Naomi Ackie gives audiences a glimpse into the life of Whitney Houston in director Kasi Lemmons’ new biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” and the new film is packed with a number of Houston’s hits.
Working with movement coach Polly Bennett and vocal coaches Tangela Large, Bridgette Jackson and Denise Woods, Ackie also underwent physical transformation with the help of numerous wigs and false teeth to cover the natural gap in her two front teeth.
Ackie doesn’t sing most songs in the film — she lip syncs to Houston’s perfect tracks instead — but she mimics Houston’s style of singing with great detail. She steps in for performances by Houston that were not recorded, such as “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah” and “Jesus Loves Me” from her choir-singing days. Ackie also portrays a nervous Whitney who is thrust onstage by her mother, who knows Clive Davis is in attendance,...
Working with movement coach Polly Bennett and vocal coaches Tangela Large, Bridgette Jackson and Denise Woods, Ackie also underwent physical transformation with the help of numerous wigs and false teeth to cover the natural gap in her two front teeth.
Ackie doesn’t sing most songs in the film — she lip syncs to Houston’s perfect tracks instead — but she mimics Houston’s style of singing with great detail. She steps in for performances by Houston that were not recorded, such as “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah” and “Jesus Loves Me” from her choir-singing days. Ackie also portrays a nervous Whitney who is thrust onstage by her mother, who knows Clive Davis is in attendance,...
- 12/28/2022
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Actress and singer Naomi Ackie credits dialect coaches Tangela Large, Bridgette Jackson and Denise Woods with helping her immerse herself in the voice of the one and only Whitney Houston for the biopic “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” and says nailing down Houston’s speaking voice was the key to inhabiting the role — especially since Ackie is English.
From Houston’s early choir days to catching her big break in the presence of legendary producer Clive Davis, to the more tumultuous moments of her career like her deterioration due to drugs and her declining marriage to rapper Bobby Brown, director Kasi Lemmons, Ackie, co-stars Nafessa Williams and Stanley Tucci as well as many more helped craft the prism through which audiences will glimpse the music artist in the TriStar Pictures release, now playing in theaters.
On top of mimicking Houston’s singing and performing techniques, Ackie also had...
From Houston’s early choir days to catching her big break in the presence of legendary producer Clive Davis, to the more tumultuous moments of her career like her deterioration due to drugs and her declining marriage to rapper Bobby Brown, director Kasi Lemmons, Ackie, co-stars Nafessa Williams and Stanley Tucci as well as many more helped craft the prism through which audiences will glimpse the music artist in the TriStar Pictures release, now playing in theaters.
On top of mimicking Houston’s singing and performing techniques, Ackie also had...
- 12/24/2022
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
It feels like it's been a bit of a meteoric rise to stardom for Anthony Mackie, even if the New Orleans-born actor has been doing strong work on the big screen for the last two decades following his first film role in the Eminem-starring "8 Mile." After making a splash as the main antagonist in that movie, Mackie started working steadily with roles in "The Manchurian Candidate," "Million Dollar Baby," "We Are Marshall," and "The Hurt Locker," but it wasn't until he landed the coveted role of Sam Wilson, better known as the Falcon, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that his career really started to soar.
After making his MCU debut in the acclaimed "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Mackie has, to date, strapped on the wings five more times on the big screen. Last year, he carried the character over to the small screen alongside Sebastian Stan's...
After making his MCU debut in the acclaimed "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Mackie has, to date, strapped on the wings five more times on the big screen. Last year, he carried the character over to the small screen alongside Sebastian Stan's...
- 11/14/2022
- by Jeff Kelly
- Slash Film
At Sundance’s third annual Women Breaking Barriers panel, singer-turned-actress Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), pop-star-turned-director Sia (“Music”), actress-turned-producer Zendaya (“Malcolm & Marie”), and two actress-directors who star in their own movies, Robin Wright (“Land”) and Halle Berry (“Bruised”), admitted that jumping those hurdles wasn’t always easy, even when making a transition from an already-established career.
R&b performer Day, certainly, was not ready to leap into acting so soon, with a starring role in a major motion picture, playing her idol Billie Holiday. “I was nervous, terrified, said ‘no’ multiple times,” she told the panel hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “I didn’t want to dishonor her legacy. I wanted it to be great if I was going to do it. I didn’t want to retell ‘Lady Sings the Blues.’ Diana Ross gives an incredible performance.”
But she met with director Lee Daniels...
R&b performer Day, certainly, was not ready to leap into acting so soon, with a starring role in a major motion picture, playing her idol Billie Holiday. “I was nervous, terrified, said ‘no’ multiple times,” she told the panel hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “I didn’t want to dishonor her legacy. I wanted it to be great if I was going to do it. I didn’t want to retell ‘Lady Sings the Blues.’ Diana Ross gives an incredible performance.”
But she met with director Lee Daniels...
- 2/2/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
At Sundance’s third annual Women Breaking Barriers panel, singer-turned-actress Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), pop-star-turned-director Sia (“Music”), actress-turned-producer Zendaya (“Malcolm & Marie”), and two actress-directors who star in their own movies, Robin Wright (“Land”) and Halle Berry (“Bruised”), admitted that jumping those hurdles wasn’t always easy, even when making a transition from an already-established career.
R&b performer Day, certainly, was not ready to leap into acting so soon, with a starring role in a major motion picture, playing her idol Billie Holiday. “I was nervous, terrified, said ‘no’ multiple times,” she told the panel hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “I didn’t want to dishonor her legacy. I wanted it to be great if I was going to do it. I didn’t want to retell ‘Lady Sings the Blues.’ Diana Ross gives an incredible performance.”
But she met with director Lee Daniels...
R&b performer Day, certainly, was not ready to leap into acting so soon, with a starring role in a major motion picture, playing her idol Billie Holiday. “I was nervous, terrified, said ‘no’ multiple times,” she told the panel hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. “I didn’t want to dishonor her legacy. I wanted it to be great if I was going to do it. I didn’t want to retell ‘Lady Sings the Blues.’ Diana Ross gives an incredible performance.”
But she met with director Lee Daniels...
- 2/2/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Pop culture comes to life in St. Louis next month! It’s the Wizard World Comic Con May 22nd through the 24th at America’s Center downtown (701 Convention Plaza – St. Louis, Mo 63101), and boy oh boy, do they have an amazing line-up of guests!
Sure, you got the comic artists and cosplayers, wrestlers, a St. Louis Ram, a Power Ranger, and of course the ubiquitous Walking Dead stars, but what We Are Movie Geeks is most excited about are the celebrities from movies that will be on hand: Horror legend George Romero, Sharknado legend Tara Reid, horror hostess with the mostest (if you know what I mean) Elvira, Guardians Of The Galaxy tough guy Dave Bautista, Henry the serial killer himself Michael Rooker, Do The Right Thing’s ‘Buggin Out’ Giancarlo Esposito. Lord of the Rings Trilogy’s Pippin Billy Boyd, Captain America squeeze Hayley Atwell, and Silent Bob’s buddy Jay aka Jason Mewes.
Sure, you got the comic artists and cosplayers, wrestlers, a St. Louis Ram, a Power Ranger, and of course the ubiquitous Walking Dead stars, but what We Are Movie Geeks is most excited about are the celebrities from movies that will be on hand: Horror legend George Romero, Sharknado legend Tara Reid, horror hostess with the mostest (if you know what I mean) Elvira, Guardians Of The Galaxy tough guy Dave Bautista, Henry the serial killer himself Michael Rooker, Do The Right Thing’s ‘Buggin Out’ Giancarlo Esposito. Lord of the Rings Trilogy’s Pippin Billy Boyd, Captain America squeeze Hayley Atwell, and Silent Bob’s buddy Jay aka Jason Mewes.
- 4/20/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Life of Crime continued with 3.23m (15.3%) viewers at 9pm on Friday (May 17), overnight data shows.
ITV's three-part drama following the career of police officer Denise Woods (Hayley Atwell) was down 670k from last week's debut.
.
In the same timeslot on BBC One, Have I Got News for You earned 4.74m (22.3%) and Not Going Out had 3.39m (16.3%).
Earlier, The One Show attracted 3.69m (20.2%) at 7pm and Would I Lie To You grabbed 2.85m (12.9%) an hour later. The Graham Norton Show was watched by 2.8m (22.1%) at 10.45pm.
On BBC Two, documentary Leopards: 21st Century Cats interested 1.37m (6.5%) at 9pm, prior to which Nature's Microwave and Gardeners' World grabbed 1.62m (7.8%) and 2.33m (10.5%) respectively.
The Martin Lewis Money Show brought 3.05m (14.8%) to ITV at 8pm and movie Rumour Has It, starring Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner, attracted 800k (6.1%) from 10.45pm.
Meanwhile, Channel 4's Ben Earl: Trick Artist had 730k (3.6%) at 9pm and Alan Carr...
ITV's three-part drama following the career of police officer Denise Woods (Hayley Atwell) was down 670k from last week's debut.
.
In the same timeslot on BBC One, Have I Got News for You earned 4.74m (22.3%) and Not Going Out had 3.39m (16.3%).
Earlier, The One Show attracted 3.69m (20.2%) at 7pm and Would I Lie To You grabbed 2.85m (12.9%) an hour later. The Graham Norton Show was watched by 2.8m (22.1%) at 10.45pm.
On BBC Two, documentary Leopards: 21st Century Cats interested 1.37m (6.5%) at 9pm, prior to which Nature's Microwave and Gardeners' World grabbed 1.62m (7.8%) and 2.33m (10.5%) respectively.
The Martin Lewis Money Show brought 3.05m (14.8%) to ITV at 8pm and movie Rumour Has It, starring Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner, attracted 800k (6.1%) from 10.45pm.
Meanwhile, Channel 4's Ben Earl: Trick Artist had 730k (3.6%) at 9pm and Alan Carr...
- 5/18/2013
- Digital Spy
Life of Crime debuted with 3.9m (17.7%) viewers at 9pm on Friday (May 10), overnight data shows.
ITV's three-part drama follows the career of police officer Denise Woods, played by Hayley Atwell, over three decades in the Met.
In the same timeslot on BBC One, Have I Got News for You earned 4.58m (20.2%) and Not Going Out had 3.86m (17.6%).
Earlier, A Question of Sport attracted 3.15m (15%) at 7.30pm and Would I Lie To You grabbed 2.88m (12.2%) an hour later. The Graham Norton Show was watched by 3.65m (25%) at 10.45pm.
On BBC Two, Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball interested 1.5m (7%) at 9pm, prior to which Nature's Microwave and Gardeners' World grabbed 1.72m (7.8%) and 2.14m (9.1%) respectively.
The Martin Lewis Money Show brought 3.1m (14.1%) to ITV at 8pm and The Suspicions of Mr Wicher attracted 1m (8%) from 10.30pm.
Meanwhile, Channel 4's Ben Earl: Trick Artist had 800k (3.6%) at 9pm and Alan Carr...
ITV's three-part drama follows the career of police officer Denise Woods, played by Hayley Atwell, over three decades in the Met.
In the same timeslot on BBC One, Have I Got News for You earned 4.58m (20.2%) and Not Going Out had 3.86m (17.6%).
Earlier, A Question of Sport attracted 3.15m (15%) at 7.30pm and Would I Lie To You grabbed 2.88m (12.2%) an hour later. The Graham Norton Show was watched by 3.65m (25%) at 10.45pm.
On BBC Two, Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball interested 1.5m (7%) at 9pm, prior to which Nature's Microwave and Gardeners' World grabbed 1.72m (7.8%) and 2.14m (9.1%) respectively.
The Martin Lewis Money Show brought 3.1m (14.1%) to ITV at 8pm and The Suspicions of Mr Wicher attracted 1m (8%) from 10.30pm.
Meanwhile, Channel 4's Ben Earl: Trick Artist had 800k (3.6%) at 9pm and Alan Carr...
- 5/11/2013
- Digital Spy
Hayley Atwell stars in ITV's new police drama Life of Crime, which launches in May.
Atwell (The Duchess, Any Human Heart) is cast as risk-taking police officer Denise Woods and the show explores her career over three decades in the Met.
The crime drama unravels across three episodes, which are based in 1985, with the backdrop of the Brixton riots, 1997 and 2013.
Declan Croghan (Waking the Dead, Ripper Street) wrote the series.
Life of Crime starts on Friday, May 10 at 9pm on ITV.
Atwell (The Duchess, Any Human Heart) is cast as risk-taking police officer Denise Woods and the show explores her career over three decades in the Met.
The crime drama unravels across three episodes, which are based in 1985, with the backdrop of the Brixton riots, 1997 and 2013.
Declan Croghan (Waking the Dead, Ripper Street) wrote the series.
Life of Crime starts on Friday, May 10 at 9pm on ITV.
- 4/29/2013
- Digital Spy
Hayley Atwell is to star in a new ITV crime drama. The three-part series, entitled Life of Crime and scripted by Waking the Dead scribe Declan Croghan, will span three decades of a police officer's career. Atwell will take the lead role of rookie policewoman Denise Woods, who becomes obsessed with one particular case involving the murder of a teenage girl. Beginning with the Brixton riots in 1985, the three instalments will follow Denise's professional development through the police force, her single-minded and frequently reckless pursuit (more)...
- 10/26/2012
- by By Emma Dibdin
- Digital Spy
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