While some level of retouching is expected for any movie poster, Beyonce curves were allegedly erased entirely in early promo art for Austin Powers In Goldmember.”
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film, Vulture devoted an oral history to the “Break My Soul” singer and her role in the comedy sequel as Foxxy Cleopatra. While speaking to the publication, the film’s makeup artist Kate Biscoe claimed Beyonce raised concerns when she was dissatisfied with the first poster for the film.
“When we were shooting, someone brought her a poster that would be promoting the movie,” Biscoe revealed.
“He showed it to her, like, ‘Do you like it?’ And she was kind of like, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘What’s the matter?’ And she says, ‘You made me too skinny. It’s not me,'” Biscoe continued. “Then she did this hourglass shape. And he said, ‘Okay, we’ll fix that.'”
The makeup artist added, “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.'”
The project’s producer John Lyons also shared that the singer took on a “really tough physical regimen and diet” for the role, going on a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet for the part.
“[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,” he noted.
The oral history also revealed that Beyonce’s sister, Solange Knowles, was originally going to appear in the film as well — but Tina Knowles allegedly nixed the idea.
“I put her sister, Solange, in it as Foxxy’s backup singer,” recalled choreographer Marguerite Derricks. “I remember Beyoncé and I giggling because she was young and everything in Austin Powers is so suggestive. ‘He’s got the Midas touch, but he touched it too much’ — that was a lyric that we were freaking out about for her sister.”
Added costume designer Deena Appel: “What happened, the way I understood it, was when Tina heard the song and realized what that really meant, she felt it wasn’t appropriate for Solange. I want to say the costume had already been built, so it was a mad scramble to find somebody to replace her.”
Solange’s vocals, however, still appeared on “Hey Goldmember” on the soundtrack.