Becoming ... Queen Latifah

01 of 13

POINT & SHOOT

"I'm scared I'm gonna wake up and realize the last three years have all been a dream," says Queen Latifah (in New York City in July) of her recent good fortune, which has included an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in 2002's Chicago. One bump in her otherwise smooth path was a November 2002 incident in L.A. in which she pleaded no contest to reckless driving charges.

02 of 13

SHOW GIRL

Latifah performs a song from The Dana Owens Album, her first all-sung CD, on the Today show in September. The rapper (who used her given name for the record's title) had sung on her hip-hop records and covered some standards on the soundtrack to her 1998 film Living Out Loud, but a complete album of classics is a first for her.

03 of 13

FREEZE FRAME

The actress has a laugh on the New York City set of the comedy Taxi with costar Jimmy Fallon in 2003. Latifah "makes no excuse for not being the typical Hollywood skin-and-bones woman," says pal Vivica A. Fox. "She represents hard work, determination and belief in yourself."

04 of 13

DOWN-SIZING

Latifah (left, at a 2002 screening of Chicago; right, in September) underwent breast reduction surgery and lost more than 35 lbs. in 2003 by exercising, cutting out simple carbs and going on a two-day liquid diet about every two months. "I'm cool with myself," says Latifah. "If I can't have the body of Angie Bassett, so be it."

05 of 13

MOVE ON

Latifah likes switching up her exercise routine, which includes such diverse activities as boogie-boarding (in August), biking (in 2003) and jogging (in January). "Her focus isn't to be a waif," says her stylist Susan Moses. "She works out for health." Latifah also does a daily routine with L.A. trainer Jeanette Jenkins, who alternates cross-training, Pilates, yoga and hiking.

06 of 13

FEELING THE LOSS

In 1992, Latifah's older brother Lance (nicknamed Winki), a 24-year-old cop, was killed in an off-duty motorcycle accident. "I would cry, but then I'd just go completely numb," says Latifah (with her brother in 1980). "Acting helped me get through that." At the suggestion of friend Jada Pinkett Smith, she also agreed to undergo psychotherapy.

07 of 13

HIP-HOP QUEEN

The Newark, N.J., native (in 1989) began rapping as a teen, and at 17 she signed a record deal with Tommy Boy Records. Latifah hit the charts two years later with her 1989 debut album, All Hail the Queen. As for her royal moniker, she got "Latifah" from a book of Muslim names and says, "I chose the Queen in part because I didn't want to be MC Latifah."

08 of 13

GOOD TIMES

Will Smith (at the Los Angeles premiere of Barbershop 2: Back in Business in January) says of pal Latifah: She "doesn't accept limits. She just believes in herself." Adds Phillip Noyce, who directed Latifah in the 1999 thriller The Bone Collector, "She has a big aura. She owns every room she's in."

09 of 13

WEST-COAST WOMAN

Though Latifah, 34, has a home on a 3-acre spread in Rumson, N.J., she spends plenty of time on the West Coast because of her busy movie career. Next up: Latifah (with rapper pal Eve in West Hollywood in December) will voice a role in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz and will star in the Barbershop spinoff, Beauty Shop.

10 of 13

MEET THE PARENTS

For years, the rapper-actress was estranged from her father, Lancelot, a police officer who left her mother, Rita, a high-school music teacher, when Latifah was 8. She later found out that he had fathered three children outside his marriage. "His irresponsibility affected me," she says. "Would every man be like him?" Latifah (with her parents in 2003) has since reconciled with her father.

11 of 13

GOLDEN LADIES

Latifah sang a show-stopping rendition of "I Move On" from Chicago with Catherine Zeta-Jones after Renee Zellweger opted out of performing at the 2003 Academy Awards. The movie musical – in which Latifah played conniving prison warden Mama – earned six Oscars.

12 of 13

SINGLE LIFE

Latifah made her TV debut in the FOX sitcom Living Single in 1993 (from left, with costars Erika Alexander, Kim Fields and Kim Coles). Though she was asked to diet during the show's five-year run, Latifah refused. "I was like, 'I'm not losing a damn pound. I look like America!' I think people can appreciate someone who has a semblance of confidence about themselves."

13 of 13

MAMA-TO-BE

She's single, but Latifah (at a June charity walk sponsored by Curvation, a line of plus-size intimate apparel for which she's a spokeswoman) definitely sees children in her future, either adopted or "biological mini-mes. That would be my greatest accomplishment."