Jennifer Beals revealed that she wasn’t so sure she would star in what ended up being her breakout film, flash dance.
Speaking with jimmy fallon on the special ’80s version of The Tonight Showwhich originally aired on Oct. 5, Beals told the host that after she was offered the part, she didn’t know if she wanted to take it.
According to the actress, she needed a moment to weigh her options. At the time, Beals was also offered the opportunity to study at Yale, so it was not an easy decision.
She recounted the day she received the news, explaining, “Once I got to school, my agent called the dean, I think, because I didn’t have a phone and got me the message saying, you know, that, ‘you got the part.'”
While many would rush at the chance for a role on the big screen, Beals exercised caution.
“And I was like, ‘Okay. I have to think about this for a moment. Let me just take the weekend to think about it,” she recalled, adding, “I could hear her [the agent] silent scream on the other end of the phone.”
Beals later admitted that when she initially booked the role, she didn’t believe it would change her life. Instead, she would “do this thing [film Flashdance] and then go back to school.”
But that’s not what happened.
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Instead, the film (and its soundtrack) rose to popularity, and the next thing Beals knew was that she was a trendsetter.
As crowds of people walked down the street in cutoff sweatshirts reminiscent of the gray one her character donned in the posters for the film–something she previously told Fallon was mocked up after a real crewneck she owned and wore to a fitting one day–Beals described life as a surreal “meta experience.”
“It was an interesting moment.”
But the long audition process and apprehension about deviating from her plan was all worth it for Beals, as many fans of the film later wrote to the star about how they felt inspired to change career paths and follow their happiness.
Beals even followed up with: “Follow your dreams and work hard.”
You can watch the full clip from the interview in the embedded video above.
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