‘Wicked’ star Idina Menzel has revealed that she feels like a “phony” on days when she struggles to get out of bed.
Idina Menzel feels like a “phony” at times.
The 53-year-old actress won a Tony when she starred as Elphaba in the original Broadway production of ‘Wicked’ in 2003 and then found further fame a decade later when she voiced Elsa in Disney’s ‘Frozen’ but sometimes struggles with the idea of being a figurehead for female empowerment.
She told the New York Times: “It feels phony sometimes to represent empowerment and self-esteem when, you know, there are days when I can’t get out of bed.
” I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished and I’m really proud of how it’s been multigenerational and that I made these fans from ‘Rent,’ and now they have kids, and now their kids watch ‘Frozen.’ And I feel like we’ve all grown up together.”
The ‘Enchanted’ star explained that she has never hand-picked any of her roles and took them out of necessity but admitted that she seems to “attract” similar sorts of characters time and time again.
She said: “I had to audition for all of those roles. I didn’t choose them — I needed a job. And yet, maybe somehow I attract them to me.
“They’re fierce women, but I’m not afraid of making them very fragile at times. They’re also women — especially Elphaba and Elsa — who are afraid of their power. They’re afraid that they’re too much for people, and that their power will hurt people. And I think I feel that way in my life a lot. I’m too big. Too loud..”
Idina also explained that when she finished her first stint on The Great White Way in ‘Rent’, she assumed she was going on to become the next big rock star but had to learn how to start again when that didn’t happen.
She said: “I left ‘Rent’ and I had a big record deal and I thought I was going to be the next Alanis Morissette, so I just focused on being a songwriter and being a rock ’n’ roll star and making albums.
“And then I got dropped from the record label and I didn’t sell any records. I had to start all over again.”
Wicked star Idina Menzel reveals why she feels like a ‘phony’ at times: ‘I can’t get out of bed…’
