For some reason everyone’s celebrating the 16th anniversary of the movie Josie and the Pussycats; the cast united for a reunion earlier this week in Los Angeles, and its soundtrack is being reissued. With all this revisitation comes some surprising new information about who originally auditioned for the 2001 cult classic.
According to an interview in Billboard with co-writers and directors Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, some artists who originally auditioned for the film included Aaliyah, ‘Left Eye’ Lopes, and Beyoncé. Elfont says:
The fact that Beyoncé, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Aaliyah came in to audition was crazy. I think it was 2000. We read Left Eye twice. She really wanted to play the part. Beyoncé was really quiet and shy. Who knew? It was a comedy and Aaliyah was more serious and thoughtful. We wanted someone who could really play the comedy.
Excuse me, what?!
It’s hard to imagine a version of the movie, which plays as a very heavy satire on consumerism and the music industry, featuring three of the biggest pop stars of the time. Another thing that’s hard to imagine? Beyoncé being “really quiet and shy.”
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Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
