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EXCITED: Beyoncé

BEYONCÉ HAS revealed that she is still in “a bit of shock” that she landed a role in the live-action remake of her favourite Disney film, The Lion King.

The singer, who takes on the role of Nala, spoke about how the original 1994 flick has a special place in her heart, during The Lion King: Can You Feel The Love Tonight TV special, which aired on ABC on Tuesday (Jul 16).

"I am still a bit in shock that I'm a part of this film because I grew up loving The Lion King," the Formation singer told host Robin Roberts. "It's so much nostalgia for me and it's the first Disney movie that brought me to tears."

The music icon added that it was important to portray the females in the film as heroes. “It was important to the director (Jon Favreau) that Nala and that the females in this film were heroes and he put Nala right alongside Simba in the big fight. I thought that was really interesting and really real, because women, you know, we're the fighters".

The mother-of-three, who shares twins Sir and Rumi and daughter Blue with husband JAY-Z, insisted that "being a mother, my family is my biggest priority," and she's happy that she can "pass that legacy" of enjoying the film on.

"The movie has an incredible spirit. It opens you up, it talks about the struggle for standing up and fighting for what you love, and it takes you on so many emotional rides".

In celebration of the film, which hits theatres on July 19, Beyoncé released a music video for the single Spirit which appears on The Lion King soundtrack.

The Lion King: The Gift album, will debut the same day as the movie, and features music from Queen Bey and a host of African stars including Wizkid, Mr. Eazi, Burna Boy Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade, plus more.

In the ABC special, Beyoncé described the album as “a love letter to Africa”.

"I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa and not just use some of the sound and did my own interpretation of it. I wanted it to be authentic to what is beautiful about the music in Africa," she said.

Watch the Spirit video below:

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