friends who i've known since high school. so i have real people around me. who can pat me on my back when i'm doing good and smack my hand when i'm doing something naughty, and it just keeps me more grounded. queen latifah has become a phenomenon in a sense, but underneath the queen is just la. i think that's what people really get from me, and they feel like -- when people approach me on the street, they just feel like they can hug me, you know? like they feel like they know me. and they say that to me. it's because i'm still me. underneath all that huge queen latifah business it's just la. >> larry: do you ever miss not being known on the street, not being famous? >> i remember losing my anonymity, especially growing up in new york, but new jersey. but i hung out in new york a lot. you could go to new york and just be anyone you wanted to be. you could disappear into 8 million people. and you could change your name