Queen Latifah Reveals Why She Has a ‘No Death’ Clause in Her Acting Contracts (Exclusive)

The celebrated actress opened up to ET at the premiere of her new action thriller 'End of the Road.'

No more dying on screen for Queen Latifah. The actress is opening up about a unique clause she has in all her acting contracts.

The Oscar-nominated actress walked the carpet at the premiere of her new family road trip action thriller, End of the Road, in Los Angeles on Tuesday, and she spoke with ET's Kevin Frazier about her new movie, and her so-called "no death" clause.

Latifah joked that she's had it "since the beginning," but acknowledged that it actually came about because of how frequently it seems her characters were killed off in her early movies.

"No, I noticed I was too good at it, so it's kind of a running joke," Latifah said of her on-screen demises. 

To be fair, she did meet a brutal end in her breakout role as Cleo Sims in Set It Off in 1996, then again in 1998's Sphere, and 1999's The Bone Collector.

"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!" she said with a laugh.

"But, um, I mean, of course, for the right price, you know," Latifah joked. "She dies! That s**t's in the script, you know?"

As for sequels, Latifah also shared an update on the long-awaited follow-up to her hit comedy Girls Trip, and she explained, "From everything I know it's locked and loaded and ready to go. It's just that somebody's gotta make it happen."

She added that she's "not quite sure" where the sequel will be set, but "it will be international."

In the meantime, the actress' latest project, End of the Road, sees her starring as a mother of two on a road trip through the desert alongside her brother (played by Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges). When they witness a violent murder at a roadside motel, the family become the targets of a mysterious killer and must fight for their lives.

"I was kinda coming of The Equalizer, so I didn't really get a break," Latifah said of her work on the action project. "I just went right into End of the Road because it was something we actually wanted to be able to shoot during COVID. We just weren't able to so."

"I just wanted to get in and do it, you know? I'm working with one of my favorite directors [Millicent Shelton] in a place that I've never shot in, New Mexico, which was just so much so different from every place I've ever been," she added. "It was actually a lot of fun."

End of the Road premieres Sept. 9 on Netflix.

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