Director Robert Townsend is recalling seeing a young Beyoncé auditioning for her first acting role.

In 2001, the now-43-year-old superstar singer played the role of Carmen in MTV ‘s Carmen: A Hip Hopera . Beyoncé was 19-years-old at the time and it was her first acting role.

On a recent episode of Lena Waithe ‘s Legacy Talk podcast, Robert recalled watching Beyoncé audition for the role.

According to Robert , he knew the singer was going to be a big star when he first saw her rise to fame.

“I knew of her and I was like, ‘Wow, she has a striking look.’ You know, she’s a beautiful, young girl, but I could see that she had something special. ’Cause [with] my director eyes, I go, ‘Something’s going on with her. She’s got something,” Robert said, adding that

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