Foxxy Cleopatra: Who She Is and Who Plays Her in Austin Powers

Foxxy Cleopatra is a 1975 secret agent in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), directed by Jay Roach, and she is played by Beyoncé. Some fans spell the name Foxy Cleopatra, but the credits use the double x. She is the partner Austin Powers finds when he travels back to the disco era to search for his kidnapped father, the spy Nigel Powers (played by Michael Caine). In the story she is a former flame of Austin's, so the two arrive with shared history, which is a different setup from the 1997 film, where Vanessa Kensington is assigned to help him adjust.

Beyoncé is billed second in the cast, behind Mike Myers, who plays Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember and Fat Bastard. Foxxy does not appear in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery or Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, so Goldmember is the only one of the three films where you meet her. It runs 94 minutes and reached US theaters on July 26, 2002. If you want the full ensemble, the austin powers characters page lists everyone, and the austin powers cast page covers the actors across all three films.

Foxxy's most important relationship is with Austin Powers, a former flame who becomes her partner on the 1975 mission. Austin Powers is the hero of all three films, and Foxxy is his partner in the third.

Her link to Nigel Powers is indirect but central. Nigel is the reason Austin goes back to 1975 at all, and finding him drives the first half of the plot. Michael Caine plays Nigel, and the reveal that Austin and Dr. Evil are brothers comes from him after the team sneaks onto the submarine.

On the villain side, Goldmember is the schemer who takes Nigel to 2002, and Dr. Evil is the man behind the tractor beam plan. Scott Evil kills one of his father's associates during the Tokyo chase. Mini-Me changes sides and joins Austin and Foxxy for the submarine infiltration, which makes the trio the working team of the final act.

Within the series, Felicity Shagwell holds the partner role in the 1969 film, and Vanessa Kensington holds it in the 1997 film. Each film gives Austin a different era and a different partner. Fat Bastard is another character Mike Myers plays, though he is not part of Foxxy's story.

In my opinion, Foxxy's best stretch is the submarine infiltration, where she sneaks onto Dr. Evil's submarine with Austin and Mini-Me. I tend to judge a spy film's set pieces by how clearly each character has a task, and this is where Foxxy, Austin and Mini-Me work together as one team, right before the film's family reveal.

A second moment I would pick is her first meeting with Austin in 1975. It sets the tone for the whole 1975 half, because it introduces a partner who is also a former flame. The closing kiss after the Austinpussy screening is, to my mind, the payoff for that pairing, and it comes in a film that also has to wrap up the brothers reveal.

One more note on the name. It could be argued that Foxxy Cleopatra echoes the titles of 1970s blaxploitation films such as Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones, which fits the 1975 setting. No filmmaker has confirmed a specific inspiration, so treat that as my reading of the character, not a fact. The series as a whole spoofs the James Bond films, and Austinpussy is its take on that tradition. If you want to see Foxxy in context, start with the austin powers movies in order guide, then read the austin powers goldmember page.