The stars of “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody” including Naomi Ackie (Whitney Houston), Stanley Tucci (Clive Davis), Nafessa Williams (Robyn Crawford), and Director Kasi Lemmons discuss their biopic in this interview with CinemaBlend's Sarah El-Mahmoud. They discuss their research on their characters, how they got access to Whitney Houston’s masters, their favorite performances from the film, and much more!
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Some days I was playing, like, 22, and then 42 in the same day,
00:06and it got quite confusing sometimes.
00:08♪♪
00:14I remember for Bohemian Rhapsody,
00:16I read that Rami Malek, the fake teeth he used
00:20was really a marker for him to get into Freddie mode.
00:23I was wondering for you if there was any marker or ritual
00:26you used to get into Whitney.
00:28Yeah, fake teeth, for one, because, you know,
00:31I've got my gap here, so that was something
00:34that we needed to figure out.
00:37But also, for me, it was the wigs, really,
00:41and not just because it was, you know, indicative of Whitney
00:46in certain parts of her life, but it also helped me to know,
00:49at least body-wise and fashion-wise, where we are in time,
00:53because a lot of hairstyle changes...
00:56Hairstyle changes changed a lot from the kind of late 70s
01:01to the early 2000s, so, you know, it helped me
01:05kind of plot out where we were to.
01:07So once I had the wig and the teeth on and in,
01:11that was my switch.
01:15I couldn't believe it. I mean, first of all,
01:17I couldn't believe that she was British,
01:19because her dialect accent is perfect.
01:23And then when she recreates those songs,
01:27I don't know how she did it.
01:29I've been acting for a long time, but I can't imagine doing that.
01:32I don't know how she did that.
01:34I understand you used various original recordings
01:38of Whitney Houston through this process.
01:40I was curious what challenges were involved in obtaining
01:43and kind of weaving them through the film in a realistic way.
01:47Yeah, the estate was very helpful with the music,
01:51because they control some of it, most of it.
01:54And so that was a good partnership.
01:58We were able to get some of the masters, which is amazing.
02:02It really helps to nail that kind of live quality
02:06of the performance, so you really believe that she's singing.
02:10And, of course, you're hearing Whitney.
02:12Naomi's also singing, and she's singing full out,
02:15but what we're hearing is Whitney.
02:17But it's getting that live version that was essential,
02:20getting a live version of all of the songs.
02:22I was able to be served by her book, her autobiography.
02:27Like, that was my saving grace.
02:29It was everything I needed to know,
02:31and that was the extent of my research.
02:35And I felt like I was getting it from Robin
02:37in the way that she wrote her book.
02:39Obviously, too, just, you know, research in the time of the 90s
02:44and understanding what the wardrobe is like,
02:46what the hair is like, what songs we were listening to.
02:49Like, I created a playlist for Robin
02:51that I would listen to in my trailer every morning.
02:54I would play some songs for me and Naomi on set
02:56just to kind of get us in that zone
02:58and travel back to that time
03:00that Robin and Whitney actually was living in.
03:02So that was a huge part of my research, too.
03:04I understand you got to meet with Clive Davis
03:07while shooting this.
03:09I was wondering if there was something that stuck out to you
03:12about his own memory of Whitney Houston
03:15that you got to maybe bring into your scenes with Naomi.
03:18I mean, it really was, you know, I talked to him.
03:21We had a Zoom call before I started filming.
03:24And, you know, he talked very honestly about how, you know,
03:28that it was very hard, obviously, what happened to her.
03:32But that relationship, you know, he really, he loved her.
03:36And, you know, like a niece.
03:39I mean, he really became like an uncle in a way to her,
03:43apart from, you know, being an amazing business guide
03:49in her business.
03:51There wasn't one thing in particular.
03:54It really was a series of things,
03:56which we see in the documentary,
03:58which we read about in his book,
04:00and what she told me, which is just that, you know,
04:03he knew how talented she was,
04:05and he just wanted to keep her truthful to herself
04:11and make sure she was happy within herself.
04:14I have to ask about the medley scene,
04:16because that scene absolutely floored me.
04:18Can you speak to the preparation for that?
04:22Something about creating that scene
04:25that us as audiences may not realize.
04:27It took two days to film.
04:29It was actually, when I read it in the script,
04:31it was the first thing I looked at on YouTube.
04:34And so, really, I'd been practicing that sequence
04:39for about eight months.
04:42And it was partially just me watching it
04:44over and over again,
04:46but it was also then working with my movement coach,
04:49Polly Bennett, who kind of,
04:51we broke it down into little pieces.
04:54But I, you know, it's that thing.
04:56You just have to, in every moment,
05:00I'm playing the song and, like,
05:01I'm doing the movements in my head.
05:03I can still do it now.
05:04That's the weird thing.
05:05It says it never leaves you.
05:07So, like, I can hear it and I can, like,
05:09I can, yeah, I know what it is.
05:11It's just, like, I practice it so much.
05:13It took a second.
05:15But that day, those two days,
05:17were some of the most, like,
05:19beautiful experiences I've had on this job.
05:23And in general, it felt like a kind of
05:25joyful full stop to some of the work
05:28that I was doing on this job.
05:30The medley, I love the medley.
05:32And I'm most proud of that sequence.
05:35Honestly, it's one of my favorite things
05:37that we shot.
05:38And then the national anthem, also.
05:41Just capturing it and the edit
05:43and the energy of it.
05:45And really capturing the excitement
05:47of everybody that was watching at home
05:49and the excitement of the crowd that was there
05:51and the exuberance of her performance
05:55and the kind of rallying nature of it.
05:59Those two are my favorites.
06:01And there's such a layered kind of
06:02queer relationship that is explored
06:04between Whitney and Robin in this.
06:06And I was just curious what was, like,
06:07most important to you about portraying
06:09their relationship.
06:10Most important part of it was to show
06:12the love and the adoration,
06:14which I believe was the foundation
06:15that they, you know, shared for one another.
06:18And the loyalty that Robin had towards her.
06:21And just to show that, you know,
06:23soulmates come in all different forms,
06:25although they were able to explore them all.
06:27But whether they were in a relationship or not,
06:29they were truly soulmates.
06:31Take the romance out of it.
06:33It just was real pure love
06:34that they had for each other.
06:36And I just really wanted that to come across.
06:38I also was just really careful
06:40in the way that I represented Robin.
06:42I wanted to approach that with a lot of,
06:45you know, care and, you know,
06:48just being sensitive that I'm playing
06:50a real person, too.
06:52Obviously, you're doing what's in the script, right?
06:54So what's in the script is really
06:56all you can do.
06:59There were times when I wished
07:01there had been more,
07:03because he was so interesting
07:05and that relationship is really interesting.
07:08But ultimately, it's her story.
07:11It's the Whitney Houston story.
07:12It's not the Clive Davis story.
07:14So that's really all that matters.
07:16It's my job to serve the script.
07:19I mean, there are a lot of things
07:20I wish I had more time to focus on.
07:22And, you know, earlier cuts were much longer,
07:25you know, and we would stay kind of
07:28in scenes and in relationships longer.
07:31I really love her relationship with her mother.
07:33That was a really moving relationship to me.
07:36And there's scenes with her mother
07:38that I wish we could, you know,
07:41I wish we could have included
07:42or that we could have stayed in longer.
07:44I wish we could have more Robin,
07:47even though there's quite a bit of her in the movie.
07:49I never got tired of her.
07:50They were amazing together.
07:53They just lit each other up.
07:55And, you know, it's a wonderful,
07:56capturing chemistry between actors
07:58is one of the things directors live for, right?
08:00That's like, it's like the gold.
08:02And I just, I really enjoyed that.
08:05And there were a lot of things, you know,
08:09a lot of even musical performances
08:11and iconic things that she did
08:14that weren't included.
08:16I would go even deeper with her relationship
08:19with Clive and her father.
08:21I just, I think I would have gone deeper
08:22into each of the relationships.
08:26What was it like?
08:27That love?
08:29Millions of people.
08:36The best feeling I ever know.