Mariah Carey Preps Return to Movie Screen

By Stephen M. Silverman

02/28/2006 at 08:00 AM EST

Although her 2001 movie Glitter failed to produce any gold, Grammy comeback queen Mariah Carey is taking another stab at the screen.

The songbird, 35, is set to star in an independently produced drama titled Tennessee, to be shot in New Mexico and Tennessee this spring, reports Variety.

"I never saw Glitter, but I liked her work in the other film," says Tennessee (and Monster's Ball) producer Lee Daniels, referring to Carey's 2002 movie WiseGirls.

Daniels also tells the trade paper that he was swayed to cast Carey after watching her video for the Grammy-winning "The Emancipation of Mimi."

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In Tennessee, Carey plays a waitress who journeys with her two brothers to find their estranged father – and get him to help save their younger brother, who has leukemia.

"Because this character is interracial and struggles with all sorts of issues because of that, I thought she was perfect," says Daniels.