Blue Ivy has grown up in the public eye as the eldest child of one of Hollywood’s most powerful couples – Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
Now, the teen is paving her own path in the entertainment industry with her latest role in Mufasa: The Lion King, in which she voices Kiara.
HELLO! spoke exclusively with the film’s director, Barry Jenkins, all about the rising star on the red carpet at the London premiere of the Disney flick.
“It was really cool working with them,” he said of the mother-daughter duo.
“Blue Ivy became so, so prepared, and so it wasn’t this thing where we had to really figure out how to work with her and work in the process.”
“I saw a different…a side that, you know, we don’t normally get to see. And I also saw why Blue Ivy was so prepared, why she did such a great job,” he said of Beyoncé’s influence over her daughter.
© Axelle/Bauer-Griffin“I think she’s just grown up [with] really wonderful tutelage from Beyoncé,” he continued. “And it was really dope to see a little bit of that mother-daughter dynamic make it into the film.”
The “Single Ladies” singer starred in the first live-action Lion King film as Nala and reprised her role for the latest iteration of the classic movie.
“What I loved was, they don’t have a lot of work together, but they would always be working on the same day, and it was really lovely to watch Beyoncé just be a mother and be there to support Blue Ivy. It was really wonderful,” Barry finished.
© Axelle/Bauer-GriffinBlue Ivy is exceptionally close to her mother and appeared in a slew of projects alongside the 43-year-old. In 2024, Blue Ivy joined Beyoncé on her Renaissance World Tour, where she performed an incredible dance break with her mom every night.
Despite her A-list parents, Blue Ivy worked hard to get the role of Kiara and landed it without their help, as the director told People.
“Her parents weren’t involved in her booking this film,” he said. “You know, she had read this book, this audiobook Hair Love, with my friend Matthew Cherry. And I just really loved her voice. Because [when] this movie begins, it’s all voices.”
© Kevin Mazur, Getty“I could just tell that she was going to bring this really wonderful innocence, but also the knowingness of a highly-evolved child,“ he explained.
“And she is…the children in the audience, they’re going to see themselves in the character she plays, Kiara. She just brought all the complexity that it demanded.”
Beyoncé evidently couldn’t be prouder of her daughter, posting a sweet tribute to Blue Ivy on Instagram after the Los Angeles premiere of Mufasa.
© CBS Photo Archive“My gorgeous baby girl. This is your night,“ she captioned the carousel of photos that featured Blue in her stunning gold premiere gown. “You worked hard and you did such a beautiful job as the voice of Kiara. Your family could not be prouder. Keep shining.“
The Houston native also shares seven-year-old twins Rumi and Sir with her husband, Jay-Z.
