Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Before coming in to read for a screen test for the filmmakers, Knowles rented every Blaxploitation film she could get her hands on and re-watched the two previous "Austin Powers" films. Rather than dressing in period wardrobe and make up to impress the production team, she decided to forego the costume effect and instead adopted what she felt was Foxxy’s A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E.

"She didn’t try to reflect the period in dress," remembers Lyons. "She absorbed all the correct information from the movies she watched and had the energy, the sassiness and the edge of Foxxy combined with just the right measure of humor and warmth. She was sexy and funny and got all the laughs. When she left the room, everybody said, ‘that’s it,’ and we decided to cast her that day."

Co-screenwriter Michael McCullers (who also wrote the recently released Undercover Brother) and Myers are particularly fond of ‘70s Blaxploitation films and decided to incorporate many of the genre’s signature characteristics into Austin Powers in Goldmember.

"One aspect of the Blaxploitation genre is the partner on a vendetta mission," explains Myers. "Whether the character is a cop inside the law or used to be a cop, or whether it’s someone working outside the law or even in a special branch of the FBI that’s always left vague and indeterminate, they’re always trying to get the bad guy in the neighborhood who’s selling drugs or weapons or whatever. I think it was Cleopatra Jones who worked for the Office of the President of the United States, and who knows what that is, but she had a badge that said ‘Office of the President of the United States," he laughs. "Foxxy was a composite of women like that -- strong, cool female leads."

Myers is unreservedly complimentary of the novice actress. "I was really impressed with Beyoncé’s dedication to the project," Myers says. "She’s very young to have such focus and drive. I mean, I have hockey equipment older than she is! She gets it instantly and her learning curve is extremely steep; working with her is like participating in a pick-up game of hockey where some guy you don’t really recognize wants to play and then you find out his name is Wayne Gretzky. Beyoncé is great, that’s all there is to say."

Knowles is equally effusive in her praise for Myers. "He is hilarious," she asserts. "I would have to bite the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t ruin a take and laugh. But when the crew couldn’t hold it in and started to lose it, I would laugh too. Mike will say something crazy out of the clear blue having nothing to do with what’s in the script and I’d have to respond with some smart, sassy remark. It was hard, but it was hilarious. You never know what to expect."

"Mike is a wonderful actor," says Knowles. "He’s very wise; he taught me a lot. I would sit back and watch him. He doesn’t even realize how much I learned from him every day. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner on my first film."

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