“Lion King” Director Defends Blue Ivy From Nepo Baby Criticisms

Blue Ivy Carter is getting her due flowers for her growing portfolio, especially with one of her biggest projects yet on the way. Moreover, you probably already heard that Beyoncé and Jay-Z‘s daughter will make her acting debut in Mufasa: The Lion King this December. While many folks out there might assume that this was the result of some nepo baby shenanigans, the movie’s director Barry Jenkins reiterated that it’s about much more than that. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight published on August 12, he elaborated on why they picked her for the role of Kiara (Nala and Simba’s daughter).

“She did a wonderful job bringing this character Kiara to life,” Barry Jenkins remarked concerning Blue Ivy. “I’m really proud of her, really proud of the work she did. As we were thinking of who could play this character, I thought, ‘Oh, this is it. She’s the right age, the right vibe. Let’s test it out.’ She was just tremendous. There are some things she does in this film that are really emotional. She’s a thespian. [And the casting] had nothing to do with mom and dad. She was the right young woman for the job.”

Furthermore, it’s easy to see why Blue Ivy has been so successful in her media endeavors so far, as her mother Beyoncé also gave her much advice on dealing with public scrutiny and focusing beyond the haters. “One of [Blue Ivy’s] friends came back and showed her some negative comments and it was a great life lesson,” Tina Knowles recalled. “Because her mom basically said, ‘Listen, if you let this get you down, then they won. So you should go and work harder. And, you know, just work harder and get your skills together and go out there and blast it.’

“So it actually worked in [Blue Ivy’s] favor because she was only supposed to do it one time,” Tina Knowles continued. “But now her mom was, that mama bear was on to it. It was like, she was like, ‘You go out there and kill it,’ and she did. She just grew so much from that experience.”