LIs Idina Menzel takes the NotMyName challenge

Syosset-raised Tony Award winner Idina Menzel has joined the celebrities playfully taking part in the online #NotMyName challenge, in which TikTok and Instagram users post short video clips of themselves with their nicknames, pet names and other aliases.

"My name is Idina, but they call me ...#notmyname," wrote Menzel, 50, using the trend's standard text and its standard song, the 2007 hit "That's Not My Name," by the English duo The Ting Tings.

Menzel's choice of clips and names, in order, were Elphaba, from her Broadway musical hit, "Wicked"; Maureen Johnson, from the Broadway musical and the film adaptation "Rent"; "Rachel's mom," a reference to her recurring role on the Fox high school musical series "Glee" as Shelby Corcoran, mother of Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele); Nancy Tremaine from the film "Enchanted" (2007); Elsa, the animated snow queen she voiced in the Disney blockbuster "Frozen" (2013) and its sequel; Vivian, the stepmother in last year's live-action "Cinderella"; and Dinah Ratner, estranged wife of star Adam Sandler's character in the film drama "Uncut Gems" (2019).

The final clip features actor John Travolta, with on-screen text reading, "??????" In a famous flub, Travolta at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2014 introduced Menzel, there to sing "Let It Go" from "Frozen," as a name viewers heard as "Adele Dazeem" or similar. Travolta soon afterward apologized, saying in a statement, "I've been beating myself up all day. Then I thought, 'What would Idina Menzel say?' She'd say, 'Let it go, let it go!' Idina is incredibly talented and I am so happy 'Frozen' took home two Oscars Sunday night."

Menzel -- who shortened her family name of Mentzel for professional reasons -- did not comment at the time, but later that year told Redbook magazine, "It's the best mistake that's ever happened to me. Just having the kind of success where people might know my name -- my real name! It took me a long time to stop chasing it and just embrace it."

Actor Alicia Silverstone was among the earliest celebrities to take part in the #NotMyName challenge, followed by others including Drew Barrymore, Reese Witherspoon, Halle Berry, Wanda Sykes and Keegan-Michael Key.

Sign up for Newsday's Entertainment newsletter

Get the latest on celebs, TV and more.

By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.

By Frank Lovece Special to Newsday

Bagikan Artikel ini