In new behind-the-scenes footage of “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, Naomi Ackie details her transformation into the late Whitney Houston.
In a featurette, obtained by People, Ackie provides insight on the meticulous ways she nailed Houston’s movements and mannerisms, including her voice.
“There was many different elements: How do I prepare myself vocally, singing-wise? The accent work took about six months to get really comfortable with it,” the 31-year-old actress says in the clip. “And how do I prepare myself physically? In terms of movement, I worked with my amazing friend and my movement coach, Polly Bennett, and we kind of split it all up.”
Bennett also coached this year’s Oscar nominee Austin Butler on the highly-praised film “Elvis”, as well as Rami Malek for 2018’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, in which the actor won an Oscar for portraying Queen singer Freddie Mercury.
“Everyone has certain cadences. Everyone has a sort of inner rhythm. And if you study it and practice it enough, the hope is that it comes out really naturally,” Ackie explained.
The British actress recently told People that she hopes Houston would be a fan of the film, which showcases the late singer’s impressive songs and vocals. Ackie would also be willing to absorb any constructive criticism the icon may have.
“I would hope she would be like, ‘Okay, Nai, you did a thing!'” the actress said with a laugh. “Also, she might have loads of notes and I’d just be like, ‘Great — let’s do another one. Direct me and we can do it again.'”
Aside from Houston’s incredible talent, Ackie shared that the main focus of the film was to represent Houston as a human being by respectfully capturing her struggles with fame and addiction.
“The thing about Whitney and people who are suffering from addiction is it’s a reminder that it’s an illness, that the person who is going through this is the victim of it,” Ackie told the outlet. “Her life was extraordinary, but the things she was going through were things we all go through.”
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“Bringing her into a very human space and treating Whitney with the same compassion we would treat anyone else is really important because I think when it comes to the idea of celebrities and icons, sometimes we can be more unkind because our expectations of them are so high,” she continued.
Houston tragically passed away at age 48 from a drug-related accidental drowning in 2012.
“Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is currently playing in theatres and is also available to watch on digital.
