Queen Latifah is not only one of the best rappers of her generation, but she's one of the busiest and most talented actresses working in Hollywood as well. Ever since making the transition from stage to screen in the early 90s, Latifah has tallied more than 100 big and small screen credits. In 2002, she earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in the big-screen adaptation of Chicago.
Latifah most recently appeared in the Netflix original series Hollywood portraying real-life actress Hattie McDaniel. Next up for the Queen is a date with The Equalizer on the small screen, which she'll star in and executive produce. Until then, here are Queen Latifah's 10 Best Movies, According to IMDB.
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) 6.8/10
As Ellie in the Ice Age franchise, Latifah takes the lead role opposite Ray Romano's Manny. In The Meltdown, the pair of endangered wooly mammoths who can't stand each other go on an epic journey to save friend Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) after he steals precious dinosaur eggs.
Along for the ride are Ellie's troublesome brothers, Crash (Sean William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck), two possums who cannot abide by the law. With climate warming, a race to the other side of the valley to save Sid ensues.
My Life (1993) 6.8/10
My Life stars Michael Keaton as Bob Jones, a successful 40-yar-old man with a loving wife (Nicole Kidman) and a baby on the way. When Bob suddenly learns he has terminal kidney cancer with only months to live, his world is completely upended.
Written and directed by Bruce Joel Rubin, Bob begins to reflect on his life in the wake of his diagnosis. He begins to videotape his daily routines until he dies so that his newborn child will have an idea of who their father was. Latifah plays a stay-at-home nurse named Theresa who moves in to care for Bob in his final days.
Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (2009) 6.9/10
The highest-rated movie among Latifah's Ice Age filmography belongs to Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third entry in the five-film franchise.
This time out, the story picks up when Sid (John Leguizamo) attempts to steal a trio of dinosaur eggs and ends up abducted and taken to a subterranean holding lair. With Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Latifah) expecting a newborn woolly mammoth, they reluctantly set out to help find their friend and return him home safely.
Bringing Out The Dead (1999) 6.8/10
Although she does not appear onscreen, Latifah worked with the legendary Martin Scorsese on the gritty crime-thriller Bringing out the Dead.
The film follows Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage), a deeply troubled and insomniac paramedic who serves the harshest neighborhood in Hell's Kitchen, Harlem. As the tortured soul witnesses a level of violence that scars his psyche, he seeks nothing more than a goodnight's sleep. Latifah voices the role of Love, the dispatch operator who sends Frank and his partners to various crime scenes.
Set It Off (1996) 6.9/10
Alongside Jada Pinket-Smith, Vivica Fox, and Kimberly Elise, Latifah plays one of four female bank robbers in the L.A. heist film Set It Off.
Directed by F. Gary Gray, the movie follows four inner-city African American women who've fallen on hard times. Out of desperation, they concoct an elaborate plot to rob several banks in Los Angeles. While successful at first, a slew of infighting leads to the women mistrusting each other. Meanwhile, the brother of a slain cop is hot on their trail.
Miracles From Heaven (2016) 7.1/10
Based on the true story of Christy Beam's book, Miracles From Heaven tells of the insurmountable odds a young girl with a rare disease overcomes.
Anna Beam is a 10-year-old girl who suddenly falls ill one day. When diagnosed with an incurable rare disease, Anna's mother Christy (Jennifer Garner) sets out to find a cure on her own. Following a near-fatal accident, Anna miraculously recovers in ways that defy the medical community. Latifah plays Angela, a waitress who befriends Anna and helps uplift her spirit.
Juice (1992) 7.1/10
In Ernest Dickerson's Juice, four tight-knit friends in inner-city New York are put to the ultimate test when deciding to rob a liquor store.
Q (Omar Epps), Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Steel (Jermaine Hopkins), and Raheem (Khalil Kain) have been best friends since childhood. Tired of lacking clout among their peers and being bullied by a rival gang, the crew decides to increase their "juice" by sticking up a liquor store. When the robbery ends in murder, Q scrambles to do the right thing in the face of Bishop's increasing evil. Latifah plays Ruffhouse M.C., host of a DJ competition Q uses as an alibi.
Chicago (2002) 7.1/10
For her role as Matron Mama Morton in Chicago, Latifah earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film won six Oscars in total, including Best Picture.
Directed by Rob Marshall from a script by Bill Condon, Chicago tells the story of two murderous singers, Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie (Renee Zellweger), who vie for the affections of greedy public defender Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) after being locked up.
The Secret Life Of Bees (2008) 7.3/10
Based on the Sue Monk Kidd novel, The Secret Life of Bees is a coming-of-age period drama set in 1964 South Carolina. To escape her abusive father on a rural peach farm, white 14-year-old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) flees with her black caretaker Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson) on a two-day trip to Tiburon, South Carolina.
Upon arrival, Lily and Rosaleen meet August Boatwright (Latifah), who with her sisters May (Alicia Keys) and June (Sophie Okonedo), has built a successful beekeeping business. As Lily settles in and learns the trade, she feels more at home than ever.
Stranger Than Fiction (2006) 7.5/10
In Marc Forster's Stranger Than Fiction, Latifah plays skilled secretary Penny Escher, who assists various authors to complete their novels when faced with writer's block.
The larger plot concerns Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), an I.R.S. auditor who suddenly hears his own life being audibly narrated inside his head. When Crick recognizes the voice as that of a famous author, he sets out to find answers regarding his impending death before it's too late.