HOLLYWOOD -- For Beyonce Knowles, life could hardly be dreamier. At 24, the Grammy-winning R&B singer is branching out into acting having nabbed a role that could conceivably bring her Golden Globe and Oscar nominations next year. Knowles is currently filming Dreamgirls, the film version of the hit 1980s Broadway musical.

She plays Deena Jones, a character loosely based on Diana Ross in a story about the rise of a Supremes-like girls group fraught with rivalry and infighting.

Her costars include Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson and Danny Glover. "I'm so excited about being in Dreamgirls I can barely talk without my voice shaking because I'm so happy," says Knowles.

"I've been hearing about Dreamgirls since I was 15.

"I've never seen the musical live because I was born the year it opened on Broadway, but I have seen the bootleg tape of that show."

When Knowles heard DreamWorks had hired Bill Condon, the screenwriter of the movie Chicago to write and direct a film version of Dreamgirls, she immediately told her management to contact the director and the studio.

She admits "they weren't sure I could play the role because I'd never done anything like this on film before.

"They knew I could sing the role but they weren't convinced I could act it."

After a series of auditions and meetings with Condon, Knowles won the role.

"It's so exciting because I play Deena from age 16 to 36. It's the kind of thing Diana Ross did in Lady Sings the Blues and Diana is one of my idols."

She adds when the film comes out in December, "people are going to be able to see me really act for the first time."

She readily concedes her performance as the pop diva Xania opposite Steve Martin in The Pink Panther wasn't much of a stretch.

"I basically had to just show up, wear fabulous clothes and not laugh ...

"Steve Martin is so very funny I really had to fight not to laugh. It wasn't easy but it was a great lesson in discipline."

About those incredible costumes, Knowles once again discovered she'd "forgotten to have it written in my contract that I could keep my costumes. I get so excited about being in a movie I forget to ask if I can keep my wardrobe."

Knowles admits she's never seen any of the Peter Sellers Pink Panther films but virtually "grew up with the cartoon image of the Pink Panther and his music."

Just as Martin amazed Knowles with his chameleon comic talents, the pop diva mesmerized Pink Panther costar Emily Mortimer.

"Beyonce is so quiet and demure in real life but the moment she steps on a stage to sing she transforms into a sex goddess," says Mortimer.

Knowles insists her sexy siren persona is purely an act.

"The sex kitten thing is a character I play. It's an act. That's who I am on stage but that's not who I am in real life."

Martin found Knowles to be as shy as she is talented. Knowles admits she "was very shy at one point in my life but I don't think I am any more. I think I'm quiet and calm and observant and when I'm not working I like to just blend in."

The Pink Panther's director Shawn Levy insists it's virtually impossible for Knowles to go unnoticed in America.

"Everywhere we went in New York to film we had to have extra security for Beyonce," recalls Levy adding "people would trample Steve and Kevin (Kline) just to get a look at Beyonce."

In France it was a very different story.

"She could walk everywhere by herself. In France we had to have security for Kevin Kline. He has a huge fan base there."

Knowles will be filming Dreamgirls until almost July.

"The only thing I let my managers commit to were the press days for The Pink Panther and the Grammys.

"Other than that I won't do anything until Dreamgirls is over.

"When that project is behind me I will begin working on a new album and devote more time to my clothing line.

"I may not be as shy as I once was but I'm every bit as ambitious. I want to do it all or at least try to do it all."