Movie Musings: Disney and More

Anika Noni Rose: We Gotta Hand It To Her

Anika Noni Rose has been performing on Broadway, Television, and Film for a little over 20 years now. Although that is a short amount of time when compared to other performers, she has already left a remarkable legacy on the entertainment industry, playing strong-willed, African-American women—one of whom was Disney’s first African-American Princess! So far, her career has been quite fascinating.

Anika Noni Rose was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut on September 6th, 1972, to John and Claudia Rose. She developed an interest in acting in High School, performing in a production her Freshman Year. She attended Florida A&M University where she got a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and then she started studying drama at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California.

She then relocated to New York and in three months’ time, booked her first professional acting job: the role of Rusty in the original cast of the Broadway premiere of Footloose in 1998. She also made her television debut, appearing in episodes of the series Third Watch (1999-2005) and 100 Centre Street (2001-2002). Her “big break,” role however, came six years later when she landed the role of Emmie Thibodeaux in the original Broadway musical Caroline, or Change. (Ironically, the character of Emmie is actually a teenager in the show who supports Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement.) The role won her the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Prior to appearing in this show, however, she also appeared in the film From Justin to Kelly (2003). 

After appearing in an uncredited role as a church choir singer in the movie Temptation (2004), Rose was cast in the role of Lorrell Robinson in Bill Condon’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls (2006) starring alongside Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson. The role of Lorrell Robinson required her to wear six inch heels while they filmed the “Dreamgirls” title number just so she could appear right on camera with Knowles and Hudson, which unfortunately caused her discomfort. (Ironically though, Lorrell Robinson is supposed to be the youngest of the “Dreamgirls” trio. In reality Anika Noni Rose is older than both Hudson and Knowles.) Although her performance in the film was sadly overlooked by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Rose did however receive a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Award Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

After making “Dreamgirls,” Anika Noni Rose later beat out Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles for the voice-over role of Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). While making the film she requested to Mark Henn, “Tiana’s" supervising animator, that Tiana be left-handed because she is left-handed in real life. “Princess and the Frog,” became the first Disney animated musical to feature a voice cast doing both the speaking and the singing parts of their characters since Beauty and the Beast (1991), and the film received Oscar Nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Songs “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans.” After being cast as Tiana, Rose was quoted as having said “I remember seeing ‘Snow White’ and saying to my mother, ‘Will there ever be a Chocolate Brown?’ She said ‘Probably. Why not?’ I just never thought that the first black princess would be me.”

Voicing Tiana earned Rose the Disney Legend Award in 2011, which is an award that can be given to anyone who has made a special/unique contribution to the Walt Disney Company. She was awarded the night of August 19th, 2011, along with three other Disney voice-over legends, Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989)), Paige O’Hara (voice of Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991)) and Lea Salonga (singing voices of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992) and Mulan in Mulan (1998)). All four ladies took turns performing songs from each of the movies, and they also performed a quartet of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” from Cinderella (1950). Rose continues to be the voice of Tiana, including in the special Disney princess cameo in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

Before “Princess and the Frog,” Rose starred in an all-black cast in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ Cat On a Hot Tin Roof in 2008. She starred in Tyler Perry’s film For Colored Girls (2010) opposite Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Phylicia Rashad. In 2013, she appeared in role of Angelica Schyler in the workshop production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton at the Vassar College. In 2014, she returned to Broadway a third time in a revival of A Raisin in the Sun. She also continues to appear on television, making guest-star appearances on The Simpsons (1989-present), Bates Motel (2013-2017), and The Quad (2017-2018).

Anika Noni Rose is an exceptional and versatile performer and her body of work is impressive. She’s played roles that did require her to sing and some that didn’t require her to sing, many of which were groundbreaking. Her career certainly deserveså a round of applause!