It’s an indelible performance that’s likely to remind Houston’s fans why they will always love her.
Embodying an icon
Whitney Houston is such an icon.
What was your approach to figuring out how to embody her?
It was a lot of research.
I was actually very lucky to have a lot of time on my hands because it was lockdown.
A lot of that time was spent with me by myself getting to grips with this.
Was there a particular part of her story that you were especially excited to depict?
The younger years were really interesting to me because I wasn’t really aware of [them].
I was born in ‘91, so she was already fully established at that point.
I believe “The Bodyguard” came out in ‘91.
Seeing her rise and how she got there was a really beautiful, almost fairytale-like story to me.
That was a great starting point for me.
Sometimes that can get in the way of the idea of connecting with an audience.
But at some point, something would work and I would be able to start to fill it out.
“Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody” debuts exclusively in movie theaters on December 23.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
