Key Takeaways
- Queen Latifah has launched a casting search for her upcoming biopic and says it may take three women to capture the different stages and sides of her life.
- Flavor Unit Entertainment, Westbrook Studios, and Jesse Collins Entertainment are producing the film as part of a planned collection of hip-hop biopics, with Will Smith playing a significant role in Latifah’s story.
- The still-in-development movie will trace Dana Owens’ rise from New Jersey teen rapper behind “Ladies First” and “U.N.I.T.Y.” to the star of Living Single, Chicago, and The Equalizer.
Queen Latifah is looking for someone to play Queen Latifah—and apparently, one person might not be enough.
Speaking at Variety’s Power of Women summit on Sept. 23, Queen Latifah discussed the challenge of casting performers to portray her in the upcoming biopic about her life and career. Finding the right person is an unusual challenge, given that Latifah has spent nearly four decades moving between hip-hop, acting, producing, and entrepreneurship.
“Someone has to capture all the different sides of me, and that’s going to be a challenge,” Latifah said. “They’re out there somewhere. It might be three people.”
The Queen’s Flavor Unit Entertainment is producing the film alongside Westbrook Studios and Jesse Collins Entertainment, envisioning it as part of a collection of biopics about major hip-hop figures. Will Smith, whose Westbrook is involved, also has his own story in development and, according to Latifah, plays a significant role in hers.
Back in December 2025, Latifah already knew casting herself would be one of the production’s biggest hurdles. “This is going to be big casting,” she said while attending the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia, per Deadline. “I’ve been doing this since I was 17 years old, but there was the lead-up to it, so someone has to be able to play those different parts of it.”
At the time, she said the movie was still being written and cautioned, “It’s gonna take a minute.”
Those “different parts” extend far beyond Latifah’s evolution as a performer. Born Dana Owens, she emerged from New Jersey’s hip-hop scene as a teenager and released her debut album, All Hail the Queen, in 1989.
Songs including “Ladies First” and the Grammy-winning “U.N.I.T.Y.” established her musical career before acting opened another lane, including her starring run as Khadijah James on Living Single and an Oscar nomination for Chicago.
Latifah has previously acknowledged that even she had to learn how to reconcile Dana Owens with the larger public identity she had created. “I was like, there’s no way I can live up to this, this ‘Queen Latifah,’” she recalled in December. “She’s a business, she’s much bigger than who I am. I had to come to grips with that.”
Her career has continued to expand since then. Latifah spent five seasons starring in and executive producing CBS’ The Equalizer, which ended its run in 2025.
