Blue Ivy Carter, the daughter of Jay-Z and Beyoncé, joined her family on the red carpet for her film debut in Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King.
The 12-year-old was confirmed to be a part of the movie, directed by Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins, back in April. She will star alongside her mother, Donald Glover and Aaron Pierre in Disney’s prequel to their animated classic.
Blue Ivy, who has appeared in several of her parent’s music videos, but never a feature film, will voice the character Princess Kiara.
She is the eldest daughter of Queen Nala – a role that Beyoncé will reprise having first played her in 2019’s The Lion King. Donald Glover will also reprise his role of Simba.
Although Kiara isn’t in the 1994 version of The Lion King, avid fans will recognise her from the 1998 sequel, The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride.
In a post on Instagram, Beyoncé honoured her daughter’s big moment, writing: “My gorgeous baby girl. This is your night. You worked hard and you did such a beautiful job as the voice of Kiara. Your family could not be prouder. Keep shining.”
Speaking about Blue Ivy’s casting in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jenkins said: “A buddy of mine, Matthew Cherry, made the short film called Hair Love that Blue Ivy did the audio book of.
“Starting this project and just having that in the ether, I was like, ‘Is it worth a shot? Would Blue Ivy want to do it? Would Beyoncé want to act opposite her daughter? Is it too close to home?’ But once we put the question to them, they both responded with enthusiasm.”
He added: “What’s crazy is we made the film, and then the Renaissance tour happened, and I think Blue really grew up over the course of that tour,” he said. “So the Blue Ivy you see in this film, it’s like a time capsule, this very, very, very young stage of her life, and she got to share it with her mom. So, I thought there was some synergy. It could be beautiful.”
Last year, Blue Ivy joined Beyoncé for a number of shows on her record-breaking Renaissance tour. She performed as a featured dancer during the song “My Power” from the singer’s 2019 album The Lion King: The Gift.
Mufasa: The Lion King will premiere in cinemas on 20 December.
