| Thursday 13 September 2001 |
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All that "Glitters"!
"Glitter", the long-awaited and recently delayed Mariah Carey movie, is finally here! The pop princess, who recently recovered from an emotional breakdown, plays a role she can probably relate to in her own life: A singer who struggles to break through on the New York club scene, only to find that stardom wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
As "Glitter"'s heroine, Billie Frank, Carey is an aspiring songbird in the early 1980s who dreams of hitting it big. Abandoned by her mother as a child, Billie grows up in an orphanage but makes it out with her dreams intact. When she meets deejay Julian Dice (Max Beesley), the relationship blossoms into love - and fame for Billie. But Dice cannot cope with Billie's success in the face of his stagnant career, and the romance turns tumultuous. Billie finds herself increasingly drawn to nice-guy musician Rafael (singer-songwriter Eric Benét, making his big-screen debut), plus she's always got her loyal friends, Louise (Da Brat) and Roxanne (Tia Texada). But underneath all the glitter of her life, Billie must fight to come to terms with her personal demons and find her inner voice.
For the Grammy-winning Carey, it was a long wait for the perfect role to launch a career as a leading lady. "When I was young and was asked what I wanted to be, I would always reply, 'A singer and an actress'," explains Carey, who previously made a cameo in the film "The Bachelor", of her desire to act. "After thinking a long time about the type of film project I'd like to be involved in, Glitter seemed right - making the film was about being able to express another side of my creativity, in addition to singing and writing songs."
And playing the character of Billie also wasn't as easy for Carey as we might think. "While there are parallels in my life and Billie's, on many levels they couldn't be more different," explains the star. "Everything that happens, including her rise to fame, comes from her need to come to terms with what her mother did."
Will "Glitter", directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall ("Eve's Bayou"), offer up sparkling drama? Find out when the movie opens September 14. (Entertainment Tonight)
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