Alicia Keys burst on the scene in April of 2001 with the release of the single Fallin’ from Songs in A Minor, the critically acclaimed debut album which launched her meteoric rise. A piano prodigy who studied both jazz and classical composition at the prestigious Professional Performance Arts School of Manhattan, the class valedictorian was admitted to Columbia University at just 16 years of age but soon took a leave to pursue her musical career. Among the many accolades she’s already collected are 11 Grammys, along with multiple American Music, Billboard, Soul Train, Teen Choice, People’s Choice, NAACP Image, Rolling Stone Magazine, VH1 and BET Awards.
Hailing from Harlem, Alicia was born on January 25, 1980, to Teresa Arguello, a paralegal, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. The stunning diva is a delicious mix of Irish, Italian, Jamaican and Puerto Rican lineage, and she’s been named one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People, FHM Magazine’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World, Maxim Magaizine’s Hot 100 and VH1’s 100 Sexiest Artists.
A true Renaissance woman, Alicia is not only a gifted singer/songwriter/arranger/musician/actress but also the author of a best-selling book comprised of poetry, lyrics and intimate reflections called “Tears for Water.”
She made her big screen debut in 2006, playing a seductive yet ruthless assassin in Smokin’ Aces. She followed that well-received outing with a measured performance as Scarlett Johansson’s best friend in The Nanny Diaries.
Alicia’s about to make cinematic history as half of the first duet (with Jack White) ever to perform a James Bond theme on a 007 movie soundtrack, namely, “Another Way to Die,” in the upcoming Quantum of Solace. Despite her incredibly busy schedule, she makes time for philanthropic work with numerous charities, most notably, Keep a Child Alive (http://www.keepachildalive.org/main.html), an organization she co-founded which is dedicated to delivering life-saving medicines directly to AIDS victims in Africa. On November 13th, Alicia and some very famous friends will be performing in NYC at a benefit dinner/concert. (For more details, call (718) 965-1111.
Here, she talks about her latest film, The Secret Life of Bees, a touching tale of female empowerment set in the Sixties at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. She turns in what proved to be the movie’s most memorable performance as June Boatwright despite being surrounded by a stellar cast that includes Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson and a couple of Oscar nominees, Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo.
KW: Thanks for the time, Alicia. I’m really honoured.
AK: Thank you, sir; I appreciate that so much.
KW: I feel terrible because it’s so late. I understand you’re in Germany, and you just came offstage after performing at a big concert. You must be exhausted.
AK: Yes, and you should feel awful! [Laughs out loud] No, I’m good. I’m definitely good. I had a good show, and it takes me a little while to settle down anyway.
KW: Well, I wanted to talk to you about The Secret Life of Bees.
AK: I loved this movie, so I want to do this.
KW: I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but there’s a scene early in the picture where a character silently opens up a tiny, folded piece of paper which says something about the Civil Rights Movement. When I read it, I started crying right then and there, and my eyes remained watery until the very end.
AK: Wow! Well, I’m so glad that it moved you because it moved me, too.
KW: The film had so many subtle touches like that, which delivered an emotional wallop. Its effective use of space and emptiness reminded me of your music.
AK: That is a beautiful image. Thank you for comparing it to my music. I appreciate that so much. I agree that Gina [Director Gina Prince-Bythewood] did an amazing job. And everybody involved loved it from the minute they signed on. She created a very nourishing environment on the set, where we just supported each other and wanted to do an incredible job. So, I’m really, really happy about how Gina was able to be so subtle yet so strong.
KW: To me, it was the most important film of its type since Eve’s Bayou. Have you seen that film?
AK: Funny you should mention it because I watched Eve’s Bayou prior to beginning work on this one because I felt it would have a similar vibe. Also, I wanted to watch it for the accents, figuring it would give you a nice feel for the regional dialects, given that it was set in the Bayou. But did you know they didn’t do any dialects in that film?
KW: I never noticed that.
AK: That was really funny, but it was still a great movie.
KW: What did you base your interpretation of June Boatwright on?
AK: On many things. On my own personal emotions and feelings… on my understanding of my character’s complexities, and really wanting to bring them forth even without explaining them. I also based her somewhat on these beautiful pictures we had from this book called Freedom Fighters. There was one girl in it, a black-and-white photograph, who just had her arms crossed. The way she was looking at the camera made me feel, “Wow! That’s my June!” There was something about how hopeful and strong she was, yet closed off emotionally, that I really wanted to take and make a part of June.
I also took some inspiration from a really good friend of mine who has a kind of attitude like June. When you first meet her, you’re terrified of her. You think she’s just the meanest thing when she’s really a sweetheart and so vulnerable underneath it all. That’s why she has to be a little tough; she can’t afford to give all her love away. So, I really took a lot of those firsthand experiences and put them into June, too. She was based on little pieces of a lot of different people and things.
KW: Another thing I was impressed with was that there was an arc, not only to June but to so many characters in the film. That degree of development added to the richness of the cinematic experience.
AK: Seriously, that’s true what you say. You see, each person starts in one place and ends up somewhere else. How many times do you have a film where so many characters can make such significant transitions within it? So, I agree.
KW: I also liked the way the movie made statements about the Civil Rights Movement without hitting you over the head with it.
AK: True, because you wouldn’t quite say it’s a story about the Civil Rights Movement, but it’s definitely about that era. I’m really proud of that aspect.
KW: Any truth to the rumour that you might play Philippa Schuyler in the screen adaptation of her biography, Composition in Black and White?
AK: It’s something that Halle Berry really wanted to bring to life and that we’ve been working on for a little while. Hopefully, it’ll pan out.
KW: Born in the Thirties, Philippa was also a child prodigy from Harlem who had one black parent and one white parent. Do you think there are many parallels between your life and hers?
AK: Honestly, there are fewer parallels than differences. The most obvious parallel is that my mother is white and my father’s black and that we both play classical piano. What I love about the idea of playing her is that she’s not me, and I’m not her. She was this amazing person that too few people know about. {quotes}I’m fascinated by the strangeness of that era and her trying to perform classical music as a black woman back then{/quotes} when she had to, in essence, hide her identity just to play the music she loved. The confusion between “Who am I?” and “Where do I belong?” is just crazy, and it is the theme of her story that I really relate to because I think we all kind of want to find where we belong.
KW: That reminds me to congratulate you on your five recent American Music Award nominations.
AK: Oh, thank you.
KW: Also, congrats on “Another Way to Die,” the new James Bond theme for Quantum of Solace. I just heard that your co-collaborator on the song, Jack White, hurt his neck. Are you still going to perform it on MTV in conjunction with the movie’s release as planned, or will you have to cancel that appearance? I really love the video, although the song is a change of pace for you.
AK: I really love the song, too. Well, we really wanted to do that song together, so we’re going to pass at this point. Fortunately, he’s definitely going to heal up and will soon be all right.
KW: As a child with one black parent and one white parent, how do you feel about Barack Obama’s candidacy?
AK: You know I love it and that I support him. I’m confident that he’s going to be the next president, and I refuse to accept the idea of anything else. There you have it.
KW: You play piano and sing, compose, arrange, act, and write poetry and prose. Do you have a favourite means of artistic expression?
AK: They rotate [Laughs heartily] They really do. Sometimes, after I’ve been on tour for so long, I start looking forward to composing and creating again. And after I’ve been songwriting for a long stretch, I’m kinda looking forward to going outside of myself and exploring someone else. And then sometimes it’s nice to be able to sit quietly and reflect and write without any specific outcome in mind, just to do it. So, it rotates.
KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
AK: Yes, I’m very happy.
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
AK: Sure, but I try to push fear out of my mind because I think you attract what you fear.
KW: Bookworm Troy Johnson asked me to ask you what the last book you read was.
AK: The last book I read was The House on Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper. And now I’ve actually just started a novel, Song of the Cuckoo Bird by Amulya Malladi.
KW: Music maven Heather Covington was wondering what music you are listening to nowadays?
AK: I’m listening to a mixture of Kanye West, Sergio Mendes, Fela Kuti and Common.
KW: Is there a question no one ever asks you that you wish someone would answer?
AK: No. I always thought that I could figure out a really good answer to that question, but I haven’t found it yet.
KW: Well, thanks again, Alicia, and best of luck with everything.
AK: Thank you so much. Great to talk with you, and I’m looking forward to speaking with you again soon. Oh, and Kam, make sure you tell everybody about my Black Ball on November 13th for my organization, Keep a Child Alive,
KW: Will do.
AK: Thank you, Kam. Take care.
KW: Bye, Alicia.
FYI: The Fifth Annual Black Ball, a benefit for children and families in Africa with HIV/AIDS, will be held at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City at 6 PM on Thursday, November 13th, 2008. The evening's festivities will begin with a cocktail party followed by a seated dinner with extraordinary live performances by Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Joni Mitchell, Jack White, Jennifer Hudson, Emmanuel Jal, and some other very special guests to be announced.
For more info, call (718) 965-1111 or visit: http://www.keepachildalive.org/
To see a trailer for The Secret Life of Bees, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XHtNqyCorM
To see the music video of Alicia Keys and Jack White duet of the new James Bond theme song, “Another Way to Die,” visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM5UJvnbbuY
To see a video of Alicia performing her first hit, Fallin’, visit:
