Shockingly, of the more than 3-dozen replies to my “Cast This” post earlier this week (with regards to the announced Lifetime Original Movie on the early years of the relationship between Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown), only one of you mentioned Yaya DaCosta (although I believe she goes by Yaya Alafia now, since getting married to filmmaker Joshua Bee Alafia in 2012).
I didn’t think of her at the time I wrote that piece, but, now that she has been cast as Whitney Houston, I can actually see her in the part, so we’re off to a good start. Keep in mind that the film will be set in the late 1980’s to early 1990’s, during the first 5 years, following the couple’s initial meeting in 1989, through 1994. Whitney was 26 in 1989, and Bobby was just 20 years old. Yaya is 31, but she can certainly play the age range the film requires – Whitney Houston from 26 to 31.
Angela Bassett will make her directorial debut with the Lifetime Original Movie, tentatively titled “Whitney Houston,” which will chronicle the headline-making relationship between the iconic singer, actress, producer and model, and singer, songwriter Bobby Brown – from the time they first met at the very height of their celebrity, to their courtship and tumultuous marriage.
Bassett will direct from a script penned by Shem Bitterman (“Betty & Coretta” – the Lifetime Original Movie that Bassett starred in last year). Larry Sanitsky (who produced “Betty & Coretta”) will do the same for “Whitney Houston.”
We most recently saw Yaya on the big screen in Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” and in Neil Drumming’s indie dramedy “Big Words.”
TVLine broke the news of her casting, this evening; although no word yet on the actor who will play Bobby Brown.
Source: Shadow & Act
