Beyonce heats up Hollywood! - Cover Story - Beyonce Knowles

Ebony, July, 2002 by Lynn Norment

DRAMA seems to follow Beyonce Knowles just as summer follows spring and success goes hand-in-hand with Destiny's Child, the top-selling girl group she helped propel to stardom. Rumors, controversy and lawsuits area constant part of her young life. But the talented, 20-year-old beauty refuses to let distractions stifle her talent or keep her spirits down. This summer she is lighting up the silver screen opposite Mike Myers in his Austin Powers in Goldmember, the writer, actor and producer's third Austin Powers comedy.

As detective Foxxy Cleopatra, Beyonce portrays Powers' former girlfriend from the '70s, with whom he reconnects through time travel. Decked out in big hair, big jewelry, sexy hot pants and catsuits, and classic '70s glamor, Beyonce is convincing in the coveted role she won after beating out a bevy of beautiful actresses. Goldmember is a highly-anticipated summer comedy; and if the movie follows in the monied footsteps of its predecessors, International Man of Mystery and The Spy Who Shagged Me, it will rack up millions and propel Beyonce into the higher echelons of movie fame. In 2001 she made her acting debut in MTV's Hip-Hopera: Carmen opposite Mekhi Phifer.

With Beyonce gracing the screen, Austin Powers undoubtedly will attract hoards of new fans who know the Houston native from her meteoric rise to stardom as lead talent of the group Destiny's Child. But this high-profile, solo outing is sure to add more fuel to the rumors that the group is breaking up. From the time the group achieved fame with its first hit single "No, No, No" in 1997, rumors have persisted that Beyonce is going solo.

In person, Beyonce continues to effect a shy-little-girl persona when she's not working. But when she takes microphone in hand and the spotlight finds her big brown eyes, she transforms into a sassy, youthful diva who can strut (and sing and act) her stuff with the best of them, young and not-so-young. Those working with her on the Austin Powers movie set were amazed that one moment she could be a quiet, young girl with a southern drawl snacking on pork rinds, and then a glamorous, scene-stealing vamp the next.

She says when she auditioned for the Foxxy Cleopatra role last fall, she didn't expect to get the coveted part. She was nervous and honestly admitted that she wasn't sure she would be good at comedy. But when she donned a '70ish jumpsuit and big Afro, and read some scenes with Mike Myers, "She just came in and nailed it," producer John Lyons says.

Of his newest female co-star, comedic actor and screenwriter Mike Myers says' "Beyonce is a great actress, a great person, a joy to work with and extremely silly. It was a pleasure!"

Those on the Austin Powers set were pleasantly surprised to learn what her family and inner-circle have always known. Beyonce is a kind, sweet young woman who is taking fame and stardom in stride. She is not spoiled and demanding. She is not hung up on her beauty but simply feels "blessed." And she is friendly and personable and wants to succeed the old-fashioned way--by working hard.

Her parents, Tina and Mathew Knowles--who are also her clothing stylist/hairdresser and manager--recall how they were rather shocked when they discovered that their shy little girl could sing, really sing, and that she glowed in the spotlight.

It was in the 1980s when the Knowleses learned from Beyonce's dance teacher that their daughter had a special gift. The instructor personally took her star student to various talent competitions. "She was a sweet but really shy kid," Tina Knowles recalls. "She'd come into a room and just want to be invisible. But when she got on stage and sang the Beatles' `Imagine,' we couldn't believe it was the same kid. Her confidence came out. She'd get a standing ovation."

Before long, the Knowleses had helped create a girl group around Beyonce and were rehearsing them in their backyard in Houston. Mathew eventually quit his lucrative sales job to work with the group, and Tina scaled down her successful hair salon business so she could spend more time styling costumes and hair for the girls.

After the group's first record contract fizzled, Mathew Knowles negotiated a deal with Columbia Records. Original members Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson were 15 and 16 when "No, No, No" from their self-titled debut album stormed the music charts in 1997. After the release of their second album, The Writings on the Wall, Luckett and Roberson left the group and were quickly replaced by Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin. Several months later, Franklin also left the group.

Luckett and Roberson filed a lawsuit, which was settled out of court. Then last fall, while Beyonce was filming Goldmember, she learned that Roberson and Luckett were again suing Destiny's Child, the time claiming that lyrics in the hit song "Survivor" from the group's multiplatinum third CD violates their out-of-court settlement, which prohibits all parties from making disparaging public comments about one another.