HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — While she's achieved great success in both music and film, Beyoncé Knowles says the fire to dream big still burns inside of her.
"I'm over being a pop star," the 27-year-old star reveals in the October issue of the U.K.'s Marie Claire. "I don't wanna be a hot girl. I wanna be iconic. And I feel like I've accomplished a lot. I feel like I'm highly respected, which is more important than any award or any amount of records. And I feel like there comes a point when being a pop star is not enough."
Knowles says there's definitely a time limit on being a pop star, but "being a legend, an icon, absolutely not."
The Houston, Texas native has plenty of upcoming projects to help build her "iconic" resume, including a new as-yet untitled album that is due out in November.
In addition, Knowles has a juicy part upcoming in which she stars alongside Adrien Brody as '50s soul and blues legend Etta James in the feature film "Cadillac Records."
"I've been saying for a long time that I wanted to do something dark," she says of her role, which required her to put on 20 pounds. "People are going to be very shocked. It's the complete opposite of me. It was very emotionally draining. I was exhausted."
In order to prepare for the role of James, who long battled a heroin addiction, Knowles paid a visit to a drug addiction center in Brooklyn.
"I was really afraid. I didn't know what I would see, because I'd never seen anything like that," she tells the magazine. "I didn't want to ask questions that were inappropriate, but [the people there] were very open and I have a new understanding.
"I never judge, but I just didn't understand how, if you had children and so many things to lose, you could be so deep into your addiction that you just let all of that go."
Knowles says she's grateful for the level of success that she's already achieved, which in turn helps her open doors for fellow African-American women.
"I am really proud that I am one of the artists that has the opportunity to be on magazine covers and to be in the movies," she shares. "And I do think that I'm opening doors for more black women, just like Halle [Berry] and Diana Ross opened doors for me."
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