Tiffany Boone didn’t know she was auditioning for Sarabi in Mufasa

When Tiffany Boone stepped in for her Mufasa audition, she had no idea she would be playing the iconic Lion Queen Sarabi.

“I created the character that was in my head, (but) I didn’t know I was auditioning for Sarabi,” the 37-year-old actress exclusively said Us Weekly on Thursday, December 19 as we discuss Mufasa: The Lion King. “It had a different name on the page. So I was like, “This has to be a new character.”

As Boone read the script, she thought the character seemed “cool” and wanted to use her voice to reflect that aspect of her personality. Boone was thrown into a frenzy after it was revealed that she would be voicing the beloved cartoon character.

“So when they told me who I was actually playing, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s actually quite a lot of tension,'” she admitted.

Boone shared that she asked director Barry Jenkins if he wanted her to make her vocals sound more like Madge Sinclairwhich initially express the character in original The Lion King since 1994 or something like that Alfre Woodardwho played Sarabi in 2019 live adaptation. Jenkins, 45, had faith in Boone’s talent and encouraged her to be herself as they developed Sarabi’s backstory.

“I had so much freedom to create the younger version of her and give the other layers to the character (and) the challenges that she went through to become the great queen that she is becoming,” she said us.

As a fan of The Lion KingBoone always saw Sarabi as the “perfect” wife, mother, and queen, so she wanted fans to get a taste of Sarabi’s personality before she became Mufasa’s loyal partner.

“She wasn’t always perfect. She’s sassy…she’s sarcastic and makes fun of the boys,” Boone said, referring to Mufasa and his adopted brother Taka, who would later become Scar. “I think she has a sense of humor. She’s really vulnerable, and all those things are really fun to add to the complexity of Sarabi that we see later.”

Boone teased that fans might be “surprised” to see what Sarabi’s relationship is with Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) unfolds, hinting that it’s “not such a straight line.” As for the rumored love triangle between Sarabi, Mufasa and Scar, Boone hinted that fans will “get an answer” when they see the film.

“Surely you’ll understand the three of them a lot better,” she teased.

Boone admitted that he is “still pinching himself” that he is now a member of the The Lion King family.

“I can’t believe I’m a part of this,” she shared, noting that her younger self couldn’t have dreamed of such an opportunity. “Telling that little version of me that sat and watched the VHS in my mom’s bed over and over again, like, ‘You’re going to be part of this family, this story.'” I feel like her little head is going to explode. My imagination could not even dream of it.

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However, Boone admitted there was “definite pressure” to make sure she and the entire Mufasa team succeeded – especially for fans of the animated classic.

“I know there’s a lot of people who are like, ‘Are they going to do this justice?'” she reflected. “But there’s also so much joy, and I think that’s what we were trying to remember when we were recording. And I think Barry Jenkins really steered us in the direction of finding the joy in those moments and having a lot of fun, letting the pressure roll off our backs and just doing our job as actors.

Mufasa: The Lion King it’s in theaters now.

With reporting by Kat Pettibone