Janelle Monáe plans out Halloween costumes at least two years in advance but when the Screen Actors Guild went on strike last year, the entertainer opted to scrap her spooky blueprints. “SAG-AFTRA issued guidelines discouraging members from dressing up like film or television characters, so I stood in solidarity with my people and switched up my plan,” the 38-year-old singer, actress and all around creative recently told The Hollywood Reporter.
Monáe didn’t fully abandon the iconic movie character she wanted to be last season, and she managed to keep the identity a secret … until Wednesday. With less than 24 hours to go before Halloween, Monáe unveiled an epic transformation into the beloved title character from Steven Spielberg’s 1982 sci-fi classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Not only did she drop the look on Instagram for her five million followers with videos and a carousel of images — many of which captured E.T. as a day-in-the-life from eating breakfast to getting dressed for the day (in both men’s and women’s clothing) to flying high in the sky on a bicycle with “Janelllllliott” — Monáe stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show for a small screen debut.
Also worth pointing out that in one of the images, E.T. is wearing a Kamala Harris 2024 pin as a political endorsement just days away from the Nov. 5 election. A few years back, Monáe also transformed into the fly that landed on Mike Pence’s head during a televised debate, and she told THR that she did it as a way to encourage people to get out and vote ahead of the 2020 election — and to discourage voters from supporting Pence and his running mate, former President Donald Trump.
Those who’ve been paying close attention to Monáe’s Halloween transformations over the past five years know that the Wondaland creative doesn’t just throw on an ensemble and head out on the town. She teams with stylists, special effects and makeup artists, creative directors, videographers and more to realize the vision, often spending upwards of five hours in the chair to get into character. She also dedicates her imagination to fleshing out backstories for the characters and often goes method during the process.
“Halloween is such a happy space for me,” she told THR. “It has been since I was a kid. It opens a larger conversation of how do we become agents of joy? How do we become agents of happy? How do we become agents of imaginations? I’m just doing what I want to see more of. Bringing Halloween experiences and creative experiences is heart work, not hard work. I do this because my heart needs it.”
Fun fact: To become E.T., Monáe teamed with visionary photographer Pol Korucz, who recently photographed the star for her cover story in The Hollywood Reporter. The feature, published last week, featured Monáe as an original monster in the vein of the iconic big-screen villains like Frankenstein or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “Thank you a billion times for making my childhood dream come true, Janelle Monae,” Kurucz shared on Instagram.
See all the social posts featuring her E.T. below.
