UPTOWN magazine - Beyonce Opens Up About:

Sure, Beyoncé is hopelessly beautiful, married to the 300 million dollar man, and has seriously deep pockets of her own. But can she cook? That’s what I most want to know as I sit across from the fresh-faced, doe-eyed songstress inside the penthouse suite of the luxurious Soho Grand hotel.

“Well, I don’t have a lot of time to cook,” reveals Beyoncé, who’s clad in a black ruffled blouse, low-hanging diamond pendant, leather pants, and spiked boots. She pauses to consider her culinary répertoire, and then adds, “I actually made oxtails with peas and rice not too long ago. It came out pretty good,” she beams.

Rats. Yet one more thing this 27-year-old, chart-topping tour de force can add to her overflowing list of achievements. Honestly, it’s enough to make this average chick want to jump off a bridge.

Since the Houston-bred singer-turned-actress and entrepreneur burst onto the scene more than 10 years ago as lead vocalist of Destiny’s Child, it was clear that nothing about Beyoncé Knowles was average. Grammys? Got 10 of ’em. Movies? Her last film, Dreamgirls, won two Oscars. Even her clothing line seems recession-proof: House of Deréon continues to expand—adding shoes, handbags, and eyewear—under the watchful eye of B’s mom and business partner, Tina Knowles.

And lately things have only gotten better for the bodacious newlywed, who tied the knot with Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter during a hush-hush, star-studded Manhattan ceremony this past April. “Etta James was sitting there like, ‘All right, who is this girl about to come up here and sing my song?’”

For starters, she came in second on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s highest paid music stars this year, beating out Madonna, Celine Dion, and Justin Timberlake. At this point Beyoncé’s entertainment empire—a clothing line, tour sales, platinum-selling records, and endorsement deals with L’Oréal and American Express, among others—rivals that of her man’s. “Jay and I keep our businesses separate,” she confides. “I had mine before we met, and he had his.”

She’s also back in the spotlight with two rousing new singles off her November release, I Am: “If I Were a Boy,” a folksy pop song written for wronged women worldwide, and the rollicking party-in-a-bottle “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” (Guys, if you haven’t seen this sexy video it’s practically a throwback to Beyoncé’s booty-shaking “Crazy in Love” days—those wild hip thrusts are enough to put the viewers’ eyes in traction). Pulling 17 songs from the 70 she recorded during her “downtime,” Beyoncé says her fans will be pleased to note the range in her material this time around. “I felt like it was time for me to take more risks with my sound,” she says of her third solo studio album. “So I really experimented this time around.”

Mrs. Carter has also been acting up a storm. Not only will she star opposite Ali Larter and The Wire’s Idris Elba in the upcoming Fatal Attraction-themed flick Obsessed, out in February, the two-time Golden Globe nominee has also signed on to play not one, but two legendary singers: notorious Hollywood vixen Eartha Kitt and troubled blues great Etta James.

“[Playing Etta James] was so challenging and scary but also the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done,” Beyoncé says of her transformation to become the singer, who famously battled a drug habit, in this month’s Cadillac Records, a biopic chronicling the rise and fall of the 1950s label that launched the careers of Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley. Beyoncé reportedly spent time in a Brooklyn rehab facility visiting drug addicts to prepare for the role. “Etta is so bold and so unapologetic,” she says with admiration. “It doesn’t matter who she is around. Learning about how strong she is taught me how to take more risks.”

One of those risks involved tackling James’ signature song, the wedding staple “At Last,” which Beyoncé says made her even more nervous than the acting. “I was terrified because I’d never met Etta James and I heard she was in the audience [the night of the screening],” she recalls. “I was scared to look at her! When I first walked out onstage she was sitting there like, ‘All right, who is this girl about to come up here and sing my song?’ Fortunately, I could see her kinda transform by the end,” Beyoncé says smiling. “Then she was like, ‘Bad, girl! You bad!’ And I was like, now that is a compliment.”

Beyoncé’s sister and fellow R&B singer Solange also observed how challenging playing James was for B. “I’ve seen how much she prepared for this movie,” says Solange. “She really poured herself into this role—it’s amazing how much she sacrificed Beyoncé for Etta James. I think this is the role that can completely show people how much of an actress she really is.”

Acting has become so much of a priority, reveals the self-described perfectionist and control freak, that she finds herself critiquing other actors’ performances. “I’m the worst person to go see a movie with,” says Beyoncé, who admits she works with an acting coach, “because I’ll talk through it! I’ll be like, ‘Oh, she killed that!’ Or, ‘You see how he put his hands in his pocket?’ I’m the worst!”

Given her jam-packed schedule, you might think that Beyoncé and Jay don’t see kids in their future. You’d be wrong. They absolutely do, she says—just not right now. “I do eventually want to have children,” she explains. “I’m just not in a rush. I just kept my nephew [Julez] for the weekend,” she says, referring to Solanges’s four-year old son. “He’s a beautiful little boy but he’s way too smart! And I’m telling [Solange and my family], you all are making it real hard for me! I am not ready! I just can’t! So, we’ll see. Maybe in a couple more years, but right now I’m not ready. And I’m sure once I have children, everything, my priorities are going to be different. But right now, I’m working on my acting, and eventually one day I want to do Broadway and win a Tony and an Oscar and just continue growing as an icon.”

B looks good
written by Piedali , December 08, 2008

Wow,
That photo of B is great, I never seen her like that!

OMG
written by Calvin Richardson , January 09, 2009

I cannot believe that you all would post that large pic of beyonce instead of posting her cover where she is showing the world her True Beauty,.I love both pics but come on you all know that the cover shot is the picture her face is sitting in....Im gonna call B and let her know about this... smilies/angry.gif

Not so Obvious
written by none , January 14, 2009

yeah....isn,t the cover the same photo as the album? or maybe from the same shoot
i think this one is more original...

Pres
written by Alish , January 27, 2009

B is definitely Sahsa-Fierce! I agree about the picture.... I would have preferred to see the cover shot too ... but, B has many sides and she is definitely a beautiful young woman. On a different note, her last line ' continue growing as an icon'... hmmm ... icon??? B is talented, but she's not yet an ICON.