| Dreamgirls article by New York Daily News |
[03 Dec 2006|02:46pm] |
Beyoncé Knowles has got the chart-topping hits and that heart - and camera-stopping loveliness, but for her role in "Dreamgirls" - Deena Jones, lead singer of the Dreams, modeled after Diana Ross of the Supremes - the former Destiny's Child singer had to make sure the movie wasn't just "Come See About Me."
"One of the hardest things Beyoncé had to do was manage to stay in the background, because we saw in rehearsals that she would just naturally pop, because she is so flawlessly beautiful and has such an amazing voice," says "Dreamgirls" producer Laurence Mark.
"So it was a lot of pulling back - and even then, she had to deliver a very different singer than she herself is."
The film, opening Dec. 15, about the drama behind the scenes and onstage during the Motown hit-making years of the '60s and '70s, is the 25-year-old singer's first starring role (after bits in an Austin Powers movie and "The Pink Panther").
"Dreamgirls" writer-director Bill Condon was only briefly concerned about Beyoncé's inexperience: "Just until I got to spend time with her and we actually did a screen test," Condon says. "Also, getting to know what a hard worker Beyoncé is and how seriously she was taking this reassured me. By the time we were going into it, I didn't feel [nervous] at all. I was excited."
Based on director Michael Bennett's 1981 Tony Award- winning Broadway show, "Dreamgirls" tells the tale of the Dreamettes (Knowles, Anika Noni Rose and Jennifer Hudson, a season-three "American Idol" finalist), who start off as a girl group with a powerful lead singer, Effie (Hudson). But when bigger fame is within their grasp, Effie is pushed to the background by the girls' ambitious manager, Curtis (Jamie Foxx), so that the group, now called the Dreams and headed by the sexy Deena, will have crossover appeal. Anyone who doesn't get with Curtis' program - including wild-man R&B star James (Thunder) Early (Eddie Murphy) and his old-school manager, Marty (Danny Glover) - falls by the wayside.
This thinly veiled account of the Supremes - Ross, the powerful-voiced Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson, as well as Motown founder and producer Berry Gordy Jr. and the legendary James Brown - might seem like a natural fit for the movies, but it was a long time coming. After success on Broadway, "Dreamgirls" had nowhere to go, as movie musicals were out of vogue. Still, a film version was announced several times over the years, with names like Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill attached for the role of Deena (and Queen Latifah ready to go as Effie). For various Hollywood reasons, the production fell apart - until the box-office and Oscar-winning success of "Chicago" in 2002.
Enter Condon, who wrote the inventive screen adaptation of "Chicago" (and wrote and directed "Gods and Monsters" and "Kinsey") and who was in the audience the night "Dreamgirls" opened onstage in 1981. When he met several years ago with producer David Geffen, who controlled the material, Condon had definite ideas about what approach to take.
"It was a theatrical stage show, and it should remain that," Condon says. "It takes place on a stage, and we should not shy away from that fact."
So, much of the action and performances take place on various stages, just as they did in the show. Condon also rewrote the second act, beefing up the characters, extending the time line to include the late 1970s and introducing four new songs by Henry Krieger, who wrote the music for the original show (Tom Eyen had written the lyrics).
Of course, none of these decisions were going to work unless they had the right actors. Foxx and Murphy were a part of Condon's plans from the very beginning, though Foxx balked when his price went up after his Best Actor success with 2004's "Ray." But according to Condon, he relented after he saw that Murphy had signed on.
"It helped [Jamie] decide it wasn't going to be all about the money on this project," Condon says.
Murphy might have helped bring Foxx on board, but he was going to have to leave "Eddie Murphy" behind if the movie was going to work. With so little experience as a serious dramatic actor or singer (though he did have a hit in 1985 with "Party All the Time"), it would have been tempting for him to fall back on grinning and joking. But Murphy was game for it all, including losing weight to play the wiry, torso-thrusting James (Thunder) Early, created onstage by Cleavant Derricks.
Murphy "didn't want it to be Eddie Murphy winking out from behind the character," says Condon, who discussed it with the star over a meal. "It might have been a concern of mine going to lunch, but it was so clear from our conversation that he saw it the same way I did."
While Beyoncé and Murphy were calculated risks, Hudson, playing a role made legendary onstage by Jennifer Holliday, was a full-blown gamble. But it was one the filmmakers felt they had to make, because the nature of the role demanded a talented unknown. When she came to the film, Hudson had almost no professional experience as an actress, and as a singer, she was eliminated after making it to the top seven in the 2004 edition of "American Idol." (However, in a "Dreamgirls"-like irony, Hudson did beat out that year's "Idol" winner, Fantasia Barrino, for the role of Effie.)
To earn the movie part, Hudson had to audition three times over the course of six months. And then, when she was cast, she had to put on 20 pounds and attend what Condon calls "Diva 101 boot camp."
"He wanted me to be demanding and have a serious presence and really be the leader," Hudson, 25, says. "I had to be rude, late, not cooperate. He felt 'Jennifer' was too sweet and too polite and professional. In the vocal class, he said, 'Don't sing - Effie doesn't do backup. She doesn't warm up. She doesn't rehearse. Let the other girls do that.' Beyoncé was like, 'Why is Jennifer not singing?'
"I had to let them know the Jennifer side of me: 'Sorry, this is Effie, not Jennifer. I'm doing "Effie-ness" right now.'"
Much has been made about the parallels between Effie's and Hudson's careers, and Hudson makes them herself: How being kicked off "Idol" was like being kicked out of the group, how she and her character both struggled yet, in the end, achieved their dreams.
In fact, Hudson says she wouldn't be in "Dreamgirls" - and a front-runner for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, thanks to her midfilm rendition of the show-stopper "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" - if it weren't for her "American Idol" experience.
"Had it not been for 'Idol,' I wouldn't have been able to get through 'Dreamgirls' - the long hours, the hard work, the hunger for it," says Hudson, who reveals that she leaned on Foxx for acting tips and Beyoncé for dance moves.
"When I was on 'Idol,' I don't think I was as hungry for it as I was for this movie. I said to them, 'Just give me the opportunity, and I will make it work.' And they gave me a chance."
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| Beyonce makes top 10 best hairstyle list by In Style magazine |
[23 Feb 2006|10:40pm] |
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Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross has been crowned the hairstyle queen of Hollywood in a new magazine poll. The editors of American publication In Touch have given the red head the honour of having The Most Glamorous Hair In Hollywood, after she stunned them with both straight and curled locks at recent awards shows. The actress' Desperate Housewives co-star Eva Longoria also makes the In Touch list. The top 10 best hairstyle heroines are: 1. Marcia Cross 2. Gwyneth Paltrow 3. Beyonce Knowles 4. Charlize Theron 5. Jessica Alba 6. Scarlett Johansson 7. Halle Berry 8. Eva Longoria 9. Emmy Rossum 10. Jessica Simpson
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| No budging Beyonce from Hot 100 No. 1 |
[23 Feb 2006|10:38pm] |
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Beyonce's 'Check On It' featuring Slim Thug registers at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth straight week. The cut also remains atop the Pop 100 for a fifth week and sticks to No. 5 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but falls 2-7 on the Hot Digital Songs roundup. James Blunt's 'You're Beautiful' holds at No. 2 on the Hot 100 and leads the Pop 100 for a third week, while Nelly's 'Grillz' featuring Paul Wall and Ali & Gipp remains No. 3 on the Hot 100 and leads the Hot Ringtones chart for a fourth week.
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