With the closing of her clothing line, 'Fetish,' and news that she's been dropped from her recording contract with Geffen Records, rapper-actress Eve is staying active despite her setbacks.

On the bright side, the Philadelphia native is currently a MAC Viva Glam spokesperson, has an upcoming guest-starring role on TV's 'Glee' and a new album slated for a late 2009 release.

For a bigger exposure, she gets to play roller derby in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut 'Whip It,' which opens Oct. 2.

The film also stars Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Alia Shawkat, Zoe Bell, Ari Graynor, Eulala Scheel, Andrew Wilson, Carlo Alban, Landon Pigg, Rachel Piplica, Kristen Adolfi and Daniel Stern.

For years, Bliss Cavendar (Page) has been dreaming of escaping Bodeen, Texas, her tiny truck stop town. Unfortunately, her devoted beauty pageant-obsessed mother (Gay Harden) is convinced that Bliss can only succeed in life if she wins the crown at the local Miss Blue Bonnet Pageant, but the awkward outsider knows there's something bigger and better out there. When Bliss sneaks off to the big city of Austin with her best friend Pash (Shawkat), she discovers a world unlike anything she could ever imagine: roller derby, with its girl-power-meets-punk-rock spirit and its liberating celebration of wild individuality.

Inspired by the likes of Maggie Mayhem (Wiig), Bliss secretly tries out for a spot on the Hurl Scouts, a rag-tag team of scrappy underdogs. Soon, she's trading in her gowns and crowns for skirts, skates and scrapes and embracing her alter ego, Babe Ruthless. Leading a precarious double life, Bliss may be a waitress at Bodeen's Oink Joint by day, but by night, she's the fastest thing on eight wheels. Now she's doing things she never dreamed of -- fearlessly facing off with bad-ass rivals like Iron Maven (Lewis) and falling for a boy in a band (Pigg) -- while trying to be a heroine to her new friends and teammates. But when her secret gets out, Bliss will face her toughest fight yet: taking control of the future on her own terms.

Eve plays a skater named Rosa Sparks, one of Bliss' teammates.

In casting Eve, Barrymore states, "Eve was perfect for this role because she is also a woman who, on her own terms in her own way, has made a beautiful success of herself. She is a cool, tough chick with a sweet softness. And when she began skating, she was so tentative. It was awesome to watch her grow. With determination and nerve, by the third week she was just crashing into everything!"

Eve says, "What I love about this story it is that it brings a coming-of-age drama and a sports movie and a fun comedy together in a great way. And women's roller derby – how amazing is that? I'm not the most athletic person in the world, so this was a challenge, but I was surrounded by women with so much personality and determination. You just have to embrace it. You can't be a wuss."

Source: Black Voices