FINDING HER VOICE: 'RESEARCHING THE ROLE TOOK A TOLL ON MY MENTAL HEALTH'

ACTRESS NAOMI ACKIE OPENS UP ON THE CHALLENGES OF PLAYING WHITNEY HOUSTON IN A NEW BIOPIC CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF THE SUPERSTAR SINGER

Whitney Houston’s life was as tragic as it was triumphant. Blessed with one of the most powerful voices of her generation, she sold millions of records worldwide and received numerous awards and accolades throughout her career. But the singer and actress was plagued with personal problems, from her turbulent marriage to fellow pop star Bobby Brown, to the spiral into drug addiction that led to her untimely death aged just 48.

With years of trauma to bring to the screen, it’s no wonder Naomi Ackie, the British actress who plays Whitney in new biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody, felt the role took its toll.

The 30-year-old, who won a Best Supporting Actress BAFTA for her role as Bonnie in Netflix drama The End Of The F**king World, was cast as Whitney after an exhaustive, year-long search. And while she was thrilled to bag such a coveted part, she says that portraying such an iconic character meant the pressure to get things right had a huge impact.

“I actually overdid it when it came to research,” admits the star, who had several dialect coaches and even a movement coach. “I knew [the script] off by heart and it was becoming something that I was scared to look at. The research and looking at Whitney’s videos – I think I’ve seen every single one on YouTube countless times – became like a prison. It took a toll on my mental health.”

Naomi, from Walthamstow in east London, says her anxiety around playing Whitney was born out of a desire to make her portrayal as believable as possible.