show, Latifah is a single mother who lives with her sister and has a team of two people helping her as people find her to ask for help by posting messages in a private internet chatroom. The TV series is a basic case-of-the-week format, although there is a lot of importance placed on family, and that has made it one of the more successful new TV shows of the 2020s. It is in its fifth season in the 2024-2025 television season.

3

Ice Age Franchise (2006–Present)

Ellie (Voice)

Ice Age (2002) Movie Poster

Ice Age

Created by

Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha

First Film

Ice Age

Latest Film

The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild

Upcoming Films

Ice Age 6

Cast

Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Keke Palmer, Chris Wedge

Summary

The Ice Age franchise is a popular animated film series produced by Blue Sky Studios, centering around a group of prehistoric animals surviving the Pleistocene ice age. Led by a woolly mammoth named Manny, the films feature his adventures alongside a sloth named Sid and a saber-toothed tiger named Diego. Known for its humor, heartwarming themes, and memorable characters, the series has expanded to include spin-offs, short films, and TV specials. The franchise continues to captivate audiences with its colorful animation, family-friendly humor, and ongoing stories of friendship and survival.

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In 2006, Queen Latifah joined the Ice Age franchise as a new character. This was the second movie in the franchise that started out with Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary starring as friends Manny (woolly mammoth), Sid (sloth), and Diego (smilodon) during the Ice Age. In Ice Age: The Meltdown, Manny meets Ellie (Latifah), a woolly mammoth who believes she is a possum. However, Manny and Ellie connect, and the two end up married and having a child for future movies.

This led to Latifah returning in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, where Ellie and Manny are raising their daughter Peaches​​​​​. Queen Latifah has appeared in four Ice Age movies, with a sixth coming in 2026. She also appeared in two TV specials. While not as beloved as other animated franchises like Despicable Me and Kung Fu Panda, the Ice Age franchise has still made over $3.2 billion at the box office. However, the last movie in the franchise was the worst box office take.

2

Chicago (2002)

Matron “Mama” Morton

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Chicago

PG-13

Comedy

Crime

Drama

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3/10

9/10

Release Date

December 10, 2002

Runtime

113 Minutes

Director

Rob Marshall

Writers

Bill Condon, Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Renée Zellweger

    Renée Zellweger

  • Headshot Of Catherine Zeta-Jones In The 76th Cannes Film Festival

    Catherine Zeta-Jones

Chicago is a musical crime film directed by Rob Marshall, set in 1920s Chicago. It centers on Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) and Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), two women who find themselves on trial for murder. Both aspiring performers, they vie for the attention of a high-profile lawyer, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), in their quest for fame and freedom. The film examines themes of celebrity, crime, and media influence.

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Queen Latifah had a big role in the 2002 Oscar-winning movie Chicago​​​​​. The film, based on the Broadway musical of the same name, takes place during the Jazz Age in Chicago and follows the celebrities, scandals, and corruption of that era. Rob Marshall directs the movie, with Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Renée Zellweger in the lead roles. While not one of the three headlining stars, Queen Latifah still had a major role in the film as Mama Morton, the corrupt matron of the Cook County Jail.

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The film sees vaudeville star Velma Kelly (Zeta-Jones) imprisoned for killing her husband and then a housewife named Roxie Hart (Zellweger) also ends up in jail for killing a man who tricked her into an affair. They then meet the infamous Mama Morton, who supervises the women on Murderess’ Row. Latifah had two songs in Chicago (“When You’re Good to Mama” and “Class”, the latter of which was cut from the movie). Chicago received 13 Oscar nominations, winning six, including Best Picture. Latifah earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress but lost to co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones.

1

Living Single (1993-1998)

Khadijah James

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Living Single (1993)

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Living Single

Release Date

1993 – 1997

Cast

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  • Headshot Of Queen Latifah

    Queen Latifah

  • Cast Placeholder Image

    Kim Coles

  • Headshot Of Erika Alexander

    Erika Alexander

  • Headshot Of Kim Fields

    Kim Fields

Creator(s)

Yvette Lee Bowser

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Queen Latifah’s first taste of acting success came in 1993 when she led the cast of the Fox sitcom Living Single. The sitcom centered on the lives of six New York City friends who live in a Brooklyn brownstone and share personal and professional experiences. This series has the same basic plot as the TV sitcom Friends, but it came out a year earlier, and it is clear that the later, more successful sitcom took many of this show’s ideas and ran with them, but with a young white cast instead of the predominantly Black cast of Living Single.

The series ran for five seasons and 118 episodes and saw Queen Latifah, Kim Coles, Kim Fields, Erika Alexander, T.C. Carson, and John Henton as the six friends. Living Single won three NAACP Image Awards in 1998. While Queen Latifah was nominated, she didn’t win her award, losing to Erika Alexander for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. Also, Kim Coles won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, and Living Single won Outstanding Comedy Series.

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