Rose added that the opportunity to voice Princess Tiana in 2009 still "lives deeply in my heart"
Credit: Corey Nickols/Getty; Entertainment Pictures / Alamy
NEED TO KNOW
- Anika Noni Rose says she’d love to help produce a Broadway adaptation of The Princess and the Frog
- Rose has written two children’s books inspired by her time voicing Princess Tiana, focusing on self-acceptance and overcoming perfectionism
- She stars in the Tony-nominated play The Balusters and earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for her performance
It's been over 15 years since Anika Noni Rose played Princess Tiana in The Princess and the Frog, but the actress has an idea of what she "would love to be" if the beloved movie ever became a Broadway show.
Rose, 53, chatted exclusively with PEOPLE at the opening night of The Balusters on April 21 about the adaptation possibilities.
"I would love to be, if I could be part of the producing team. I don't know what I would be in the show. I think by the time that comes [to] Broadway, I might be Mama Odie," she jokes.
The actress adds that while she didn't fully know about any Broadway potential, she still loves the film. "It's very personal to me. It lives deeply in my heart. And I think anytime that you could continue to be a part of something like that, that was so formative, then absolutely you want to be a part of it," she says.
Credit: Joy Malone/WireImage
Two years after Rose voiced the princess in the 2009 film, the Dreamgirls actress was named a Disney Legend. The Hall of Fame award is presented by the Walt Disney Company and represents "the extraordinary breadth of talent and storytellers who have defined Disney across entertainment, storytelling, and experiences for generations," per its website.
Rose also has continued to honor her role as Tiana in very special ways. She wrote her children's book, Tiana's Perfect Plan, in 2024.
“Tiana sets out on a new adventure with some old friends to find the perfect ingredients for a special addition. But soon she finds that perfect might not be the goal … and she may already have all she needs,” the book's synopsis states.
Credit: Disney Hyperion
At the time, Rose told PEOPLE that she decided to write the book in order to help "release children from the chains of perfectionism.”
“Perfectionism is something that I suffer from,” she added. “I'm still learning to try to give myself more grace, but I think that so many babies are dealing with stress, anxiety and depression so early in life.”
While Rose was in the writing process of Tiana's Perfect Plan, her mother called her "in tears" as she recalled that all Rose wanted since she was a little girl was to be an author.
“It is a dream that I forgot,” Rose explained. "And it is amazing to know that the universe, or God, whoever is the person you speak to at night in your mind, continues to work on your behalf for your dreams, even when you have forgotten."
"If you once held it strongly in your heart, the work is still moving in that space," she added. "It's remarkable to me, that I had forgotten that, and yet here I am."
Rose is following it up with 2026's A Princess is a Princess. PEOPLE shared the exclusive debut of the Jessica Gibson-illustrated picture book on March 23. The book will then hit shelves on Sept. 22, and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
She said that she had been workshopping the idea since around 2015, as she wanted kids to feel comfortable being exactly who they are, without changing a thing.
“You don't have to add something to yourself,” Rose shared. “If you wear glasses, you don't have to take them off to be a princess. If you have freckles, if you are Brown — it doesn't matter. It's really about the inside, how you feel about yourself and how you treat other people.”
“Whenever we played princesses, we had to do something to make our hair long, or to make our hair blonde; it was always something to make you different so that you could feel like a princess,” she added. “And I felt like, 'I want these little girls who are princess-inclined to feel that whatever they are is quite enough.' "
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Now, Rose stars as Kyra Marshall in the Broadway play, The Balusters. Written by David Lindsay-Abaire, the play focuses on a group of neighbors and the importance of community.
"I love this show. I love this group of people," Rose told PEOPLE. "David Lindsay-Abaire is a stunningly brilliant writer, and I think that the show is bringing something that people weren't expecting. And it has lots of surprises in it, but it's very human. It's extraordinarily funny, but it's also very poignant and very loved this time. So I think it's something that was needed and I'm just really happy to be a part of something that is meaningful."
Credit: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
It has been nominated for five Tony Awards ahead of the ceremony on June 7, including Best Play, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Marylouise Burke, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for Richard Thomas, Best Direction of a Play for Kenny Leon and Best Costume Design of a Play for Emilio Sosa.
Rose was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play.
The Balusters is playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in New York City until June 7.
Read the full article here
