Beauty Shop is a smart, sassy and funny movie about a woman in the hood who jumps many hurdles to secure her dream. Queen Latifah, also a producer on the film, plays Gina, a woman who leaves an ungrateful employer (Kevin Bacon) and starts her own beauty salon.

Numerous characters are portrayed by actors who bring wit, charm and riotous laughs to the story. Director Bille Woodruff (Honey) was chosen by Latifah for the job. Both wanted great comedy, but they also agreed the film had to have a relevant, positive touch.

Latifah and Woodruff, along with cast members Djimon Hounsou, Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell, Alfre Woodard, Mena Suvari, Golden Brooks, Keshia Knight Pulliam and Sherri Shepherd, were eager to talk about the fun they had making the film.

Casting was done by both Woodruff and Latifah. “With Djimon I had to fight a bit at first,” said Woodruff. “It’s a comedy, and he’s so heavy …like a gladiator. I wanted a man that would allow Latifah to kind of melt in his arms. Latifah has such a big presence, and I thought the audience, who already loved her, would love seeing her have that opportunity. When I thought about Djimon, I couldn’t think of anyone else.”

Hounsou was Latifah’s first choice for the role. “There are only so many men that can play my love interest in a movie. He’s got to be tall, have a presence, be able to hold a woman my size, and get a grip. I’m running out of dudes,” said Latifah with her warm laugh.

“Certainly she's my first choice also to have as my first love interest, my first kiss on screen,” said Hounsou. “She's quite a woman, and to be able to carry yourself on screen with a lady of her caliber, certainly commands respect.”

“Alicia’s character,” Woodruff continued, “at first was not Caucasian, she was African American. Latifah and I thought it would be interesting to have this character be a southern girl who happened to be white, and Alicia was someone we thought would be perfect.”

Silverstone said Queen Latifah was the big draw that made her sign on. “It was just one of those scripts,” she said. “I’m kind of a sucker for romance and things like that and just anything that makes my heart go ‘ahhhhh.’  There were so many delightful, colorful characters. Everyone was just so crazy.”

The producers were surprised when Silverstone went for the Lynn character. “The description for Lynn, which is what got me interested in her, was ‘sort of a country bumpkin and is made fun of constantly because no one can understand anything she’s saying.’ So I started working on the most complicated accent in Georgia. I listened to different tapes, and we found this one guy from Blue Ridge, a mountain man who was talking about all of this crazy stuff. His accent was so slow. So we sped it up, and I used that as my tape and practiced, practiced and practiced.”

MacDowell is a patron who follows Gina to her new shop and slowly begins to understand the lingo spoken there. “MacDowell came in later,” added Woodruff. “She was perfect for that character.”

“The main thing that was so great, was working with Queen Latifah,” said MacDowell.  “She made everybody feel vital and important, like they had something to offer. I think that’s why all the characters are so rich, because we were given a lot of freedom, and she embraced us and didn’t throw her weight around like it was all about her. We really worked as an ensemble, and she was happy to have everybody on board.”

Suvari plays the, uppity suburban woman Joanne, who wants to be like the shop girls, but whose superficial demeanor stands in her way. She even creates her own hair conditioner, Hair Crack, and offers to lend it to Gina until she gets snubbed by Lynn’s boyfriend and fellow salon stylist James (Bryce Wilson.)

“Mena was someone I really wanted,” said Woodruff. “I’m a big fan of hers, and I thought she’d be great as that character.”

“It’s a light-hearted comedy that you don’t take seriously and Joanne is not someone to emulate,” said Suvari. “It was one of the most fun things I’ve worked on in every aspect. So many vibrant characters.”

Miss Josephine, attentively played by Alfre Woodard, is a feminist who spouts Maya Angelou poetry and believes in women going after their dreams. “What attracted me was they said Latifah asked for me,” said Woodard. “So I wanted to come and support her for whatever she was doing. Then I read the role, and I liked the fact that this woman was given to spouting Maya Angelou poetry, and I got excited about who this character was.”

Comedian Sherri Shepherd (Less Than Perfect), who always looked at Latifah as a mentor, actually screamed when she landed the role of Ida, a sassy 7-months pregnant stylist. “To do a film with a lot of black women was so wonderful for me because I’m usually the only black woman on the set,” said Shepherd, who is pregnant in real life also. “To fellowship with these amazing people, I just had so much fun.”

Golden Brooks (Girlfriends) appears soft-spoken in person, but plays the outspoken stylist Chanel in Beauty Shop. Commenting on the movie, Brooks said, “You’re going to get some funny stuff -- but solid laughs.” “Cheap jokes are exactly that: cheap jokes,” she added. “This is a kind of humor that involves what you do in the day to day. I think people will be surprised and empowered by the film.”

Although Keshia Knight Pulliam gained national recognition as Rudy Huxtable on TV’s The Crosby Show, she makes her feature film debut in Beauty Shop as Gina’s devilish and always-in-trouble sister-in-law. “Darnelle is in a rebellious stage, trying to claim her independence,” said Pulliam. “She comes a long way from where she begins by the end of this movie, and it’s a role that a lot of women can hopefully relate to and see that their actions have repercussions and to choose wisely of the choices that they make.”

Of course, having that much outspoken and comedic talent on one set had to be a lot to deal with for a director. “Wow, how did you know?” asked Woodruff with a genuine laugh. “Sometimes it was a little difficult because it became like a real beauty shop -- all these powerful personalities. They’re having fun, cutting jokes on one another and talking trash. And it got really loud.”

MacDowell agrees that a beauty shop can be a sanctuary, a spa, a therapist, a comedy club and a social platform for many women.  “I was only on the set for three weeks and they were great,” she said. “We had some wild conversations…we talked about everything.  We talked about sex…everything!  We just carried on and had a lot of fun.”

Everyone agreed that working with Queen Latifah was terrific.

“I think there’s a warmth and a realness that radiates from the inside and crosses boundaries,” said Woodruff. “She’s sincere, you can relate to her, and she’s someone you want to really support. She defies stereotypes. She hasn’t compromised who she is. I guess that’s why she comes across as real. I think people just admire that. She also has that star quality that makes you want to know what she’s doing.”

Shepherd said, “For me and not seeing a lot of larger women in this industry like me, to see this woman who is so successful in every genre and who is a risk taker, she’s very inspirational because she’s not conforming to what Hollywood says she needs to be. She says, ‘I’m here, this is me, this is my size, take it or leave it.’ And they’re not dummies, they take it. What an inspiration she is for me and a lot of young women who don’t fit that mold of size two or zero. She’s amazing.”

“The bottom line is she is as humble as she is talented,” said Pulliam, “and that speaks volumes. She’s as funny as they come.”

Hounsou added, “Wow, what a classic lady. I’ve never worked with anybody who on- and -off screen had such an amazing personality. She’s a wonderful woman.”

“Overall this film was a blast to make,” said Woodruff. “The cast had a great time and everyone really bonded.”

(Read Diana Saenger’s reviews of classic films at http://classicfilm.about.com.)