Naomi Ackie stars in ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody.’
Opening in theaters on December twenty third is the brand new biopic about singer and actress Whitney Houston entitled ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody,’ which was directed by Kasi Lemmons (‘Eve’s Bayou’).
Naomi Ackie (‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’) stars as Whitney Houston, because the movie examines her life, profession, and relationships together with her mother and father Cissy (Tamara Tunie) and John (Clarke Peters), her mentor Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci), and her buddy and assistant Robyn Crawford (Nafessa Williams).
Moviefone not too long ago had the pleasure of talking with Naomi Ackie about her work on ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody,’ enjoying the music icon, getting her strikes proper, and dealing with Nafessa Williams on Robyn and Whitney’s relationship.
Naomi Ackie in Tristar Pictures ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.’
Moviefone: To start with, What does it imply to you each personally and professionally, to have the chance to play Whitney Houston and to be part of telling her story?
Naomi Ackie: It’s an enormous deal. It’s been a extremely life-changing occasion in my life. It was a catalyst for lots of classes for me, at a extremely necessary turning level in my life. From a profession side, but additionally on a private degree, the issues that I learnt about how I wish to work and the connections that I’ve made, have actually modified the course of my life, and I’m actually grateful for that.
Naomi Ackie in Tristar Pictures ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.’
MF: I needed to ask you about your method to enjoying Whitney since you had all her strikes down proper, from each shoulder shrug, to each finger level and hand elevate. Can you discuss actually learning her as a performer?
NA: It took about eight months to essentially really feel snug sufficient to start to play, so it was a whole lot of technical stuff. In phrases of motion, I labored with my buddy and likewise my motion coach. We went via each single reside efficiency we might discover, and regarded for patterns inside these performances.
Then we really ended up giving them names too. It was like a complete factor. We did it everywhere in the summer season, and there’s a video of me the place my buddy shouts out the title of a transfer and I’d do the factor. So, by the point we got here out and she or he was choreographing the larger performances that I used to be doing, she would shout out the title of the factor and I used to be like, I do know what that’s, after which do it. So, it was actually enjoyable as properly. We laughed rather a lot. There was a whole lot of exploration available.
(L to R) Nafessa Williams and Naomi Ackie in Tristar Pictures ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.’
MF: Finally, are you able to discuss Whitney’s relationship to Robyn Crawford, as it’s depicted within the movie, and dealing on that relationship with actress Nafessa Williams?
NA: I imply, for me and Nafessa, it was an instantaneous connection, and it was bizarre as a result of it was on Zoom and it is actually laborious to construct up any sort of degree of chemistry on that factor. But she was so wonderful that it labored and we immediately have been like, oh, that is it. Because actually what you want for that relationship is 2 people who find themselves actually keen on one another and related to one another, and have an excellent bond and a deep love for one another.
So, once we have been discussing it, we have been simply so on the identical web page as a result of that is certainly one of Whitney’s most necessary relationships in her life. I feel it was certainly one of her formative relationships when it got here to friendship, when it got here to like, and it modified over time in a phenomenal method, and in a not so stunning method. It’s difficult, and that is the story that deserves to be informed.
Naomi Ackie in Tristar Pictures ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody.’
