Source: Franco Origlia / Getty
The late, great Whitney Houston still remains as one of the most iconic voices in modern music, and the highs and lows of her career still stir the hearts of fans worldwide. In an upcoming biopic supported by the family and the singer’s former label chief in Clive Davis, British actress Naomi Ackie will play the superstar vocalist.
The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reports that Ackie, 28, will star as Houston in the film I Wanna Dance WIth Somebody. Although the film reportedly won’t see a release until the fall of 2022, the biopic’s director Stella Meghie appears thrilled at the chance to tell Houston’s story for generations to come.
From THR:
“We spent the better part of the last year in an exhaustive search for an actress who could embody Whitney Houston,” said Meghie. “Naomi Ackie impressed us at every stage of the process. I was moved by her ability to capture the stage presence of a global icon while bringing humanity to her interior life.”
Screenwriter Anthony McCarten, who worked on the Queen biopic Bohemian Rapsody with lead star Rami Malek nabbing both an Oscar and Golden Globe, has written I Wanna Dance With Somebody‘s screenplay. Meghie is known for her work on The Photograph starring Issa Rae.
Among her countless honors, Houston was a six-time Grammy Awards winner and has two diamond-selling (10 million and more) albums via her self-titled debut in 1985, and its follow up Whitney in 1987.
Houston passed away at the age of 48 in 2012.
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Photo: Getty
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