Serena Williams’ bootylicious dance appearance in the “Sorry” portion of Beyoncé’s Lemonade visual was almost as natural for her as picking up a racquet.
“I have known the director [Dikal Rimmasch] since I was like 9 years old,” the tennis superstar told reporters in Rome of how she was approached to appear in the HBO special. “I know Beyoncé pretty well, so they were like, ‘We would love for you to be in this particular song. It’s about strength and it’s about courage and that’s what we see you as…’ ”
Beyoncé wanted Williams to let loose and have fun for the video, which is one of the more carefree tracks on the album. She admitted it was a little difficult at the start, but as the shoot went on, it became easier.
“She told me that she just wants me to dance, like just be really free and just dance like nobody’s looking and go all out,” Williams recalled. “So that wasn’t easy in the beginning, but then it got easier…I thought that particular song on the visual album was really a strong song, and it was also really fun at the same time.”
Williams was not the only celebrity cameo in the hour-long visual. Winnie Harlow, Zendaya, Quvenzhané Wallis and Amandla Stenberg also made appearances.