Imagine being all decked out in a floor-length gown, big hair, sharing the stage with Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson … and then wiping out. That’s what happened to Anika Noni Rose while filming the signature “Dreamgirls” number from the musical of the same name.
“I fell. I did. I fell during the ‘Dreamgirls’ number,” the singer/actress recalled to FANDOM. “When we were our most glamorous!”
“We were on a platform, cameras were going around us, and I had my little microphone,” explained Rose of the scene when the Dreams make their Crystal Room debut. “I’m trying to pull the wire but it wouldn’t move from the microphone. And then I realized it wouldn’t move because it was wrapped around my foot and my toe. So I started to fall. And I fell, slow motion, in front of the extras. Splat! Really hard! There was nothing to be done about it.”
To add insult to injury, it was a struggle to get up. “We couldn’t bend in the dresses,” recalled Rose. “There was no sitting. We had stools. One of the crew would prop me on the stool. It was sorta insane.”
Suffice to say, “Dreamgirls” wasn’t Rose’s favorite number.
“My favorite number was ‘Stepping to the Bad Side.’ It was beautiful, it was stunning, it was glorious to look at, and it was work! It was funk, it was R&B and a bit of a gospel revival at the same time. Every time I popped that tambourine, that was a real feeling. The energy was intense in the room … all 85 takes,” she joked.
Both Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson have opened about undergoing physical changes for the film; Beyonce dropped weight for her role while Hudson gained. For Rose, there was another physical challenge.
“I had to learn to walk on stilts, performing in those insane heels,” she explained.
“Anytime you do a musical, it’s your job to be as in shape you possibly can be. For me, prepping for a musical — on stage or on film — it’s about being as healthy and as strong as I can be. It’s really my job as a performer; my instrument is my body. When we’re not working, you might see me eating a pint of ice cream on the couch. But when I’m working, I’m just much more aware of keeping my instrument fine-tuned. Because there’s no time to be sick, there is no space for that.”
Sadly, there’s no blooper real with Rose’s fall, but the newly released Director’s Extended Edition does have some incredible extras, including Hudson’s audition and screen test.
The Dreamgirls Director’s Extended Edition is available in a Blu-ray Combo gift set now.
