Nicole Scherzinger Opens Up About the 'Tragedy' of Being 'Discarded' by Her Industry: 'I'm in My Prime' (Exclusive)

Ahead of her Broadway debut as Norma Desmond in 'Sunset Boulevard,' the actress gets candid with director Jamie Lloyd about how she relates to the character's struggles

Nicole Scherzinger is ready for her close-up.

The Grammy-nominated singer is making her Broadway debut this fall in Jamie Lloyd's celebrated production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved musical Sunset Boulevard.

It's a role that Scherzinger has already played to much acclaim (and an Olivier Award) when Sunset Boulevard opened in London in 2023. The transfer to Broadway puts Scherzinger on the boards in New York City for the first time, a milestone she's still pinching herself over.

"It’s always been my lifelong dream to go to Broadway," she tells Lloyd, in a filmed conversation between the two shot earlier this year during the final weeks of her West End run. "Can you believe I’ve never been to Broadway? I always say I’m the greatest thing to never happen to Broadway."

"They don’t know what’s coming. Nobody saw what’s coming," says Lloyd. "That’s what was amazing about this whole journey. I think it surprised a lot of people; about your performance, about the approach to the production, about everything."

Related: George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr. and All the Stars Heading to Broadway

PEOPLE has the exclusive debut of the long-form chat, the first in a series following Scherzinger's road to Broadway. It's fittingly dubbed New Ways to Dream, after one of the musical's signature songs.

During the discussion, Scherzinger spoke with Lloyd about her casting in the musical. She plays Norma Desmond, the faded silent movie star living in a decaying mansion who longs for a return to the big screen but has aged out of the Hollywood system.

Audiences first met the iconic character in Billy Wilder’s Oscar-winning 1950 film, when she was played by Gloria Swanson. On stage over the years, stars like Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Diahann Carroll, Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige, Petula Clark and Rita Moreno have brought Desmond to life.

Scherzinger, on paper, might not feel like the typical successor to those stars. Even she recalls telling Lloyd when he presented the concept, "That’s your big idea?”

But Lloyd had a vision with his production, exploring Desmond's story through the eyes of a modern lens and the way women in the industry are tossed aside when they reach a certain age.

That's something Scherzinger can relate to. Throughout her career, the former Eden's Crush member and Pussycat Dolls frontwoman fought to find her footing as a solo artist domestically. Despite success as a judge on shows like The X Factor, America’s Got Talent and The Masked Singer — as well as on-screen roles in Cats and Annie Live!— there's long been a feeling that her powerhouse vocal talent has gone unappreciated by the industry.

"I'm [46] years old," she tells Lloyd. "I’ve never been more strong — physically, mentally, emotionally. I’m in my prime. There is no better time for me to create work that is meaningful in this world."

"That’s the tragedy: is that you’re in the best place in your life. You’re so fully, have so much to give, and people have discarded you, and dismissed you and said ‘Your time’s up,' " she says.

Related: Nicole Scherzinger Opens Up About Ageism in Hollywood: 'It's Still Very Brutal'

Lloyd saw Scherzinger's story clearly. "That’s kind of why I had this instinct," he explains to her. "I felt it had to be you. I didn’t even consider anybody else for this role. ... and you defied all expectations."

"I just had this real strong instinct that you’d have this connection to this material; that you’d know what it’s like, that you’d have this real deep connection to being incredibly famous and then really not being given the opportunity to fully live to your full potential," he continues. "And that’s the whole reason the production is the way it is. Where does Nicole Scherzinger end and where does Norma Desmond begin?"

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"This is a moment in my life I’ll never forget," Scherzinger says. "My life is changed because of this show already,"

Elsewhere in the conversation, Lloyd praised Scherzinger's work in the show, saying that she plummeting into "the debts of the human psyche."

"It is a performance for the ages, I really believe it," he says.

The praise is circular for Scherzinger, who insists she couldn't have gotten to such a vulnerable place if it wasn't for the environment Lloyd created in rehearsals.

"You would create this safe space for us to allow us the freedom to go there ourselves," she says. "And that made me so happy I could just cry, 'cause, you know, I am like Norma Desmond and in my head a lot and have so many insecurities, but in the dark I felt more safe."

"Every night when I go out there, there’s no ego, there’s no vanity, and I literally cut myself open and flip myself inside every night for them," she adds, before thanking audiences for the supportive responses they've given.

Sunset Boulevard begins performances at the St. James Theatre in New York City on Sept. 28, ahead of an official opening on Oct. 20.

The musical's book is penned b Don Black and Christopher Hampton.

Tickets for Sunset Boulevard are now on sale.

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