Beyoncé Knowles Interview, DreamGirls

MoviesOnline recently caught up with Beyonce Knowles at the New York City press day for her new film, "Dreamgirls,” the groundbreaking Tony Award-winning Broadway phenomenon that has now come to life as an all-new motion picture adaptation written and directed by Academy Award winner Bill Condon. "Dreamgirls” is a compelling story of love and loyalty, fame and betrayal that tracks the struggle, sacrifices and triumphs of a group of outsiders carrying their landmark sound into mainstream America in the 1960s and ‘70s during a period of vast social and political change.

The film is set in Detroit, the Motor City, where African-American music is on the verge of breaking down the doors of the American music scene.

Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx) is aching to make his mark in the music business – to form his own record label and get its sound heard on mainstream radio at a time when civil rights are still only a whisper in the streets. He just needs the angle, the right talent, the right product to sell. Late for their stint in a local talent show, The Dreamettes – Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles), Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose), and lead singer Effie White (Jennifer Hudson) – show up in their cheap wigs and homemade dresses, rehearsing songs and steps by Effie’s brother, C.C. (Keith Robinson), with hopes that talent and sheer desire will break them out of the only life that seems available to them. They’re young. They’re beautiful. They’re just what Curtis is looking for.

"They are three hungry, excited, anxious, naive girls,” says Beyonce Knowles. The Platinum-selling musical artist stars as Deena Jones, a role she was told at the tender age of 16 that she was born to play. "It’s so exiting for them to be there because they want this so bad. They want to be in the music industry. Their futures are entirely in front of them, and they think they’ve got what it takes to make it. When Curtis sees them, he sees all that potential.” Beautiful but circumspect, Deena’s soft voice belies her ambition and competitive nature. "She’s the hustler,” Knowles explains. "She wants to get them onstage. They’re ready for this. It’s what they’ve been rehearsing so hard for. Their whole lives have led up to this moment.”

James "Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy) is a pioneer of the new Detroit sound, spellbinding audiences all along the "Chitlin’ Circuit” with his electrifying blend of soul and rock ‘n’ roll. Curtis finesses The Dreamettes a gig singing backup for Early, and suddenly, for all of them, the gulf between what they want and what they can have draws closer for the first time. Curtis launches the girls as a solo act, rechristening them The Dreams, knowing in his gut that success lies not with the soulful voice of Effie, but with the demure beauty and malleable style of Deena. Deena is ready to step into the spotlight, even as Effie fades away.

Beyonce Knowles is one of the most widely recognized and highly respected women in the world of pop music who is now enjoying a burgeoning career as an actress. She first came to fame as a founding member of Destiny’s Child, one of the best-selling female groups of all time. Beyonce has earned numerous accolades for her work, including Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, World Music Awards, and the prestigious NAACP Image Award. When Beyonce won the 2001 ASCAP Pop Songwriter of the Year Award, she became the first African-American woman – and only the second woman ever – to receive that honor.

Beyonce delivers an electrifying performance in "Dreamgirls” and we really appreciated her time. Here’s what she had to tell us about playing Deena, meeting Diana Ross, and what it was like making her feature film debut:

Q: Why is it important to do the film?

BK: Well. I mean I'm from a singing group. And if it wasn't for groups like the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, all of the artists that have crossed over, I wouldn't be able to have international tours, I wouldn't be able to be on the radio in Germany, I wouldn't be able to - I mean, so many things. And this tells that story. And it's also important that people know the downsides of fame. They think that you have the glittery dresses and the eyelashes and everything's happy, but you know, there's a price for fame, and there's something very sad about it, and this kind of reveals that.

Q: Is that something you related to first hand in your own career?

BK: Not really, because I am - I don't have the - I'm not like most celebrities that I meet. I am very happy, and it's because I'm an exception, because my family is with me, and I have honesty around me, and most people don't have that. But, I wanted to be a part of it, and I invited Bill Condon to see my rehearsals with Destiny's Child, and I think I scared him, because I'm more like Tina Turner on the stage, and my vocal performance and my dancing and everything is nothing like Deena. So he was like whoa, okay, you're gonna have to do a screen test. [laughs] And he didn't know if people had such an idea of me, that it would be believable for me to be young Deena, when

she's really playing… I mean, I would've loved to play Effie, but you know, I knew if he didn't believe me as Deena [laughs], then there was no way! And I knew that Deena, in the script, was not the biggest part, but I didn't care, I was happy to be a part of it. I did my screen test, I found the ugliest dress I could find, I went and found the ugliest wig I could find, I put these big eyebrows on me, and I did it, and they found their Deena, and I immediately blocked off six months of my schedule, which I've never done. When I do albums, they take at the most two months. Everything I do is very fast, every movie I've done is two months, so it was - it sounds crazy, but I've never done that before. And I did it for a fourth of the movie I usually make, and I could make it in one show that I made. I didn't care, it wasn't about that. And I didn't allow myself to perform or do anything outside of 'Dreamgirls.' I only listened to '60s music, I had a shrine of Diana Ross in my trailer, and I lost twenty pounds, and I love to eat, so that was really hard. And I did whatever I could think of to do the best job I could, and I worked with Ivana, my acting coach, every day, even on the weekends, and I wanted to make sure that I did… that I showed that I could act, and finally I was given a part that was different for me, and that had range and that started out one way, and

grew and butterflied into another character, and I thought it was so exciting.

Q: How happy are you with what's up there on screen?

BK: I'm extremely happy. I'm very happy. I actually sat in the theatre and did not see myself at all.

Q: Did you see the applause at the end of your number? Did that surprise you?

BK: No, I didn't see that. It was not… I didn't see it in a big audience. I mean really, that's great, but I know that 'And I'm Telling You' is incredible, and nothing can even compare to that. I could only imagine the pressure Jennifer [ Hudson] had, because she's never done a movie, she's never done an album, and now she's doing this huge movie with the song that, even before her, was the song that got the applause, so she had to live up to that, which is a lot of pressure. And when I told people I was doing the movie, they all asked me, yeah yeah yeah, you're playing Deena, who is Effie and is she singing 'And I'm Telling You' right? [laughs] And I'm like, wow, this poor girl has all this pressure! But she handled it, and she's incredible and she's gifted, so.

Q: You're usually the center of attention, what was it like to take a step back?

BK: I didn't do the movie to become a bigger star. I mean, I'm already a big star. And the thought of being bigger is actually scary. [laughs] So I knew that, and I don't have a problem with that. I mean, I knew that I was gonna have to hold back vocally. I knew that in the beginning when everyone else has their make-up and hair, I still have to be the oddball with the eyebrows, but that is a part of being an actor, and that's part of the character, and I'm very comfortable with that, because I don't really have anything to prove at this point. As far as being a star and being a singer, I already have nine Grammy's, I'm already a big star, so this was really about the acting for me.

Q: This film was under the microscope from the beginning.

BK: That was a little weird. You know, even when we were filming, it was press came to see one of the numbers. Very weird. I mean, I never experienced that, but it's all great, because we have a great buzz, and there is a reason for it [laughs].

Q: Is there anything you could use from being in Destiny's Child, either being in the group or rehearsing?

BK: Definitely the relationship with the other ladies in the beginning of the film. Because I had been working with… working and going over my inner dialogue and substitution and all that, before I met the ladies, I already met the ladies [laughs]. I mean, I already had in my mind who they were, and when I met them, you swore I felt like I'd been knowing them forever, because I'd been rehearsing it. And it probably freaked them out a little bit [laughs]. But so there, yes. But it stops there, because Deena's apart from me, because she grew up in the projects and she didn't have a father, and she wasn't a strong singer, it's different from me, who did have both of my parents, who is in control of my life, and seemingly because of my voice. So I didn't want to reenact the things that happened to me, because when I lost on Star Search, I was sad, but I still had a nice house, I still was in private school, as opposed to Deena who had to go back, squeeze back in the bed, in her one little bedroom and holding her mother, so the passion and everything was different.

Q: How important is a movie career to you?

BK: I'm the type of person that when I start something, I've gotta finish it. And I already started it, I've already done four movies, so I have to win an Oscar [laughs]. It's very important to me.

Q: Will you continue to pursue the movies, maybe push the music aside a bit?

BK: I don't know. I'm still young. I love music, I love doing musicals. I wish Barbra Streisand would've done more. I wish Diana Ross would've done more movies. So I want to do more. I want to do grayer movies, I want to play different parts that don't have singing, but I'm open to whatever inspires me, and the thing I learned most is when I look at a script, if I don't have the passion that I had about this, I'm not wasting my time.

Q: Is it hard to look ahead a year and say, do I have time to fit in a movie?

BK: Yeah, that is difficult, because my schedule until this time next year is booked. So I know I can't do another movie for another year. But if, for instance, somebody says they're making something that I would love, then I'm gonna cancel a tour and do it. I mean, that's how much… I mean, I had plans for six months before that, I had to tell them no, because this was a bigger priority for me. I'm not in a rush, because I want to do this for a long time, but I do know that…

Q: Even if you lose all the money, from tours?

BK: Yeah. I canceled to do this and lost a lot of money. I did this movie for not a lot, for a fourth of what I normally make, and I didn't care, because I have money, so that's not something that I… I'm not doing this for that reason.

Q: It's a challenge thing.

BK: Yeah.

Q: So where do you see yourself in ten years? You're so young right now.

BK: I am.

Q: Is it hard to see that far ahead?

BK: Um. By that time, hopefully married with children, and I'm sure my priorities will be them. And I would love to do Broadway, and I'd love to kiss my kids and take them to school and pick them up and then go to the theatre and do that every day. I think that just sounds like a nice thing to do when I'm older. But I also, you know, my plan now is to do a movie and an album a year. And then say I want to retire, take two years off, then I'll do that, but I'm just trying to do whatever inspires me.

Q: Have you met Diana Ross or talked to her?

BK: Yes, I have. I met her a couple, maybe three times, and I met her recently when I was filming the movie, and she was very nice, and told me if I needed anything she was there which was really great for me, because I respect her, and I was happy to hear that she wasn't upset. [laughs]

Q: Have you run across any Effie's in your career? People just pushed aside, lost for a while?

BK: Yeah, I mean, you see them all the time. I mean, there are a lot of artists that I love, that I'll ask, do you know who [?] is, and they're like who is that, you know. Of course, that's just life.

It's unfortunate, but it's true. When someone is only beautiful, they're not gonna have a long career. It has to be something else for you to have a long career. And I believe that you can only fake it for

so long. Eventually people are gonna move on to the next beautiful thing. And you know, that's why I've never… I've always concentrated and focused on vocals and my performance, more than that, because that's not… that's only temporary.

Q: How did you stay determined after 'Star Search?'

BK: To be honest, I had support. And most people don't have the type of support I had. I had my mother and my father and my best friend, and it was fun, and we could still go perform and little things, just because we liked it, and eventually somebody saw us, and we got an opportunity. And that's why I think it's so amazing that they have [?] on 'American Idol.' They were in those little towns, they can go sleep, sleep outside auditions for two nights to get a chance, because everyone doesn't have what I had.

Q: Was it Destiny's Child on 'Star Search,' or you?

BK: It was Destiny's Child.

Q: Did you keep any of the wigs? The costumes were amazing.

BK: Yeah. Every time I say I'm gonna put it in my contract to keep at least two or something, two of my outfits, and I never do it.

Q: Who are you wearing today? Your blouse is lovely.

BK: Thank you. I don't know. It's out of my closet.

Q: Are you honestly a Mets fan?

BK: I do like the Mets! They keep putting pictures of me, looking bored, and I don't appreciate that. They're like, she's getting dragged, and they catch me blinking and they put it in there.

"Dreamgirls” opens in limited release on December 15^th and goes wide on December 25^th.