“I’m trying to really live in the moment,†Beyoncé told Oprah last night in their Q&A introduction to Life Is But a Dream, the singer’s HBO documentary airing Saturday at 9 p.m. “This is huge for me.†Though Beyoncé herself didn’t stop for print interviews on the red carpet, her co-director Ed Burke — who has worked with Beyoncé for eight years and directed her Beyoncé’s I Am... World Tour documentary — happily obliged. Here’s what we learned from him.
Beyoncé is “so hands-on.†(Surprise!)
“She was in the edit room fourteen to sixteen hours a day looking at all the footage. She goes through every piece of footage, which is nuts to me, but she spends the time and does it … she keeps a personal [video] diary on her computer. I think that’s kind of therapy for her and not for the public eye — but she gave us 44 minutes from these diaries. That’s what spurred the whole project, and we structured it from these diaries that were very raw, revealing, and honest.â€
She didn’t censor the documentary.
“Never. [She never said] ‘Oh, you can’t show that.’†(That said, the documentary makes no mention of the scandal that’s surrounded her father.)
There’s a “weird perception†of who she is. (Surprise!)
“I think everyone has a really weird perception of who Beyoncé is, and I know her as my friend, my boss, but she’s really humble and normal, which is what I like. She could have done a fluff piece; she could have done something that was just purely for financial reasons, but this was purely a thing from her heart. Is it a good move? I can’t answer that. The Super Bowl was a good move for her. But I think it’s beautiful because you really get to know who she is.â€
She’s raising an old soul.
“I’ve played with Blue Ivy. When she’s around, I end up shooting her more than Beyoncé. She’s just a really funny, beautiful little child. Julez [Solange’s son], too: They have a very old soul. †(Also, Beyoncé told Oprah that Blue’s favorite song is “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.†Life is but a dream … get it?)
She makes people nervous. (Surprise!)
“I do get nervous [around her]. I do. It’s weird. But as soon as you’re with her, I think there’s a comfortableness that comes over you. But it’s always a little nerve-racking.â€