Since the monster success of 2018 Bohemian Rhapsodythere has been an increase in films about musicians like Elton John’s Rocketmanby Aretha Franklin Respect and Elvis Presley Elvis. This Christmas the trend continues with the biopic about the iconic black musicianWhitney Houston, who stunned the world with her incredible voice and a ton of massive hits. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker actress Naomi Ackie took on the role and, while speaking to CinemaBlend, shared one thing about playing the singer that she found particularly difficult.
Ackie portrays Whitney Houston during her thirty-year career in I want to dance with someone. When I asked her if she could film in order in any way, she said they didn’t with these words:
I think I naively remember asking the producers, “Can we at least try, please?” [to shoot in order]?’ you know, because I was very concerned about playing Whitney at different ages, which obviously happened because there’s just certain things that you can’t control and that’s really how it works . So yeah, some days I was playing like 22 and then 42 in the same day, and it was quite confusing at times.
For two and a half hours of movie release 2022Naomi Ackie plays the late Whitney Houston, who was signed to work with record producer Clive Davis, played by The hunger GamesStanley Tucci, at the age of 19 and quickly rose to fame with hits like “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. During our interview, Ackie shared what most helped her get into character on set:
False teeth for a [helped to get in character], because, you know, I had my hole here. So that was something we had to understand. But, also it was, for me, it was really the wigs. And not just because it was indicative of Whitney in some parts of her life, but it also helped me at least body-wise and fashion-wise where we are at in time. Because the hairstyle changed a lot from the late 70s to the early 00s. So, you know, that helped me figure out where we were at too. And so, once I had the wig and the teeth, that was my change.
Oscar winner Rami Malek also said that his fake teeth for Freddie Mercury helped him channel the leader of Queen for Bohemian Rhapsody. Ackie had a similar experience with her own fake teeth for Whitney Houston, while really marking time as a singer with various wigs. The actress recreates many iconic moments from “The Voice” career, including one of Whitney Houston movies, The bodyguardher singing at the Super Bowl as well as numerous music videos and live performances.
Check trailer for Whitney Houston: I want to dance with someone here on CinemaBlend ahead of the new musical biopic which hits theaters on Friday, December 23.
