Queen Latifah, Empress of the Blues

By Melina Paris, Columnist

If there was ever a question as to which present-day actress would be one of the best choices to portray Bessie Smith, Queen Latifah would certainly be the best answer.

Queen Latifah will indeed star in the legendary singer’s biopic, Bessie, which airs on HBO May 16.

The film is loosely based on the acclaimed biography Bessie, by journalist Chris Albertson. The book focuses on Smith’s escape from her turbulent personal life to become one of the first major blues stars, earning the distinction “Empress of the Blues.”

Smith dealt with many adversities in her life, including racism and the Great Depression. She was also a business woman and one of the most successful recording artists of her time, earning up to $2,000 a week. She lived hard and created some of her own hardships.

Smith has been a strong influence on such female vocalists as Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin. Queen Latifah has the chops to measure up to Smith’s legacy, and has the voice for the role, having garnered Grammy nominations for her albums as a jazz singer. Latifah has recorded many of Smith’s well-known songs for the film, and a soundtrack release is expected.

Producers Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck first approached Queen Latifah for the role when she was only 22. At press conferences, Queen Latifah has said she is glad the film took 22 years to get made.

“When the project came my way, I don’t think I had the life journey that went along with it,” she said. “I got to live more of the blues.”

The remarkable similarities between the two women make this role a good fit for Queen Latifah. Both are savvy business people, both are beautiful with big voices and curvaceous figures, and both have enormous charisma.

In an interview with CBS, Latifah spoke about the first time she was approached for the role.

“I didn’t know who Bessie Smith was,” she said. “I had to go do some homework. And I did. When I listened to her music, I was initially intimidated. She had so much power—power in her fist, power in her heart, power in her body, her soul. I do admire her. I mean, I relate to her in a lot of ways. I’ve lived her life in a lot of ways.”

The film also stars Mo’Nique as blues legend Ma Rainey, Bryan Greenberg as John Hammond, the Columbia Records executive who signed Smith, as well as Michael Kenneth Williams, Khandi Alexander, Tory Kittles, Mike Epps, Oliver Platt and Charles S. Dutton.