Tiffany Boone didn't know she was auditioning for Sarabi in Mufasa

when Tiffany Boone I intervened for her Mufasa During the audition, she had no idea that she would be playing the role of the famous lion queen Sarabi.

“I created the character I had in mind, (but) I didn't know I was auditioning for Sarabi,” the 37-year-old actress exclusively said. Us Weekly On Thursday, December 19, during the discussion Mufasa: The Lion King. “He had a different name on the page. I thought, 'This has to be a new character.'

When Boone read the script, she thought the character sounded “cool” and wanted to use her voice to reflect that side of her personality. Boone was thrown for a loop once it was revealed that she would be voicing the beloved animated character.

“So when they told me who I actually played, I said, ‘Oh, that’s a lot of pressure, actually,’” she admitted.

Boone shared that she asked director Barry Jenkins if he wanted her to make her vocals sound more like it Madge Sinclairwhich is in the original Expressed the character originally The lion king From 1994 or so Alfre WoodardWho played the role of Sarabi in 2019 Adapting to live work. Jenkins, 45, had faith in Boone's talent and encouraged her to be herself while developing Sarabi's backstory.

“I had a lot of freedom to create the younger version of her and give other layers to the character (and) the challenges she went through to become the great queen she became,” she said. we.

As a fan of The lion kingBon has always seen Sarabi as the “perfect” wife, mother, and queen, so she wanted fans to get a taste of Sarabi's character before she became Mufasa's loyal partner.

“She wasn't always perfect. She's sarcastic and makes fun of boys,” Bon said, referring to Mufasa and his adopted brother Taka, who would later become Scar. “I think she has a sense of humor about her. She's really vulnerable, and all of those things are really fun to add to the complexity of the Sarabi that we see later.

Bon teased that fans might be “surprised” to see what Sarabi's relationship with Mufasa was like (voiced by: Aaron Pierre) unfolds, hinting that it's “not a straight line.” As for the rumors about a love triangle between Sarabi, Mufasa, and Scar, Boone hinted that fans will “get an answer” when they watch the movie.

“You'll definitely understand the three of them better,” she joked.

Boone admitted that she is “still pinching” herself because she is now a member of The lion king family.

“I can't believe I'm a part of it,” she said, noting that her younger self could never have dreamed of such an opportunity. “Telling that little version of me who used to sit and watch VHS in my mother's bed over and over again, like, ‘You're going to be part of that family, that story.' I feel like her little head is going to explode. My imagination can't even dream of that.”

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However, Boone admitted that there was “definitely pressure” to make sure she and the entire Mufasa team put on a good performance, especially for fans of the classic animated film.

“I know there's a group of people who say, 'Are they going to get this justice?'” she said. “But there's also a lot of joy, and that's what I think we were trying to remember when we were recording. And I think Barry Jenkins really steered us in the direction of finding the joy in those moments and having a lot of fun and letting the pressure get off our backs and doing our job as actors.”

Mufasa: The Lion King In theaters now.

With reporting by Kat Pettibone