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Mariah Carey’s look in the film “Precious” — bad hair, dowdy clothes, even a faint mustache — is as far from fabulous as she’s ever been.

Here’s what the singer, known for the over-the-top glamour, had to say:

“It wasn’t just de-glamorized. They added some hideousness on top of that too. I drank some ugly juice. I couldn’t even look in the mirror! It was tough.”

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There was one upside, however: “It was cool because a lot of people in the film don’t recognize me – they don’t notice me – and that to me, was the great gift that the director Lee Daniels gave me, to be able to go that far away from who I am. You can thank Lee. He had a very specific look in mind.”

The 40-year-old star initially put up a fight when she was first told she would have to go au naturel. Mariah turned up on set for her first day with a collection of extravagant hair pieces and cosmetics only to be informed she wouldn’t be needing them for the film. “I brought in all my wigs for the character, and Lee was like, ‘No. This is not happening.’ It really brought up what everyone was going through was not about that.”

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious’ young star, told Us in Toronto that Carey “hated” her time in the makeup truck. “She hated her wardrobe! It was the funniest thing. Like the first day of school or something, where you’re not wearing the right socks and the whole outfit’s ruined.

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For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.