Beyonce Almost Overlooked for Beauty to Play in "Dreamgirls"

Mon, 01 January 2007 12:00:00 ET

Beyonce Knowles was almost overlooked for the role of Deena Jones in "Dreamgirls" - because she was too sexy.

Director Bill Condon has revealed he had reservations about casting the 25-year-old star as the Motown singer, even though she made it clear she desperately wanted the part. He told BANG Showbiz: "Beyonce did come after us, it wasn't the over way round. We met, I loved her but I still had to question two things. One of them was it was a level of acting she had never attempted before, but more than that, you know, when you have got such a well developed stage persona, we all can name names of people who can do one thing brilliantly, but could she adapt to something that was so really different? If you think of the way she is sexually on a stage. She is so powerful and contemporary, and this was about something very different. It was about withholding and it was about a kind of different sexuality.

"She volunteered to audition. She did a screen test, I didn't even have to put it together, it was very quick, we didn't see anybody else. She really wanted the part." Condon also revealed Beyonce - who has previously starred in "The Pink Panther" and "Austin Powers in Goldmember" - had no trouble getting to grips with the adult language in the film. When asked about the strong vocabulary, he joked: "I think she liked that". Dreamgirls, which was originally a stage show, was inspired by the true story of 60s singing sensations The Supremes.

In the movie, Beyonce plays Deena Jones who is partly based on the girl group's lead singer Diana Ross.