Possibly the funniest interview ever:
Queen Latifah & Jimmy Fallon, Taxi

QL: Damn that movie was funny!
JF: Yeah, it was the funniest movie ever!

Can you talk about rapport - you appeared to have instant chemistry, did it come naturally to you?

QL: I think so, after a while, Jimmy and I, I think we purposely tried to make each other laugh sometimes.
JF: We tried to top each other.
QL: Because we knew we would go there. Man, it was very hard to keep a straight face on that set!
JF: Because once the joke had been said many times, it wasn't funny anymore, and so we had to do something different to make it funny. Something really subtle or some little move. Just do something, whether it's putting my butt in your face (laughs), or you calling yourself Officer Goodsnatch. To try and keep a straight face, you know it, (laughs), it was all new and Queen was only doing it to make me laugh.

Did you see the original French film?

JF: No, I'm probably sure I would like it. I didn't see it because I didn't want to steal anything, or do anything from it.
QL: Same thing! (Laughs)

What do you think about being replaced by a woman playing the part of a guy? This guy has been in the trouble with the law; he's a bit of a bad dude.

QL: In real life?

Yeah, he's quite a reckless character.

QL: Sounds like me! (Laughs)
JF:  You gotta meet this guy!
QL: I've gotta meet this guy. He's my buddy, we're gotta hang! I'm going to call his ass. Let's go and get bent and locked up and shit! (Laughs)

He's also French, but of course you're African American.

QL: Right, African-Frenchian - Afro-French.
JF: Their hip-hop isn't quite the same.

Are you a bit reckless like him do you think?

QL: I don't know how reckless I am but I do have that X gene. I can do some reckless things at times. Sometimes you just have to get an effing attitude and not care, because caring takes a lot of energy, time, responsibility.. I am 90 per cent of the time, but that 10 per cent is a beast. (Laughs) I thought it was a great idea to change it, you know. What we are doing gives it a whole new feel and gives it an American vibe, you know.
JF: Luc Besson was very involved too. He'd come to the set and he'd go: (speaks broken French) and English with a French accent: 'What are you doing? Oh, this is a nightmare - put this out…get me a sandwich. I want to move the car this way…' He choreographs it like it's a dance routine as opposed to a car chase.
QL: All he cares about is the action. He cared deeply for the action. He made improvements as he went along too.
JF: We had the guys from X Men 2, do the cameras - the camera unit team. They had a 360 camera that would go from one car, up in the air and over to another car in a continuous shot while the film was still rolling, going 90 mph, which has only been done in one other movie. It was crazy.

What are the dangerous things you do to let off steam?

QL: Definitely drive fast. It does give me some sort of release. I ride motorcycles. I don't do things to be dangerous. I'm more for the excitement of it all. I definitely have no plans on hurting myself. I do like the hike, I like to shoot guns, and my father's a cop. Some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, and I was born with a nickel plated thirty!
JF: (laughs) See I had no idea about guns at all.
QL: Jimmy is like sitting there in between takes with his gun sitting between his legs facing him! I'm like: 'Jimmy, please!' He's just so not into it. It's cool, you know.
JF:  So every scene in the movie when I cock the gun, I'm like, yeah! That looks real! I was trying not to skip. One day, I had a gun and I had to run and shoot which is not easy and I was like running and shooting….and it turned into a skip… not tough at all. I'm like: 'I'm a bad ass..I'm a bad ass…' It was not tough at all!

Are you a bad ass?

JF: Hell yeah!  I don't shoot guns. I don't know how to do that. I grew Upstate New York, so I fought with my fists (jokes).

Are you the scared type?

JF: You know what's funny, we were doing these scenes where we were supposed to be enemies and I just like her so much, the director would go: 'Cut! You're supposed to hate each other in this scene!'
QL: We were like: 'Right, yeah - getting mad. Okay. Back in the moment. Okay.'
JF: So I would get out of the car and be like: 'Hey, what's up?' Let's just call it a day, let's go and get a drink. The movie is ten minutes long. (jokes)

Can you talk about working with Gisele? Do you see the future for as her as an actress?

JF: Well, for a start, she's very ugly. Maybe if she got some plastic surgery or something like that. She'd be good in voice over work. Maybe in radio? I think she has a future in radio.
QL: She's hard on the pair of shoe, boy.
JF: Gross.

How was she on the set?

JF: So much fun. She's so excited. She comes in running and she'd floor the BMW scenes, when she was driving.
QL: She was so good!
JF: They'd say to her: 'Gisele, just drive like, maybe 60, around the corner…' And she would floor it and go like 80. They'd have to stop her. She was awesome. She was doing 360s, peeling out.
QL: They were all kind of ballsy like that. These models in this movie are not prissy at all. They were full on excited. They were looking forward to using their guns.
JF: Much better than I was. I would cock the gun and it would jam…and I'd keep doing the scene and I would just hide the gun….and wouldn't notice that there was a bullet half hanging out. Embarrassing. Cut - could someone load Jimmy's gun again? Gisele do you want to help him? It was pretty cool as this was my first big movie as well. So there was a lot of energy. Everyone was just wide eyed and brand new. It was just fun to be on the set. Gisele rocked it man.
QL: She's really down to earth and is really excited about making it happen. I think she nailed it. I think her sarcasm and her cockiness with the character would play great.  When they say cut, there's none of that. She's just like, cool.

Did you learn Portuguese?

JF: Gisele tried to teach me. I have it on tape, but when she spoke, she sounded so cute, I wasn't even listening to the words.

How was she in the frisk scenes when she had to frisk you?

QL: It was pretty funny. She pumped me right on the ass one time.
JF: You should have seen these two together, frisking each other - these two gorgeous girls and everyone in New York City was just quiet. I mean, birds stopped chirping….squirrels were like putting down their nuts….there was just a moment of silence in New York city. Subways stopped running.
QL: There was just a moment of just silence! (laughs)
JF:  Everyone just stopped. Time just stopped for a second…it was really unbelievable. NASDAQ was like alright- for a second.  Dow Jones who gives a shit?! Dow Jones, the actual man, came out and said (puts on a Texan accent): "Usually they don't see me…but this is amazing. I've never seen this."

Everyone raves about you losing weight Queen…what was it like to work alongside these skinny girls?

JF: Erm, skinny boys. It's no big deal, people have made that mistake before. Do your research!
It was such a contrast from your image in Chicago . Can you comment on that?
QL:  I definitely didn't want to lose weight for Chicago . I think Mama was supposed to be big, and buxom and full of body…(laughs). I actually dropped some weight for Bringing Down the House - maybe 25 pounds before I did that.  It was just a little change around this area that (points to breasts) that people might be thinking some major thing.
JF: She sold her boobs on eBay.
QL: And I got a pretty penny.
JF: My room mate bought them. They are hanging over his fireplace!
QL: It was your room mate who's got my breasts?
JF: Yeah, you've got to see them they're great.
QL: I don't know if I want to see that.
JF: Well, I like them.
QL: Have you been playing with my breasts over your fireplace? (Laughs)

Could you imagine being as skinny as the models?

QL: No way, that's just too slim Jim. I mean, they're naturally like that, I can't even imagine what it's like to be that lightweight. I can't even imagine it. I feel like I would be weak, like I wouldn't be strong anymore. I would have no muscles. Not for me. I'm used to being big, thicky icky. I like myself the way I am.

Do you feel pressure from Hollywood ?

QL: I'm so glad I don't have to do that. Jez, I get to eat. I get to have a nice good Thanksgiving dinner and keep it right in there until IT is ready to go! (Laughs)
JF: That would be my point too…(pretends to puke). Good stuffing mum.

When did you find out that you could make money off of being funny?

JF: I still haven't found out! (Laughs) I'm broke. I borrowed these clothes from some dude.
QL: Me too. They gave them to me.

Were you always the funny one in family get togethers?

QL: My whole family is funny so.
JF: Her dad is hilarious. He was on set and he would have me in tears man, he's hilariously funny. He was an ex-cop and so I was asking him a lot of questions like: what would you do in this situation? It was almost like having an acting coach on set. (Laughs) He was really funny to the point when it was the first thing I'd do on set - 'Where's Paps?''

What makes you both laugh?

JF: I like comedy in general. Anything funny or anything that's trying to be funny, I always take something from it. It always makes me laugh. I do love British comedy. Derek and Clive.

You remind me of Mike Myers?

JF: Really? I take it as a compliment, thanks. Schwing…

The Oscar nomination for Chicago has brought you up there - has there been any downside?

JF: Yeah, there have been a couple for me. They cut my scenes out of Chicago ! I was in the gutter. My song was cut out.
QL: Cut and print and edit! (Laughs)
JF: And leave, yeah. Cut, leave….I'm sorry go ahead. It turns out I wasn't in Chicago , I'm sorry, I interrupted.
QL:  I thoroughly enjoyed it though. It's been good. It's created a lot more avenues for opportunity and I'm taking full advantage of it you know. That's pretty much the only change.
JF: It intimidated me, I'll tell you that much!
QL: A couple more of the paparazzi have been hanging out on my block. Near my home, I don't like that part.

You live in New Jersey don't you?

QL: They don't come near my house in Jersey , (puts on a cowgirl accent) I shoot them some bitch - better get off my property!

Can you talk about one funny experience you had making this movie?

QL: Jimmy farted in the car a couple of times.
JF: It never happened man! I think when I get in the cab now, I'm so used to being there because I was in there for four months, so times it's like going home. It smells nicer in our taxi.
QL: You don't worry what you're sitting on.

Do you think a sense of humour is something that you're born with or something that you learn?

JF:  I think it's something that you're born with…
QL: I think you learn what you think is funny.
JF: You sand it down as you get going. I first met Queen when we worked together on Saturday Night Live and you just saw immediately that she got comedy and she understood it. It's very hard to explain to people why it's funny. Immediately she got every joke. If I ever get the opportunity to do anything with Queen Latifah, I've got to do it. Then they told me they were thinking of me to do this script Taxi and I heard she was attached and I signed up immediately. I'm like yeah, I'll do it, what is it about?

Will you be doing a sequel for Taxi?

JF: I would do anything with Queen…

Like what?

JF: How old is your magazine? Do kids read your magazine?

Are you good at drama?

JF: I'm good at comedy, but drama is like…I've got to do what I'm good at, and eventually I'll grow a beard and put out pets sounds. I'm doing this romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore and the Farrelly Brothers, it has pretty good scenes because its relationship stuff….which is acting for me! (Laughs) It's really stretching it for me! So, I'm really exhausted.

There weren't any love scenes in Taxi, but could you do a love scene?

JF: Right now? Yeah sure….(laughs) We had one scene but I don't think it made the movie.
QL: I know, man that's one of my favourite scenes.

Did you have a love scene in Taxi?

JF: No, no, but she crashes at my place and I had an idea for the scene and Tim (director) was like you could try it. She crashes at my place and we wake up in the morning and I'm spooning her! She wakes up and she sees my hands…and I'm like: 'I'm sorry….'
QL: I'm like: 'Get the hell….'
JF: I'm like we spooned, we didn't fork!
QL: I really want that scene back in. That was funny as hell.

How about you're other films Queen?

JF: Please don't call me queen……it does happen a lot by the way…
QL: I'm trying to sneak on a set of Jimmy's movies and poke my face in there. I don't know. It will be at one of the baseball games (Fever Pitch). A background light. (Laughs)
JF: She has an album out that's awesome.
QL: Yeah, I have a new album out. It really is awesome.

What kind of fans do you attract as you reach various demographics?

QL: I've got the weirdest audience on the planet. My demographics have been studied for various things and it's just so many people. It's like young people, it's old people, it's everybody in the middle, it's all kinds of races and ethnicities, it's just weird….
JF: Cartoon people. Cardboard cut out people. You'll see a storm trouper at a concert.
QL: (Laughs) I'm telling you…ghosts…are into me. They hang out.
JF: Famous ghosts.

Why do you continue using a name that isn't yours?

QL: That is my name.

But you were not born with Queen Latifah?

QL: So? You can't stop me! Don't try to take my name away.

Why do you use that name and not the name you were born with?

QL: Latifah is my nickname, everybody calls me that anyway, so it's not like it's a weird name that doesn't belong to me. I like the meaning of the word Latifah, it means delicate sensitive, kind - so that's why I chose that name, because I was always big for my age, but inside I was a pretty sensitive kid. I like that name. And the Queen just symbolized to me the strength of all women have, we are all queens and we should be treated as such, but to me, half of people call me Dana, half people call me La now..it doesn't really matter.
JF: In my next film, I'm actually going to use my real name - so you'll see Drew Barrymore and Dolph Gudenstein of Fever Pitch.
QL: You're going to give them the Dolphster?
JF: I'd like them to know who I really am.

Where is your name from?

QL: Latifah is Arabic.
JF: In my language Catalan (Spanish), it means something different. La-tifah is slang name for….
(Laughs) Get ready. It means dog crap….
QL: Shit! So, I'm the shit yo!
JF: That's what you've been saying - you are THE shit! Literally.
QL: Don't go separating my name over there…keep it together, make it all one word…Queen Latifah. You can actually call me Dana.
JF: You have permission from the man - that's cool. Damn.

You are a huge role model, do you feel a responsibility for African American women who look up to you?

QL: Yeah, I do, definitely to a certain extent. Obviously you can't live for everyone else and not for yourself sometimes. But I've tried to be myself and be proud of who I am and I try to be confident, because I know how I felt at 15, going through awkward stages and curvaceous body and all this kind of stuff. Everything that you see in the magazines, none of that looks like you..so I've had to break down a lot of walls. I'll never forget when I got nominated for that Golden Globe for Chicago, I'm sitting in this room, I'm looking around at all my favourite stars. My partner says to me: "God, everybody is so tiny." I thought to myself, so imagine how far we've come. I was able to do it my way, I don't have to drop 50 pounds to be who I am and I'm glad because that's a lot of goddam work and I'll be hungry. But you know what? I like the flavour I like all of us being different. I like to see different images of people on screen. I think it's healthy for our society.

Did you do your own stunts? You are very fit aren't you?

QL: I think I'm pretty athletic. Sometimes I'm more fit than other times, but I think I'm generally athletic, so I think I can do a whole bunch of stuff. I can kind of do a bit of everything, except for getting up in the morning.

Have you ever gotten out of a ticket?

QL: Queen Latifah has gotten me out of a lot of tickets (laughs). I'm not too good a talking my own self. If they don't recognize me, I'm kind of screwed. I'm not good at saying: 'Hey, I'm Queen Latifah, let me go.' But usually they'll just look at me and say: 'Get out of here, goodbye.'  Some of that stunt stuff was too damn dangerous. My stunt guy was like this six foot six, black dude with a wig on that apparently looked like me. He looked ridiculous getting out of that car.

Do you always get this much respect from women?

JF: (Laughs) What movies have you seen? This is great by the way….I had so much good chemistry with every woman in this movie. We had Ann-Margaret in this movie, which's like a legend. We really hit it off, to the point where she kept pinching my cheeks. She just loved me. She was the cutest thing ever to play my alcoholic mum!

Who taught you how to sing?

JF: Obviously, nobody! (Laughs)

Do you sing in the shower?

JF: I never sing in the shower. It's very dangerous. I'm afraid of slipping. I don't want to be slipping after singing 'Who Let the Dogs Out.' His famous last words. I don't sing in the shower, I just try to wash myself in the shower. I sing in the car if I'm out in LA, because you're like soundproofed.

What was your most dangerous moment in NY traffic?

JF: So many. You have to get used to it. The one thing you shouldn't do is try to tell a cab driver how to get somewhere, because they will never turn around and go: 'Thankyou. That's a great idea.' They say (puts on Indian accent): 'You make a right. How am I going to make a right on Madison , it's so packed. I can't f**kin' believe. You want to drive the car. You drive the car. Fuck it, we're not going to Lowes, we're going to somewhere else, we're going to Statue of Liberty. I take out. Get out of the car.' There are so many pot holes, they're like craters on the moon. That's another traffic thing.

Where are you going to be at Christmas this year?

JF: I'm going to North Pole to help out Santa this year. He called me up and he's like: 'Dude what are you doing?'...I'm watching The Apprentice. 'I just want to know if…' I can't talk now. He's like:  'What are you doing December 25..' I'm like: 'I'll see you there.' So, I'll be in the North Pole, giving toys to kids.

Queen?

QL: Hanging out with Jimmy last year to give toys to kids up in the North Pole.
JF: We have a house party out there. We hang out with Clause and do it up. (Laughs)

Are you going away?

QL: I usually go away with my family somewhere. I usually do the Christmas with the family and the New Years with the friends somewhere else.
JF: I do everything with the family.