“The Cast of Disney's The Lion King on Working with Beyoncé - PEOPLE.com” plus 3 more |
- The Cast of Disney's The Lion King on Working with Beyoncé - PEOPLE.com
- How the New 'Lion King' Completely Wastes Beyoncé - Thrillist
- Could Beyoncé finally win coveted Oscar with 'Lion King' song? - New York Post
- Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen Recall Meeting Beyoncé for the First Time at ‘The Lion King’ Premiere - Variety
| The Cast of Disney's The Lion King on Working with Beyoncé - PEOPLE.com Posted: 17 Jul 2019 12:44 PM PDT  this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. |
| How the New 'Lion King' Completely Wastes Beyoncé - Thrillist Posted: 18 Jul 2019 01:23 PM PDT  The last time Beyoncé played a character that was not Beyoncé in a feature film, she was Queen Tara in the forgettable 2013 animated film Epic. In the years since, Beyoncé evolved beyond a pop star who dabbled in acting. Once and forever Queen Bey, she ascended to deity status with release after release of albums that didn't adhere to any one medium. She became more personal and political as an artist, while also emerging as an untouchable pop cultural figure. So it's a much different Beyoncé who returns to dramatic work in The Lion King, and, as such, you'd think the Disney remake would give her as much as possible to do. That's not exactly the case -- at least in the context of the movie. Getting Beyoncé to play Nala was seen as a major coup for the Mouse House. Though their remakes already attracted big names -- everyone from Will Smith to Emma Watson wanted in -- Beyoncé is on a different level. The news warranted a story in the New York Times, a publication that doesn't really do casting announcements. She had seemingly abandoned acting on her way to creating the likes of Lemonade and Homecoming, which meant only a truly colossal project could lure her back. But almost as soon as the promo materials for The Lion King came out, something seemed amiss. Beyoncé's entire life is art-directed, whereas everything associated with the movie seemed to be, well, not. Imagine one of the biggest celebrities in the world staring at what could be a stock image of a lion, and you've got one of the official images that was released. Recommended Video Big Boi From OutKast Introduces Cliff to Atlanta's Food SceneThe movie confirmed our worst suspicions. Nala's role hasn't significantly increased from the 1994 original, despite the fact that she speaks with the voice of the closest thing America has to actual royalty. Instead, the most exciting contribution Beyoncé makes to the project is in the form of a companion album called The Lion King: The Gift, out Friday. That compilation, which she produced and describes as a "love letter to Africa," features solo numbers as well as contributions from husband Jay-Z, daughter Blue Ivy, co-star Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino), Kendrick Lamar, and Pharrell. It's unclear how explicitly these songs will reference the story of Simba, though one is called "Find Your Way Back (Circle of Life)" and another is "Scar." Other titles are less explicit. Most of the songs featured on The Gift don't even play in the movie, the notable exception being "Spirit," which has been released as a single and now has an accompanying music video. But Nala doesn't belt out "Spirit" from her lion mouth. Instead, it's featured in a transitional moment as Simba decides to make the journey back home to face off against Scar. The lack of Beyoncé in the finished film is odd not just because it's Beyoncé we're talking about. In an era where Disney has attempted to reimagine the Disney princess, Nala still largely plays second fiddle to Simba. Sure, there are a couple of moments where director Jon Favreau's movie swerves from its urtext. In the final battle, Nala essentially acts as a general, and goes head-to-head with the hyena Shenzi (Florence Kasumba), who's reimagined as a fierce villain instead of a wise-cracking Whoopi Goldberg. Still, there's no serious attempt to give Nala more of an identity outside her Pride. In the Broadway musical, she gets her own show-stopping number, "Shadowland," in which she describes her pain at seeing her home destroyed and her choice to take matters into her own hands. There's a similar dramatic beat in the 2019 film, but without the emotional resonance of a song to call her own. "Spirit" doesn't serve the same narrative purpose. If anything, it's more about Simba fulfilling his destiny than Nala pursuing hers. Recent Disney remakes have labored to give their female characters significant moments, with varying degrees of success. In Aladdin, Jasmine has a new song in which she refuses to remain "speechless." Beauty and the Beast gives Belle a STEM hobby. A tragic backstory motivates an evil queen in Maleficent. The Lion King feels like a huge missed opportunity to at least attempt something similar for Nala and Beyoncé. Which isn't to say that Beyoncé underperforms with the material she's given. Her unmistakable intonations put Nala on an equal playing field with Simba, and she throws vocal flare onto a song like "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." But if The Lion King were real -- and that's what the aggressive CG imagery would have you believe -- Simba would have left his Pride for good and Nala would be ruling shit all on her own. Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, get Streamail for more entertainment, and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun. |
| Could Beyoncé finally win coveted Oscar with 'Lion King' song? - New York Post Posted: 18 Jul 2019 03:39 PM PDT Even in 2002, Beyoncé knew what she wanted. And it had nothing to do with music. Back then, she was just a 20-year-old singer best known for her work with Destiny's Child and had yet to release a solo album. She was set to make her theatrical-film debut in the Mike Myers comedy "Austin Powers in Goldmember." During filming, she had gotten to talking with co-star Michael Caine, and one day, the Brit asked Beyoncé what she wanted to do with her life. "I want to win the Academy Award for acting," she told him, according to a 2019 interview with Caine in Rolling Stone. Not become a gazillionaire with a pile of Grammys, or a mother of three. An Oscar winner. But throughout the succeeding 17 years, the star has been frustrated in her goal. Could this be the year when she finally breaks through and brings home the hardware? Maybe. Though it won't be for her acting. The singer has contributed a new song to Disney's remake of "The Lion King" called "Spirit," and it has her fans, at least, tipping her for a Best Original Song win at next year's ceremony.
A win, however, is hardly a sure thing, in part because it's only July, and it remains unclear what her potential competition could be. Also, the 37-year-old superstar may face some institutional headwinds. "We've seen in recent years that adding a new song to a pre-existing score doesn't usually pay off," Daniel Montgomery, a senior editor at awards-watch website Gold Derby, tells The Post. Montgomery cites "I Move On," from 2002's "Chicago," "Learn to be Lonely," from 2004's "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Suddenly," from 2012's "Les Misérables," as nominees for Best Original Song that ultimately lost. "Beyoncé will have to overcome that bias," he says. The good news is that any sniffy academy voters probably won't bat an eye at handing the Oscar nomination and prize to a pop star. Lady Gaga, Adele and Sam Smith have all taken home the prize in recent years. Queen Bey voices a female lion in the film, as well as curating the companion soundtrack, "The Lion King: The Gift," upon which her song appears. She has said that she was eager to be part of the remake because she grew up loving the original 1994 film and wanted to "pass that legacy" on to her kids, as she told Robin Roberts on ABC earlier this week. Also, "Beyoncé is the hottest ticket, and Disney probably paid her a s - - tload of money for that song," Brooke Wentz, a music supervisor who runs San Francisco's rights-clearing agency the Rights Workshop, tells The Post. A song for use in an indie documentary can easily cost six figures, so it's not hard to imagine how much a Beyoncé track would run. To fill the singer's mantle, not just her bank account, "Spirit" will have to resonate with the audience. "It's usually about subject matter and how well a song fits and the impact it has in the film itself that gets people," Wentz says. Beyoncé told the BBC in 2002 that acting was "a new chapter of my life . . . a new way to grow as an artist." But her transition hasn't always been easy.
"Beyoncé has had a tough time as an actress," J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of "Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story," tells The Post. "Good roles have been hard to come by. In fact, she's a better actress than given credit for and in the right environment can really shine." She's only appeared in a handful of films. Beyond "Goldmember," there was 2003's forgettable "The Fighting Temptations" and 2006's "The Pink Panther" redux. (The Post dubbed her "talking scenery" in the latter.) "I love acting — even though I haven't really lost myself acting," she told Vanity Fair in 2005. "What has to happen is like a tingling, something that happens where I can do anything, and I'm not scared. I'm just lost in the moment. I haven't done that with acting yet, but I know I can." Her chance came with 2006's "Dreamgirls," an adaptation of the Broadway musical that seemed to offer her the meaty, awards-baiting dramatic role she craved. She studied for six months, sometimes seven days a week, with an acting coach, learning the craft. Unfortunately though, it was Jennifer Hudson who walked away with most of the acclaim and the Best Supporting Actress trophy, reportedly angering Bey and causing her to avoid reading any reviews.  Playing Etta James in 2008's "Cadillac Records" earned her more buzz. Essence wrote that she was surely bound for an Oscar nod. She wasn't. She even had the opportunity to front last year's "A Star Is Born" remake, playing the part that earned Lady Gaga a Best Actress nod. Beyoncé was originally cast in the role but dropped out after she became pregnant. Even her previous Best Song chances have fizzled. She was not credited as a writer on the nominated "Listen" from "Dreamgirls," because the academy only allowed three names. Her anthem "Rise Up" from the 2013 animated movie "Epic" was among the 75 tunes considered for an Oscar nod, but failed to make the cut in the end. So maybe 2019 is finally her year. "In terms of her career and legacy, an Oscar would definitely help to cement her iconic status," Taraborrelli says. "Also, it would be nice to see her achieve this goal because she has worked hard in this business for a long time, and she definitely deserves the acclamation."
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| Posted: 18 Jul 2019 10:34 AM PDT Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen may co-star in the new "The Lion King" with Beyoncé, but they didn't meet Queen Bey until the world premiere of the movie earlier this month in Hollywood. "She was really lovely," Eichner told me when he and Rogen sat down for this week's episode of "The Big Ticket," Variety and iHeart's movie podcast. "We happened to be backstage together. Seth and I were the first ones backstage waiting to go and then Beyoncé was the next person. Seth and I were just in the corner not knowing what to do or say. She came right up to us, introduced herself and gave us all hugs." "She said, 'Hello,' and I was like, 'Hi, I'm Billy Eichner, I play Timon,'" he continued. "And she was like, 'I know,' and gave us a hug. She could not have been nicer." Eichner has not asked Bey to be on "Billy on the Street." "I'm not bothering Beyoncé with that!" he said. "She has enough to do. Maybe Jay-Z…He's from New York." Related Rogen had never witnessed an audience reaction like the one Beyoncé received when director Jon Favreau introduced her to the stage at the premiere. "She is the only person I've seen get a standing ovation before they do anything, for just existing," he said. "And it just made sense. No part of me was like, 'She doesn't deserve a standing ovation for just existing.' I was just like, 'Yes! Everyone stand up!'" While reviews of the film have been mixed, most critics have heaped praise on Eichner and Rogen for their work as Timon and Pumbaa. "The first day we recorded, we were in this black box theater with JD McCrary, who plays young Simba," Rogen said. "We were trying to get our lines right and Jon was like, 'Put down the scripts and just act out the scene as though you know the point of the scene. You find this little lion, you are scared, you debate talking and you try to help him." "We were running around each other," Eichner added. "We were kind of embodying the characters on our feet." Rogen said, "It was pretty amazing and they used a lot of stuff." "The Lion King" is in theaters July 19. You can listen to the full episode of "The Big Ticket" with Eichner and Rogen below. Plus, Keegan-Michael Key also talks about meeting Beyoncé and Chiwetel Ejiofor and why he was a little worried about the royal premiere of the movie in London with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. And make sure to check out the "Big Ticket's" second "Lion King" episode with director Jon Favreau. "The Big Ticket" can be found at iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. |
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