Model Yaya DaCosta will play Whitney Houston in the upcoming biopic. DaCosta transforms into Houston in this first image from the film.
Don’t you just get “So Emotional” seeing the first image of Yaya DaCosta as Whitney Houston? DaCosta recreated the iconic cover of Houston’s 1987 album, Whitney, for the Lifetime biopic, directed by Angela Bassett.
Entertainment Weekly released the first images Thursday. The former contestant on “America’s Next Top Model” says morphing into Houston for the album cover was effortless, “I just looked at the picture and did the pose!” she explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. You can be sure that somewhere Tyra Banks is smizing with pride that DaCosta is using everything she learned from ANTM.
The shoot comes ahead of the release of Lifetime’s Whitney Houston biopic directed by Houston’s Waiting to Exhale costar Bassett. DaCosta will play the pop star despite protests from Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. Brown has made no secret that she feels she should have the leading role in her mother’s life story, but Bassett wasn’t having it. The director/actor responded that Brown isn’t an actress and they did not even consider her during casting.
According to Lifetime Network, the biopic will revolve around the headline-making relationship between the legendary singer and New Edition bad boy Bobby Brown. The film will chronicle the time they first met through their courtship and tumultuous marriage.
The film is set to air on Lifetime sometime in 2015.