Beyoncé is Sasha Fierce

The woman sitting next to Oprah is Beyoncé—but the force you see strutting her stuff in the music videos is actually her alter ego, Sasha Fierce. "She doesn't do interviews," Beyoncé says. "She only performs."

Beyoncé says she crafted her stage persona to help her overcome challenges and give the best performances she can. "It's kind of like doing a movie. When you put on the wig and put on the clothes, you walk different," she says. "It's no different from anyone else. I feel like we all kind of have that thing that takes over."

Sasha Fierce usually appears right before Beyoncé is about to take the stage. "Usually when I hear the chords, when I put on my stilettos. Like the moment right before when you're nervous," she says. "Then Sasha Fierce appears, and my posture and the way I speak and everything is different."

Even though her new album is named for her other self, Beyoncé says she still wanted to share a piece of her true self on the record. "People, I think, are a little more familiar with my stage persona," she says. "I wanted to reveal more of who I am. And songs like 'Boy' and 'Halo' [are] more personal and more intimate and vulnerable."