‘I loved again and I laughed again and I cried again’
HOW QUEEN LATIFAH USED HER PAINFUL PAST TO BRING LIFE TO MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN
When Queen Latifah enters a room, she commands attention.
She can’t help herself. It’s been that way since she made the transition from rapper to actress, starting with a cameo in 1991’s Jungle Fever.
Over three decades, Latifah’s had fun as the voice of Ellie the Mammoth in the Ice Age animated series. She kept up with Steve Martin in the comedy Bringing Down the House.
And she showed off her serious acting chops by earning an Oscar nomination for her role in 2002’s Chicago and an Emmy nomination last year for her portrayal of singer Bessie Smith in Bessie.
Now, Miracles from Heaven has Latifah using her energy and talent to play Angela, who becomes a new friend to Christy (Jennifer Garner) and her daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers); Anna is stricken with a potentially fatal intestinal disorder that requires her to use feeding tubes for nutrition.
When Angela inadvertently connects with the mother and daughter at a restaurant, she becomes their unofficial tour guide in Boston as the girl seeks treatment at the local children’s hospital.
Based on Christy Beam’s memoir, the faith-based film, directed by Patricia Riggen, relies on Latifah’s lively sequences to provide a respite from the story’s heartache.
The 45-year-old says that she embraced being a part of the harrowing narrative because she remembers difficult times of her own after the death of her brother who died in a 1992 crash.
Always affable, Latifah held court at a West Hollywood hotel recently to offer her thoughts:
On signing to do the Miracles from Heaven project:
“I love the faith-based notion of the movie,” she says. “And you don’t necessarily have to be a Christian to understand what the family is going
through.”
On the short preparation time for her portrayal:
“We didn’t have a whole lot of rehearsal, but we did spend time at Patricia’s house over lunch to get know each other,” says Latifah.
On the easy way 12-year- old Rogers emotes opposite the imposing five- foot-10 actress:
“She is an old soul,” says Latifah.
On occasionally improvising with Garner and Rogers:
“I think we had fun and kicked it a little it,” she says.
On building a key connection with Rogers:
“I watched the dynamic between Kylie and Jen, to be honest, and watched how close they were.”
On playing Angela, who is based on a real person:
“Angela’s this big white woman with this super thick Boston accent,” says Latifah, born and raised in New Jersey. “But oddly enough, when I was talking with the real Christy (Beam) and asked her about Angela, Christy said that she sees
herself as a Queen Latifah.”
On co- starring in a film about a child:
“I know I am an adult, but I buy books that would make you think I’m 12,” says Latifah. “I like stories told through the eyes of kids who still believe in things, and have wonderment and dreams.”
On the post- life impact of her brother’s death when Latifah struggled with substance abuse:
“I had a lot of issues and a lot of challenges through that whole period,” she says. And like Christy Beam in Miracles from Heaven, “I had a lot of questions about why it happened, and why God would let it happen.”
On eventually recovering from the loss and getting clean and sober:
“I loved again and I laughed again and I cried again,” Latifah says.
“Even to this day, I’ve learned to lean on people, and I know that I don’t do this all by myself.”