Singer Nicole Scherzinger believes that achieving fame with the Pussycat Dolls in her 20s deprived her of vital “growth time” in her life.
The 47-year-old star gained recognition as part of the iconic girl group during the 2000s and resonates with the challenges faced by artists like Britney Spears. Scherzinger reflects on how the stardom she acquired left her inadequately prepared for facing setbacks.
In a conversation with Variety, she stated, “When you’re so young, you don’t realise it at the time, but that time of growth is taken from you. I wonder about that with Britney Spears. That time was stripped from her. Is there a part of you that is stunted, and you’re not able to grow?”
She added, “She’s definitely found herself in very co-dependent, needy relationships, and I have as well. And feeling desperate. I’ve felt that way in relationships as well.”
Scherzinger received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Norma Desmond in the West End and Broadway revivals of Sunset Boulevard. However, she was initially hesitant to embrace the role. She shared, “I was taken aback. I was like, ‘Wow. This is what you got me out here for. This is your big idea.’ I was thinking, ‘I’m still Queen Pussycat Doll, and you’re already making me an old has-been movie star. That’s the role that you see for me?’”
Relating to her character—a faded star from the silent movie era—Scherzinger expressed how the industry often sidelines its stars. “I definitely had my time in the limelight like her, and the industry moves on without you. On a personal level, I really related to Norma’s struggles with loneliness and abandonment and feeling misunderstood and unseen—feeling very small and pathetic, even.”
She described her successful transition into stage acting as “liberating.”
“You’re forced to shed old skins and say, ‘I can’t make an excuse anymore. I can’t be a victim anymore. I can’t be afraid anymore.’ It’s just liberating to take those chains off.”