Beyonce reigns as forest queen in animated 'Epic'

[May 08, 2013]  LONDON (AP) -- Beyonce loved voicing Queen Tara in the new children's movie "Epic" -- at least once she stopped crying.

Queen B has gone from pop royalty to screen royalty, becoming the forest queen in an animated movie that she hopes her 15-month-old daughter Blue Ivy will be proud of one day.

The film was her first work since giving birth and she says her hormones were raging.

"I literally had tears when I played the voice," Beyonce told The Associated Press in an interview between concerts in London. "There was a scene where Queen Tara picks out her pod and I just imagined seeing my child."

From the creators of the "Ice Age" and "Rio" series, "Epic" follows a teenager who is transported into a secret forest world then embroiled in a battle between good and evil and has to protect a special flower pod to save the forest. The film is being released in the U.S. on May 22.

This role in "Epic" is not the superstar's only brush with royalty of late. When performing in London last week on her "Mrs. Carter Show" world tour, the singer inadvertently singled out Princess Eugenie in the crowd to sing with her. The 23-year-old is sixth in line for the British throne. Beyonce giggled as she revealed that she had no idea who Eugenie was.

'"I didn't know, and I still don't know. Someone told me and I don't know what's going on, but I hope they had a great time and I hope I didn't insult anyone, making them sing into the mic," Beyonce said. "But you know royalty likes to have fun and have a good entertaining night."

Her sellout world tour has also caused some controversy for its racy costumes and explicit lyrics in the song "Bow Down (I Been On)," but for Beyonce it's simply all part of the show.

"I'm an artist and I love being able to express myself and I'm not one-dimensional," she said. "I have different feelings every day and now that I've done movies I feel like I can try and recreate these characters on the stage."

[Associated Press; By LOUISE DIXON]

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