Unlike some actors who have a clause against nudity in their contracts, Queen Latifah is more concerned about her characters staying alive. At the start of her career, the “Taxi” actress acted in a number of movies where her characters met gruesome ends.
One might wonder how many character deaths could make someone place a “No death” clause in their contract; well, for Latifah three was enough. The actress’ breakout role in “Set It Off” met a gruesome end, and two other films in consecutive years saw the actress play dead.
Latifah revealed that she would rather not be left out of a possible sequel, hence the unusual clause. The actress also previously joked about playing dead on-screen for the right price.
Read on to learn more.
Queen Latifah Said She Was Tired Of Being Killed
Latifah joined Drew Barrymore on her talk show on Thursday and shed some light on some decisions she took as a young actress. During the show, the actress was asked about the “no death” clause, which was relatively rare in Hollywood compared to its more popular “no nudity” counterpart.
The 52-year-old revealed that the main reason she decided to affix the condition in her contract was because of the number of times her movie characters had been killed. According to Latifah, this made it impossible for her to be a part of any future follow-ups to the project.
“You know, what happened at the beginning of my career… my characters died in the movies, and apparently, I died my ass off,” the actress explained (per Insider). “I was like, ‘Wait a minute, if I keep dying in these movies, I can’t do a sequel.’”
Queen Latifah Always Includes A ‘No Death’ Clause In Her Acting Contracts
Latifah revealed that she informed her team to “put a no death clause in my contracts to halt further character deaths.” The “Hustle” actress said, “Henceforth, we kind of threw it in there.” She went on to describe the contract clause as “a little off-the-cuff funniness.”
Latifah recalled, “I was like, ‘No more dying. No more getting shot up by 300 bullets in this car.’” The show host, Barrymore, pointed out that most people placed a nudity clause in their contracts; however, she loved that the 52-year-old was more concerned with her character’s death.
The “Set It Off” star said, “I was like no, you can show my butt if you need to. Here’s my butt, and it’s live.”
Queen Latifah Said She Was Too ‘Good At Dying’ In Movies
Latifah spoke about her “No death” clause in an earlier interview with ET Online. At the time, the actress joined the red carpet premiere of “End of the Road,” her family road trip film, and shed some light on the contract. When asked about the clause by Kevin Frazier, ET’s reporter, the actress revealed that she included it “since the beginning.”
“No, I noticed I was too good at it, so it’s kind of a running joke,” the “Girls Trip” actress said. “I was like, ‘I don’t get to do any sequels if I keep being this good at [dying].’ So I said, ‘Look, you gotta put a no-death clause in these contracts so they can’t just kill me off like this. I’m never gonna get a sequel in!”
Latifah, however, revealed that she wasn’t entirely against dying on screen if offered a suitable amount. “But, um, I mean, of course, for the right price, you know,” the 52-year-old joked. “She dies! That sh*t’s in the script, you know?”
A ‘Girls Trip’ Sequel
Prior to her “No death” clause, Latifa had her fair share of on-screen deaths. The actress played her breakout role as Cleo Sims in the 1996 “Set It Off,” and the character had a devastating death at the end of the film.
The 52-year-old seemed to have similar fates in her other moves, including “Sphere” in 1998, where she played Alice Fletcher. In 1999 Latifah notably played Thelma in “The Bone Collector,” and in like manner, her character died.
Latifah’s scheme to secure more movie sequels seems to have worked because, according to the actress, her popular comedy film “Girls Trip” would likely have a sequel coming soon. The “Just Wright” actress said, “From everything I know, it’s locked and loaded and ready to go. It’s just that somebody’s gotta make it happen.”