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Queen Latifah Revisits ‘Bessie’ Nude Scene: “That Was Bessie’s Body”
Queen Latifah Revisits ‘Bessie’ Nude Scene: “That Was Bessie’s Body”
Queen Latifah has partnered with Novo Nordisk to bring awareness to obesity and heart health, and the seriousness behind the disease as it affects the Black community.
“This is something that has affected my family firsthand and something that continues to challenge us,” she shared with VIBE about the health disparity. During the conversation, Queen also opened up about her own health journey, self-confidence, and the mental shift required to show up as your fullest self — something she embodied in one of her most vulnerable, career-defining roles: Bessie Smith in HBO’s 2015 biopic Bessie.
Speaking candidly, the Hollywood star, Hip-Hop icon, and beauty ambassador recalled the emotional weight of that mirror scene: sitting fully nude, looking at her reflection after a grueling day in the life of the legendary jazz singer. “I had completely blocked that out,” she said with a laugh. “All that mental work I did to remove that from my brain, and there it is, immortalized on film. Forgot all about that scene.” Despite the initial discomfort, Latifah said the moment ended up being far more meaningful than awkward. “I didn’t think of my body at that point as my body. That was Bessie’s body,” she explained. “The look of it was Bessie’s body, and the emotion of it was Bessie’s mind and her emotions.”
As a woman with “a little more to love,” she credited director Dee Rees for creating a safe, intimate space to allow her to feel fully present. “There were only maybe three of us in the room: me, her, the camera operator, a lighting person. And then they all stepped out,” she remembered. “That wasn’t probably the hardest thing. That was actually one of the more relaxing days of that shoot, because Bessie lived a rough life… all in one day I got three lovers, I’m getting thrown off a truck, and my baby’s getting snatched out my arms. And I said, ‘Well, shoot, I just need a bath.’” See below.
“I’ve never had anything that required that of me,” she added. “Maybe the kiss in Set It Off. That required me to step out of a box a little bit to do something like that. But that wasn’t even really a big deal comparatively.”
Switching gears a bit, Queen spoke to how weight and body image specifically impacts the Black community. “I’ve always felt a connection to my community and to my family — which is a big family — a very big, diverse group of people,” she said. She didn’t mince words when it came to the reality of obesity in America. “Two out of five Americans are living with obesity, and 70 percent of people living with obesity die from cardiovascular disease,” she shared. But she emphasized that these aren’t just numbers — these are our aunties, our cousins, our best friends. “This is something that can affect your family,” she said.
According to health care professional Dr. Veronica Johnson, she told VIBE, “Obesity is a serious chronic disease associated with at least 60 other serious health conditions. It’s important for people living with obesity to talk to a healthcare professional to understand their risks and partner on the best way to approach their weight and health.”
She added, “In fact, in one study, people who partnered with a healthcare professional lost more weight than individuals who did it alone. Even losing 5 percent or more of your body weight can improve certain heart disease risk factors.”
That’s why Queen’s urging people to visit TruthAboutWeight.com. “It’s not just a website — it’s a tool, a lifeline,” she asserted. “Knowing they can go find a resource, get some information, talk to their physician, and start to do something about it… that’s life-altering, life-changing.” Latifah also called out the shame and stigma that often surround weight, especially in marginalized communities. “I think the messaging has been terrible for a long time, and the cultural biases have been wrong for a long time,” she said. And she’s right. Generations of Eurocentric standards and fatphobia have shaped how we think about health and beauty — even when it doesn’t reflect our realities.
“We don’t all look the same. Our healthiness doesn’t all look the same. And what we can’t do is see inside of our bodies,” she said. Some people may appear fit while quietly battling chronic illness. Others may be dismissed as unhealthy while actually thriving physically. “We’re not talking about just morbid obesity — we’re talking about living with obesity and treating it as a disease rather than a character flaw,” she added. “Because if you look at it as a disease like cancer or kidney disease, you tend to have a bit more empathy.”
The New Jersey native also shared that her own health journey has evolved with time. “I’ve learned about the importance of exercise along the way — but not like, ‘I’m looking at Central Park and I feel the need to jog through it,’” she joked. “More like, ‘taking a walk through it would be nice.’ Smelling the roses along the way would be a good thing for my mind as well.”
At 55, she’s also changed the way she eats. “I had to retrain my palate. I literally went to L.A. and was like, ‘This food is bland,’ and then eventually I started to appreciate it,” she laughed. She cut back on salt and revamped her entire kitchen — especially when she was a caregiver for her late mother, who lived with congestive heart failure. “I know how to balance it out and still enjoy what we’re eating,” she said confidently.
Wrapping up the conversation, Queen touched on a topic that hits home for many women: the societal pressure to “snap back” after pregnancy or age like they’ve pressed pause on time. “Our bodies are going to change. The change is already happening,” she said. “What we can adjust to is how we feel about those changes… how we build up ourselves on the inside so that we can handle what’s coming, regardless of whether we like it or not.”
For her, she practices this kind of inner affirmation daily, sometimes starting with something as simple as: “Thank you, body. Thank you, legs. Thank you for moving today. I appreciate you.” And that’s the kind of grace we all deserve to show ourselves — every single day.
Take a look above at Queen Latifah speaking on her health journey, obesity, and the time she stepped outside of her comfort zone for a powerful nude scene in Bessie.