{"id":5435,"date":"2022-12-20T15:23:28","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T15:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/?p=5435"},"modified":"2022-12-20T15:23:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T15:23:30","slug":"whitney-houston-biopic-star-naomi-ackie-on-bringing-the-singers-queer-story-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/?p=5435","title":{"rendered":"Whitney Houston biopic star Naomi Ackie on bringing the singer\u2019s queer story to life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Exclusive: Naomi Ackie discusses Whitney&#8217;s relationship with Robyn Crawford and provides representation on screen.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Naomi Ackie on bringing Whitney Houston&#039;s queer love story to the big screen\" width=\"749\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1fUrtIgl7pA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Naomi Ackie, the star of&nbsp;<em>Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody<\/em>&nbsp;says she wouldn\u2019t have done the film if Whitney\u2019s queer relationship wasn\u2019t included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The film stars Ackie as the \u2018So Emotional\u2019 singer and her ascent to international fame as one of the generation&#8217;s greatest singers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking exclusively to&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ola_awosika\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ola Awosika<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;for Attitude ahead of the film\u2019s release Naomi discusses bringing Whitney\u2019s decades-long friendship and relationship with Robyn Crawford to the big screen. In her 2019 book&nbsp;<em>A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston<\/em>, Crawford&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oprahdaily.com\/entertainment\/books\/a29657752\/robyn-crawford-lena-waithe-a-song-for-you-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opened about the two\u2019s relationship<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ackie says it is \u201cso important\u201d that relationship between the two women is front and centre in the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c[It] feels like liberation to me,\u201d she continues. \u201cIt\u2019s a part of her story. The love between Robyn and Whitney was so pure and real and dynamic. It moved, it shifted, they never put a name on it. And I just love that. It\u2019s a part of Whitney\u2019s story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.attitude.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/12\/DF-04173_rv2-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"(Left to right) Nafessa Williams and Naomi Ackie in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody\" class=\"wp-image-421466\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Left to right) Nafessa Williams and Naomi Ackie in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Image: Sony Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Of the relationship, which began early on before Whitney\u2019s fame, Ackie wonders if Whitney would have become the star she did without Robyn\u2019s support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt deserves to be told. So, to be honest with you, if that wasn\u2019t in the script, I don\u2019t think I would have done the project because it feels like continuing a false narrative that doesn\u2019t feel truthful,\u201d Ackie goes on to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After bonding with Ola over a shared love of the 1997&nbsp;<em>Cinderella&nbsp;<\/em>film starring Whitney as the Fairy Godmother, Naomi also says that she\u2019s happy to represent stories like Whitney\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.attitude.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2022\/12\/DF-09686_r-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Naomi Ackie in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody\" class=\"wp-image-421469\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Naomi Ackie in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Image: Sony Pictures)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt matters and that\u2019s me as a young Black girl. There\u2019s so much more stories to be told. If I can be a part of helping that representation, giving people more confidence to then step up and tell their own stories, because some of these experiences aren\u2019t mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd if I can be, in the same way that Whitney was that for us growing up, if I can do that a little bit so someone can stand on my shoulders 10 years down the line and be like \u2018Ok, because Na did it, I can now do it and take it a step further and better than she did,\u2019 please, by all means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She adds, \u201cWe\u2019re not there yet where we can sit back and just be like \u2018it\u2019s all going to work out fine.\u2019 We have to keep pushing. There\u2019s still work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY - Official Trailer (HD)\" width=\"749\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9tfemzaMkoU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody<\/em>\u00a0is out in cinemas on Friday, 23 December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exclusive: Naomi Ackie discusses Whitney&#8217;s relationship with Robyn Crawford and provides representation on screen. Naomi Ackie, the star of&nbsp;Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody&nbsp;says she wouldn\u2019t have done the film if Whitney\u2019s queer relationship wasn\u2019t included. The film stars Ackie as the \u2018So Emotional\u2019 singer and her ascent to international fame as one of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,67],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5438,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions\/5438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4guysmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}