JAY-Z and Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy is receiving high praise ahead of her role as Kiara in Mufasa: The Lion King.
Talking to ET for a conversation published on August 12, the film’s director Barry Jenkins explained why he chose the 12-year-old for the role and how proud he is of her for her work.
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“She did a wonderful job bringing this character Kiara to life,” he said. “I’m really proud of her, really proud of the work she did. As we were thinking of who could play this character, I thought, ‘Oh, this is it. She’s the right age, the right vibe. Let’s test it out.’ She was just tremendous.”
He continued: “There are some things she does in this film that are really emotional. She’s a thespian. [And the casting] had nothing to do with mom and dad. She was the right young woman for the job.”
Back in April, it was confirmed that Blue Ivy would play Samba and Nala’s daughter in the new film, which will be a prequel (and sequel) to the 2019 remake of 1994’s The Lion King. Beyoncé will reprise her role as Nala, while other former cast members Donald Glover, Seth Rogan, Billy Eichner and more will also be returning.
The movie, which will be soundtracked by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s compositions, will explore Mufasa’s origin story and explore his childhood with his brother Scar.
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Mufasa: The Lion King premieres in theaters on December 20.
In an interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings last fall, JAY-Z revealed that that “Blue Ivy” wasn’t the name he and Beyoncé were initially going with for their daughter.
“She was meant to be Brooklyn,” the rapper said, presumably since the that is the New York borough where Hov was born and raised.
“That was the name we had in theory. But when we got the sonograms, you know, [the fetus] is super small, and we was calling her a blueberry. Like, ‘Look at the little blueberry!’ It was like a nickname. For nine months we were like, ‘Look at the little blueberry.’ So it was just natural, we just took the ‘berry’ off and called her Blue.”
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Blue Ivy is Beyoncé and Hov’s first child. Born in 2012, she is now a big sister to her twin siblings Rumi and Sir, who were born five years after her.
