What was the name of Beyoncé’s debut film role in a major Hollywood feature?

Beyoncé’s debut major Hollywood feature-film role was Foxxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Austin Powers in Goldmember was released in 2002 and directed by Jay Roach. Beyoncé played Foxxy Cleopatra, a 1970s-inspired secret agent and singer who helps Austin Powers confront the film’s villain. The character is a playful pastiche of blaxploitation heroines and funk-era style.

The role followed Beyoncé’s television performance in Carmen: A Hip Hopera in 2001. It introduced her to a wide theatrical audience and placed her alongside Mike Myers, who played Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, and other characters. Beyoncé also contributed to the film’s soundtrack with the song “Work It Out.”

Foxxy Cleopatra should not be confused with Deena Jones, the character Beyoncé played in Dreamgirls in 2006. Nor is Carmen Jones the title of her early MTV role; that film is an adaptation connected to Bizet’s opera, not Beyoncé’s Hollywood debut.