Queen Latifah?

scriptgirl said:

none of them.

Hollywood wouldn't do this in todays world, but they would need to do an open casting call if anyone thought about doing a film about Ms. Washington.




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[Edited 4/21/10 14:27pm]

Not Jill Scott, she can't act, I've seen the Lady Detective thing and Why Did I Get Married, I'm just not feeling her acting style.

I really like Queen's style though, even if does awful films she's always very watchable.

I think Monique or Epatha S would be great.

Loretta Divine was supposed to play her in the late 80s/early 90s.




Same eyes, same smile, same everything.

If Queen Latifah ever plays a bio-pic, I hope she plays Pearl Bailey

Anyway, NEVERMIND a bio-pic for now,,,,I'm still waiting a proper bio BOOK about her life.

No one.

I can't think of anyone currently who sounds like her. As for looks. Loretta Devine is damn near a twin.

Harlepolis said:

even her wiki page is just a few sentences long

DesireeNevermind said:

Loretta can sing also and a very good actress.

Queen L can sing jazz as well.

Now, you know that they would want Beyonce to play the part and that's only because Diana Ross is too old to.

Beyonce, please.

maria1999 said:

Are you serious?

AshK said:

I really disagree with you about Jill Scott. I think she's a good actress. In fact, I've been quite impressed with some of her work, most recently a guest role on one of the Law and Order franchises where she played the sister of a handicapped opera singer. Also like Queen Latifah. Loretta Divine would be perfect for Dinah, though, looks AND that she can sing. She's experienced and VERY talented, much moreso than lots of people who get roles she deserves!

Better Beyonce than Angela Basset.

I don't want either Bouncy or Angela

TD3 said:

I can't think of any current performer who would do the part justice. I'd want to see an unknown take the part if such a movie were to be made.

midiscover said:

As awful as it may seem, yes. I remember when they were making the Josephine Baker story and how Diana just knew that the role was hers and how she got upset when it went to Lynn Whitfield. So, it's safe to say that since the world has allowed Beyonce to think she is this uber-talent, then why wouldn't the role automatically be given to her. But, if there was to be a Dinah Washington biopic, then (if they can act) Chrissette Michele or Ledisi should definitely audition for the lead role. And this isn't just true of Diana and Beyonce,but when they were considering the Dorothy Dandridge story, Whitney, Vanessa L. Williams, and Janet Jackson all were considered for the lead role that (thankfully) went to Halle (who I heard footed the bill for the biopic)
Here's a general question about these type of role.
Why do they even have to go to singers? I mean, wouldn't it be better for an actress versus a singer to play the role? I ask this because, for the most part, isn't any "singing" done in these type of movies just lip-syncing anyway?
If this is the case, it would be better to have an actress who can "sing" on cue than a singer who isn't as strong acting as she is singing.

maria1999 said:

I see your point. I mean she did portray Etta James and Diana Ross. In which she did a terrible job at so I don't think its far fetched that she would get the role for Dinah Washington. Well, I hope not. That would be another good role gone to waste. I remember reading not too long ago that she wants to play Eartha Kitt. She's way too big and dull to play Eartha. Oh and I didn't know Janet, Whitney and Vanessa were considered. I recall that they wanted to portray. Of course, Janet stated this long before Halle, Whitney and Vanessa jumped on the "We love Dorothy wagon". The only reason Halle got the role was because she produced the film. and yea, I agree that the roles should go to better actresses than singers. Jamie Foxx mimed all the singing parts in Ray.

NewPowerSista said:

I haven't seen that Law and Order episode, so I'll take your word for it. It comes down to personal preference; I think Jill Scott has zero screen presence; there are far more talented black actresses out there (who are not acclaimed singers) who could do a better job. But I will say that Why Did I get Married may not have been a good example though; that most likely was down to poor directing rather than poor acting, there were some good actresses in there (including Janet) but it just felt like they were all TV actors trying too hard.

I agree Loretta Divine would be great, she gets lots of supporting roles but rarely a chance to show off her talent, would be great to see her as the lead for a change.

maria1999 said:

Singing ability is not important unless it's a musical and a biopic is not the same as a musical.

AshK said:

Hell, even if it is a musical biopic they can do some fancy stuff with lipsynching these days. I'd rather see a stellar actor lipsynch to original tracks than see a good singer do their own renditions while hamming up the set with their "acting".

meow85 said:

Yeah you're right actually, even in musicals they're mostly still lip-synching anyway. Sometimes actors still mess it up though; Jonathon Rhys Meyers lip-synching in the Elvis TV movie was laughably bad.