Two Icons Come Together in
JOYFUL NOISE

Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah pair well

Left – Dolly Parton, Right – Queen Latifah

These two ladies have dominated the music industry for years: one within the country music genre, the other within hip hop. Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah have demonstrated their star power on music charts: both have ventured out expanding their celebrity to film and TV. Now, these beloved powerhouses come together to make a joyful noise in a sweet little musical drama, titled JOYFUL NOISE.

I sat with the icons to discuss their collaboration during a press roundtable in New York. Queen Latifah was feeling under the weather, suffering from a cold --

Talk2SV: Dolly, are you still living in Tennessee?

D. Parton: Yes, I was born and raised in east Tennessee, in the Smokey Mountains. I moved to Nashville in 1964. My husband is from there so we built a big old house there and that's home base. But I keep a little place in L.A. because I do a lot of work there and I keep a little apartment in New York. Tennessee is my home, my heart.

Talk2SV: It's been a number of years since we've seen you on the big screen. What have you been busy doing?

D. Parton: I've been doing a lot: Dollywood (amusement theme park) and all sorts of things including touring. Many times, people tend to think you don't do anything because you're not on the big screen. But, the truth is, I just hadn't had any good scripts come along. I've had a lot of junk come my way. Right after I did the movie Straight Talk (with James Woods), I was in one of those periods where a lot of women find themselves—being told I was too old to play young parts and too young to play the older parts. Until something good like this movie came along, where I could basically play my age and still be young in spirit, I felt this was a perfect script for me. I thought this character was all the things that I believe myself to be. She's got a big heart, big hopes and big hair (laughter).

Talk2SV: The filmmaker, Todd Graff, said he had you in mind for this movie…

D. Parton: Well, he said he had me in mind because he was a fan of mine, which I love. Todd is great. I didn't know him until the script but when I started reading it, I thought, my Lord how could not do this. It (the script) is so good that I thought it was a blessing. I pray every day that God gives me the right things to do and to take the bad things out and replace them with good things. I've never pursued a movie. All of the movies I've ever done have always come to me and seem to be right at the right time. This was one of those scripts that when I read it, I thought it was not only a great movie, it's great for the times we're in: it's about family, it's about hope, it's about the music so I thought was great. So many wonderful people worked on this film. I think it's going to appeal to all kinds of people. It was a joy to do and it has the perfect name: we did make a joyful noise and had a joyful time.

Talk2SV: When you describe your busy life, it is true that you are a business woman as much as you are anything else. What allows you to be so strong in every area, especially in business?

D. Parton: Well, I think I'm very confident in my spiritual self. That has always been my anchor. My grandpa was a preacher and my mother is very spiritual. She's just one of those people that had a grip on things and had a lot of faith. Just because we were poor (growing up), as I sing in my little song, 'you don't have to have money to be rich.' You can be rich in spirit. We didn't have anything growing up, as you know, I'm from a family of 12 and we were very poor. But I just had a lot of faith in God. My mother's people were very musical and I used that music as my tool, my vehicle. I was from a big family, 4th down, and didn't get a lot of attention. I learned early on that music was something I got a lot of attention for. The fact that my people all sing and play music, however, nobody had ever thought about doing it as a business. I had just enough outgoing personality to think, 'well, I'm going to take this music and I'm going to make it my own.' And, I kept God in everything I've done. Getting to do a movie like this was a blessing to me because it felt like I was doing something good for God; doing something good for people and good for me. During these days and times, we're all depressed. Everybody's thinking the world is going to end, nobody's got money…well, nobody knows when the world's going to end. Even if it ended tomorrow, we need to be doing our best today or at least try to. I just love being involved in this movie. So, everything I've ever done has come from my faith and my strength. I've always had more guts than I've had talent but I've had enough talent to use it. So I just do what I do.

Talk2SV: Because this role was written for you, what if anything, challenged you as an actor?

D. Parton: I don't think anything challenged me that much as an actress but I'll tell you what did scare me is when I found out that I was going to have to learn some choreography. I'm very musical but I tell you I'm like that white trash you see clapping on and off beat (laughter). For me to have to learn to dance or to do moves that other people do freaked me out. I can't sing, chew gum and walk at the same time. I worked so hard. The little dancing that I did, just trying to do it in time with everybody else was a big deal to me. I could do it by myself but then I thought, oh no, I'm going to have to do it and if I miss, it's going to be so obvious. I was just panicked. I have to honestly say that was one of the first times I've done anything that I was kind of scared of because I knew I was having to do something that was out of my element. I'm certainly no dancer and so many times I was saying, 'Oh, please God, dance through me.' I wasn't worried about my acting, I wasn't worried about the songs I had written, I wasn't worried about my singing, but I was thinking, oh, please, let my feet go where they're supposed to. That was my biggest challenge on this movie.

Talk2SV: Seeing the two of you together, the question looms, would you consider recording one of each other's songs?

D. Parton: Sure, she did record some of mine.

Queen Latifah: She did write the song so I guess I already did.

D. Parton: I do a rap thing on stage about her in my show; oh it's so silly but its fun. To answer your question, yes we would, we might even do a duet.

Queen Latifah: I'd do that whenever you call boss (referring affectionately to Dolly).

Talk2SV: Both of you are two dominant female brands -- icons as it were. You've done so much for women in the field of entertainment; do you take ownership of it?

Queen Latifah: I'd like to take ownership of that. Actually, Dolly was very much an icon to me growing up; the way she carried herself and not to be crass or anything, but I respected the way she handled being a buxom woman since I developed at a very early age. She was one of the people that I saw out there who really carried it well with humor, grace, poise, talent…quick wittedness and just so many abilities. She definitely inspired me. I've tried to continue carrying myself a certain way in terms of how I feel about females and women and how we should be viewed and treated through my rap and through my career. So, whatever great benefit it has had, it's fantastic.

D. Parton: You've done great. I think we did great together because we both know we are just totally individuals. You know, she's got her space I've got my space, we respect, love and admire each other for that. It's not like we think we have to be best girlfriends, or we have to go hang out. It's like, I know who she is, she knows who I am and all these wonderful things that are happening, but we really respect each other and our space, just like you do with all people that are strong in their faith and strong in their own selves. So it's really been a nice thing for us. In fact, we've been quite surprised. It's like every day we have something new that we kind of admire about each other.

Queen Latifah: I can take a day off and just let her do the talking.

D. Parton: It's true, but that's what it's like. We kind of fend for each other and that's true with all people…you let them be who they are.

Talk2SV: You are both women of faith. How are you able to maintain your center, your belief system in a place like Hollywood?

D. Parton: Well, my faith is just personal to me. God is my best friend. I don't try to pretend like other religions are bad; there's only one God and we're all trying to get to him in our own way. So he's very personal to me and I just keep myself anchored. I try not to worry about what other people say, what other people do. He is a personal savior to me. I claim that and work from that place. I speak to God just like he's my best friend. If I get upset about something, I argue with him. I'll say, 'What's up here? I'm doing the best I can and if it ain't good enough, can you give me a little bit more to go on? Can you help me a little bit?' I think that the more personal your faith is to you, the stronger it is and the more you get out of it.

Queen Latifah: I concur on all of that. I'd just add that I do a lot of things that make me have to lean on Jesus because I'm definitely not perfect. But I think having faith has surely allowed me to not become of Hollywood or of 'hip hop' or of 'the hood' or of anything…I step into those worlds, but God quickly reminds me of what the truth really is.

Further, I think we need to see a movie like this especially with the state of our world, our economy and the hope that people need right now. A feel good movie with Dolly Parton.