Beyonce Reportedly Trying To Make Movie About Saartjie ‘Hottentot Venus’ Baartman, Aiming For An Oscar

According to The Sun, Beyonce really wants to be taken seriously as an actress, and despite being the most Grammy-nominated woman in history (she has a total of 20 awards and 53 nominations), she has her eye on another kind of award statue: an Oscar.

The British tabloid has reported that the "Drunk In Love" singer is currently working on a concept for a film about Saartjie Baartman, also known as "Hottentot Venus," a famed South African woman and historical figure who was barbarically paraded and displayed nude in London in the 1800s. Baartman, whose large posterior fascinated white Western audiences in Europe, passed away in her mid-20s, and her inhumane treatment—such as how audience members could pay extra to poke her with a stick during her display at various freak shows—is still a largely controversial racial-historical matter.

Reportedly, Beyonce wants to bring Baartman's story to the big screen in a film in which she hopes to both write and star in, so much so that she has apparently hired a team of acting coaches, historians, and writers to help her bring her vision to life.

This project isn't Bey's first foray into film, however; the iconic artist has starred in films such as Austin Powers In Goldmember, Dreamgirls, and Obsessed. There are also rumors that she is in talks to star alongside Bradley Cooper in his upcoming remake of the classic American film A Star Is Born.

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