Nicki Minaj Revealed Why She Didn’t Have What It Took to Be an Actor
Nicki Minaj has had immense career success as a rapper, but her original goal was to be an actor. The “Anaconda” singer said that when she was growing up, she told her peers that she would be a famous actor shortly after high school graduation. Once she realized what went into an acting career, though, she decided she didn’t want any part of it.
Nicki Minaj said she originally wanted to be an actor
Minaj has found success and fame in her rap career. This was not her original path forward, though. When she was still in school, she envisioned a life as an actor. She said that her inability to achieve this was initially a disappointment.
“I was very disappointed that I didn’t become a big, huge famous actress within two years of graduating high school,” she told Vogue in 2024, adding “I told everybody in my school, by the time I’m 19, I’m going to be the new Halle [Berry] and Jada [Pinkett Smith]. I was obsessed with them.”
Eventually, though, she began to examine her potential schedule as an actor. She worried she would have too many early mornings.
“I realized that when you want to be an actor, you have to get up really early in the morning, and go on these things called casting calls,” she said. “I was like, I don’t want to do all of this. It takes a lot of commitment.”
She said she has a great deal of respect for actors because of this.
“That’s why when I meet actors, I always pull them aside. I did that to Margot Robbie when we were at the Barbie premiere,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m really proud of you, because I know how much this takes to be an actress, and to be doing these huge leading roles.’”
Nicki Minaj worked as an actor in several films
Though Minaj realized a career in acting may not be for her, she has still dabbled several times over the years. She started her acting career doing voice work for Ice Age: Continental Drift, and made her onscreen debut in The Other Woman. The 2014 film starred Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Kate Upton. In the film, Minaj played Diaz’s secretary.
“I wanted to do a movie, but I wasn’t actively pursuing a role,” Minaj told the LA Times. “This came out of nowhere. I didn’t even have an hour for myself, and I didn’t know if I was gonna be able to do it.”
She said she put her ego aside when she got on set.
“I’m super-duper humble on set because I realize that I’m not a professional yet,” she said.
While she hasn’t done much more acting work, at the time, she said she hoped to explore more roles. Still, she didn’t want to take too much time away from her music career.
“The movie thing — I definitely want to work at it more,” she said. “I want to work on a character for my next role and take time out of my schedule to work on it — like sit there for a month and create someone. So yes, I want to do movies again. But am I gonna go tomorrow and start shooting? Probably not.”
She has since appeared in several other films.
She started her music career shortly after high school
While Minaj initially wanted to become an actor, she quickly shifted to a career in music. She frequently uploaded songs to her MySpace profile, which helped her gain attention.
“My journey to who I am today began on MySpace,” she told Teen Vogue. “I love getting real opinions from people.”
In 2010, her career took off when she released her debut album, Pink Friday.
