Queen Latifah signed up to her latest movie because she wanted to work with Dolly Parton.

While the actress loved the "uplifting story" of the musical comedy 'Joyful Noise', which focuses on an unlikely partnership between two strong-minded women (Latifah and Dolly) who are forced to work together to win The National choir competition, she admitted working with the legendary country singer was an added bonus.

She told Eurweb.com: "I felt that its timely, uplifting story was perfect for me, given what's going on in the world right now. And I already loved the studio, Alcon Entertainment. They've made a lot of nice movies in the past ['The Blind Side', 'Dolphin Tale', etc.], and they really do a great job of marketing their films. And I liked the idea of working with Dolly Parton and Keke Palmer."

Latifah - whose real name is Dana Elaine Owens - has managed to make the successful transition from female rapper to respected actress but she claims the jobs are quite similar.

She said: "Developing my skills and getting really good at acting was actually more challenging than making the switch. As a rapper, you sort of act in music videos and in the persona you adopt onstage. You kinda have to put yourself out there and be courageous even to be a rapper. So, to step into acting was not that difficult a transition to make. What was difficult was the work that went into becoming good at it, because I hadn't had any training."