Renaissance: A Film by BeyoncéThe film, released on November 30th, is celebrated as an event film. However, the singing star has been cultivating his career on the big screen for many years. Memory…
When Beyoncé was a member of the group Destiny’s Child, she began her acting career with an anonymous supporting role in Beverly Hood (1999). She only received one mention in the credits… “Girl #1”!
The first times
Casey Lee and Beyoncé in “Carmen: A Hip Hopera.” PHOTO PROVIDED BY NEW LINE CINEMA
Beyoncé owes her first major role to MTV. In Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001), the not-yet-superstar stars an aspiring actress, Carmen Brown, opposite now-forgotten actor Mekhi Phifer. The feature film, a remake of the film Carmen Jones (1954) starring Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, itself a modern adaptation of George Bizet’s opera, received moderate acclaim. Critics praised young Beyoncé’s musical abilities but highlighted her lack of acting talent.
As singers sought careers on the big screen at the start of the new millennium, she worked on her skills and the following year landed the role of Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers vs. the Man with Limbs. in addition to performing the theme song. Under orders from the studios, she undergoes a draconian diet and training.
Beyoncé and Mike Myers in “Austin Powers vs. the Man with the Golden Link.” PHOTO PROVIDED BY NEW LINE CINEMA
“For my second audition, I wore a Pam Grier costume, an Afro wig, and had all the dialogue from all the blaxploitation films memorized,” she recalled in the pages of Vulture in 2022 on the occasion of the film’s 20th anniversary with Mike Myers.
Beyoncé used her role as Lily in The Fighting Temptations (2003), a young single singer, to release songs, both alone and with Destiny’s Child. And if the musical comedy starring Cuba Gooding Jr. does not achieve the expected success with $ 32.7 million against a budget of $ 30 million, the young woman’s vocal performance will be praised again.
The last big blow
After these unsuccessful first attempts, Beyoncé was offered the role of Xania, a pop star, in the new version of The Pink Panther (2006) with Steve Martin in the role of the legendary Inspector Clouseau. The film, released four months before her first solo album, Dangerously in Love, allowed Beyoncé to once again consolidate her musical talent since signing A Woman Like Me and Check on It, which were a success.
Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé and Anika Noni Rose in “Dreamgirls”. PHOTO PROVIDED BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES
That same year, she was in the cast of Dreamgirls, a musical drama directed by Bill Condon, alongside Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. The feature film is loosely inspired by the story of the Supremes and follows the development of a group of R&B singers in the 1960s and 1970s. After passionately committing to the role of Deena Jones, Beyoncé gives her all, so much so that the studios fought for her to receive an Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category. No fuss, it is Jennifer Hudson who will be chosen for the competition as Best Supporting Actress, and the feature film, nominated in six categories, will leave with two statuettes … Even the Golden Globes, known for their complacency, will not reward Beyoncé Knowles Although the film was nominated in the Best Actress category, it still won the trophy for Best Comedy or Musical.
However, Beyoncé is not discouraged. In 2008, she transformed into Etta James for Cadillac Records, a historical chronicle with Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright at the record label Chess Records. The song “Once In a Lifetime” was nominated for a Grammy and Beyoncé Knowles’ cover of “At Last” by Etta James achieved considerable success with audiences. Today’s singing star will perform it on the evening of President Barack Obama’s inauguration ball.
Adrien Brody and Beyoncé at Cadillac Records. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SONY PICTURES
Since Beyoncé has nothing left to prove musically, she tries her luck in a psychological thriller by playing the wife of a man harassed by a young woman in Obsédée (2009) with Idris Elba and Ali Larter. The critically acclaimed feature film also marked the death knell for Beyoncé’s acting career and we had to wait until 2013 and the animated film Epic to hear her voice in theaters. But it’s the 2019 remake of The Lion King that finally catapults her into the prestigious club of billionaire movie stars.
“Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” hits theaters across the province on November 30.