Audra McDonald Almost Gave Birth at the White House

Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald appeared on the March 20 broadcast of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to celebrate the just-released Beauty and the Beast live action movie. McDonald voices Madame Garderobe in a cast that includes Sir Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Emma Watson as Belle, and Dan Stevens as the Beast.

McDonald spoke to Colbert about motherhood (she gave birth to her second daughter, Sally James, in October), after screening a clip from the film. Not long before Sally James was born, McDonald received a National Medal of the Arts, bestowed by President Obama. “I was hugely pregnant, I was due any day, but I was not going to miss this chance to go [to the White House ceremony],” she said. “So I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll give birth at the White House, maybe that’s what’s going to happen today, I don’t know.’” Watch the video above for her full account.

The actor was last seen on Broadway in Shuffle Along... and has won Tonys for Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. McDonald was due to bring Lady Day to the West End last summer, but postponed the engagement due to her unexpected pregnancy. She will take the London stage in the role beginning June 17 through September 9.

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