Queen Latifah - Ministry of Gossip

Queen Latifah has unlikely bodyguard at 'Joyful Noise' premiere

For an actress as popular as Queen Latifah, we'd expect nothing less than a full security detail for an event like Monday's premiere of her film "Joyful Noise."

We would not expect Leigh Anne Tuohy on standby.

Yet that's just who Latifah had in her corner should she need the backup. The Ministry ran into the charitable wife and mom Tuohy, the real-life woman who Sandra Bullock played in her Oscar-winning turn in "The Blind Side."

Following "Joyful's" screening at Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood, also attended by Latifah's costar Dolly Parton, Tuohy scooted to West Hollywood's House of Blues for some gospel music and fried food.

As "The Blind Side" tells us, Tuohy is always packing heat. So we were curious — did she have a gun in her clutch?

"Not tonight," she said and laughed. "It's too small to fit in my clutch." Tuohy did indicate that she'd still have Latifah's back, and that she was impressed with the choir-singing mom the Queen portrays in "Noise."

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Photo: Queen Latifah arrives at the premiere of "Joyful Noise" in Los Angeles, Monday. Credit: Matt Sayles / Associated Press

Dolly Parton brings the bling at 'Joyful Noise' premiere

To get ready to walk the red carpet at the premiere of her new film, "Joyful Noise," Dolly Parton put in hours of preparation.

"I've spent all afternoon just casually thinking, 'Oh, I'll take a bath, I'll do a facial, I'll do my makeup and then I'll retouch it later. Which wig will I like?'" the 65-year-old told us Monday night. She was wearing a bedazzled white dress that showed off her notorious bosom; sheer, pearl-covered gloves; long, red fake nails and plenty of diamond jewelry in the shape of crosses.

Despite her intense regimen, the legendary singer-actress turned up on time to the premiere of the movie, cheerily greeting the press. Her costar, Queen Latifah, wasn't quite as punctual. She turned up 30 minutes after the movie was slated to begin and granted only a handful of interviews.

"Joyful Noise," which opens Friday, has the actresses playing willful women who must band together to save their small-town church choir. Accordingly, it's already drawing comparisons to "Sister Act," which also featured choir singing.

"I think the main parallel would be the music, and the fact that it's uptempo," said 18-year-old Nickelodeon star Keke Palmer, who has one of her first big film roles in "Joyful Noise."

"A lot of the songs are contemporary and turned into gospel music, and that always excites people."