It's been 20 years since the 'Break My Soul' singer starred in the film as Foxxy Cleopatra.
It's been 20 years since audiences were introduced to Foxxy Cleopatra, the Pam Grier-esque diva played by Beyoncé in the glimmering film Austin Powers in Goldmember. In an interview with Vulture about the history of the 40-year-old's role in the 2002 comedy starring Mike Myers, makeup artist Kate Biscoe revealed that Beyoncé reportedly asked that the poster for the film be redone because she didn't look like herself.
Goldmember -- the singer's second major movie role after her starring role in the made-for-TV movie Carmen: A Hip Hopera in 2001, and the seventh-highest-grossing movie of 2002 -- marked the singer's transition from leader of Destiny's Child to multi-hyphenate superstar. The film release was paired with her first solo single, "Work It Out," and acted as a bridge to the smash hit "Crazy in Love," which is largely considered her true breakthrough.
According to Biscoe, Beyoncé was shown a promotional poster for the movie and asked whether she liked it. "She says, 'You made me too skinny. It's not me,'" Biscoe tells the outlet. "Then she did this hourglass shape. And he said, 'Okay, we'll fix that.'"
She adds, "She walked away to go do the scene, and I looked at him and smiled, like, 'Is that the first time that you've ever had an actress ask to make her body bigger?' He was like, 'Yes. It's going to cost me thousands of dollars, but I am going to do it.' "
Goldmember producer John Lyons said Beyoncé had a "really tough physical regimen and diet" to get in shape for the movie. The singer took on a 1,200-calorie-per-day diet to play Foxxy.
"[Beyoncé’s team was] keenly aware of the expectations that both the music business and Hollywood frequently have for how young, beautiful women should look and were smart about making those ideas work to their ends," Lyons says.
Hair department head Candy Walken told Vulture that the crew was stunned on the first day Beyoncé showed up to film. "We all just stood there and our mouths dropped open," she recalls. "She became this incredible light. She was 19 years old and had such command of that stage when she stepped onto it. None of us really knew why they’d chosen her for this character, and then we understood."
Beyoncé has gone on to appear in a handful of other big-screen projects since then, including acting opposite Idris Elba in Obsessed, starring with Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls, with Steve Martin in The Pink Panther and voiced Nala in the live-action Lion King movie.
More recently, the "Break My Soul" singer has been gearing up for the release of Renaissance, her long-awaited seventh studio album and her first solo album in six years. On July 14, the singer put up her first-ever TikTok post, and it was a video entirely dedicated to her fans.
"Seeing y’all release the wiggle made me so happy! Thank you so much for all the love for BREAK MY SOUL! - Love B," she captioned the post.
The post means Beyoncé's entire catalog is now available to TikTok users to use as backing sounds for their creations. The songs include "Break My Soul" and hits like "Halo" and "Single Ladies."
Renaissance drops on July 29.
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