Twenty after the release of the spy movie parody Austin Powers in Goldmember, we are still learning behind the scenes. Including how Beyoncé refused to be slimmed down for promo posters.
July 22, 2002 was released in the United States, Austin Powers in Goldmember, directed by Jay Roach, with Mike Myers and Beyoncé Knowles. Twenty years later, we continue to learn things about this spy movie parody. In this hilarious feature film, singer plays undercover FBI agency Foxxy Cleopatra (style heroine of the cinema blaxploitation (American cultural current of the 1970s working to revalorize African-Americans in dignified and leading roles).
Beyoncé wanted us to respect her hourglass figure for the posters of the film
And even if she was not yet as well known as today, Beyoncé already knew how to impose her ideas and her principles. As attested by a make-up artist from the film, Kate Biscoe, with vulnerabilitymedia which is currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of the cult film:
“”When we were filming, someone brought [à Beyoncé] a poster that would promote the movie,” Biscoe said. He showed her in ‘Do you like it?’ And she was mixed, like, ‘Yeah.’ He asked what was wrong. And she said she didn’t recognize herself mimicking an hourglass shape. He said, ‘Okay, we’ll sort this out.’
She went back to shoot a scene and I asked the guy from the marketing team: ‘Is this the first time an actress has asked you to enlarge her body?’ He said, ‘Yes. It’s going to cost me thousands of dollars, but I’m going to do it.‘»
Beyoncé already had to go on a strict 1200 calorie diet for this movie
vulnerability also reports that Beyoncé had to follow a strict diet to match the physical ideals the production intended for the film. She only ate 1200 calories a day to play Foxxy Cleopatra. At the start of filming, the singer was only 19 years old. Despite his efforts, the film’s marketing team still tried to slim him down even more for the promotional posters of Austin Powers in Goldmember…
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Front page photo credit: Screen capture from the film, New Line Cinema. Courtesy Everett Collection.
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Beyoncé refused to be Photoshopped for Austin Powers