Celebrities
Angela Bassett On Bobbi Kristina For Whitney Film: ‘I Did Not Think About Casting Her’
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Reported by Kacie Whaley
Late last month, Lifetime network announced that they would be making a movie based on the late vocal legend Whitney Houston and her ups and downs with her husband, Bobby Brown. Angela Bassett will be directing the movie, which is slated for a2015 release.
Shortly after the announcement, Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, wrote on Twitter that she would not give her blessing on a movie about her mother unless she played the role of Whitney, like her mother wanted her to. Bassett recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly to explain why casting Bobbi Kristina will never happen.
I did not think about casting her. And probably for a number of reasons, you know. One being that she’s not an actress. I know she’s acted here and there. I know she’s been on their family’s reality show, but she’s not an actress and acting is a craft. It’s an attempt to illuminate the complexities of human behavior and life. And this is a very fast-paced schedule; we have just 21 days to tell this story. It’s more than just saying lines and turning the light on. You have to drive the story—there’s a technical aspect.
Instead, Bassett chose model-turned-actress Yaya DaCosta for the role, who many Whitney fans thought had the perfect look to portray the music icon. Bassett said she decided against choosing a familiar face because she wants viewers to more easily “fall into the world of Whitney and Bobby.”
“And I don’t want to stop you at the gate with maybe the image of something familiar, someone you’ve seen from something else,” she explained. “You’ve already got your perception of them as an actor and person, and now you’ve got to put that to the side and squint your eyes and imagine this is Whitney and Bobby, you know what I mean?”
Bassett also put the rumors to rest that she will make an appearance in the film. “I know some folks do it [act and direct], but this is my first time—so I don’t want to do this and that,” she said. “And I don’t want to take a role from a working actor.”
Read the rest of the interview here.
