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'Ice Age' cool: Making the animated sequel was a natural for Queen Latifah
LOS ANGELES - When it comes to personal preference, Queen Latifah's taste in animated films runs more along the lines of "Dungeons & Dragons" than "Alvin and the Chipmunks."
One of her all-time favorites is "Heavy Metal," the 1981 sci-fi/fantasy cult favorite known for its sex, loud music, and horror.
"It's not quite a kid's movie, but I did see it as a kid and I thought it was pretty cool," the rapper-turned-Oscar-nominated actress recalled.
Still, when 20th-Century Fox approached her about taking on the voice of Ellie the Woolly Mammoth in the sequel to the first "Ice Age," she told her agents to make it happen.
"I'm a big kid at heart and I've always loved animated movies, so to be a part of one [seemed like] a great idea," Latifah said during an interview with the Daily News. Plus, "I have a lot of young kids in my family - three nephews and a niece - I thought it'd be fun for them to at least hear their auntie in a movie like this."
The third film in the popular franchise, "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," opens tomorrow with Latifah, Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo all reprising their prehistoric characters. With Ellie and Manny (Romano) now expectant parents, Latifah pointed out that she gets to be more grounded than she was in "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown."
Ellie "grows so much between the last one and this one," she said. "The last one she thought she was a possum. She was like a big kid, wanted to play with her brothers all the time, she hung from a tree by her tail for that matter. Now she's a little more mature, so it was [about] making sure she had that nurturing warmth in her voice all the time."
The nurturing part came easy for Latifah, who likes nothing better than to throw brunches or pool parties for family and friends at her Central New Jersey home. "I'm a big sister, so I sometimes have to be there to advise my younger brother and sisters and some friends going through [rough times]. Also, I have a partner so I can be that for my partner just like he can be that for me."
For the Newark-raised Latifah, it's finding time to walk her dogs or visit the Shore (she likes Point Pleasant) that is among the biggest challenges in her life right now.
A week after "Ice Age" opens, she releases her first album in five years, then heads straight to the set of her next film, "Just Wright," a romantic comedy that she is also producing for Fox Searchlight.
Remarkably, she said, the album, which is called "Persona" and was produced by Dr. Dre and LL Cool J, took a mere two months to complete. "I got to work straight through instead of having to do a thousand other things, which is usually the case with me," said the actress, who is also a pitchwoman for Jenny Craig and CoverGirl.
That doesn't mean she plans to cut back on work anytime soon. She would love to do a stint on Broadway, and she said she's got some musicals (a la "Chicago") and big action movies "on the horizon that I'd like to see happen."
She would also like to be a better role model to her 82,000 fans on Facebook.
"I'm not even on Facebook," said Latifah, who turns 40 next year. "But I'm about to get on all those Web sites to prepare for the album. I wouldn't use it to get too personal like 'hey, I'm sitting on the toilet doing my nails.' But I think professionally letting people know what I've got going on and where I'll be, I think that's cool."
Then there's always "Ice Age 4."
For her part, Latifah would like to see the next film focus on the daughter Ellie gives birth to in "Dawn of the Dinosaurs."
"I'd like to see her hitting those teen years, wilding out a little bit, give us something to do. There's a lot to play with us having a daughter. Kids grow up so fast." *
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