Former America’s Next Top Model contestant Yaya DaCosta has been cast to play the lead role in Lifetime’s biopic on Whitney Houston.
The untitled TV-movie expected to be out in 2015, will be based on Whitney Houston’s success in the music industry and her unstable relationship with singer-songwriter Bobby Brown.
Since her television debut on the reality show ANTM, DaCosta has successfully landed recurring roles on All My Children, Ugly Betty, House, and Lee Daniel’s The Butler.
Actress Angela Bassett, who co-starred with Houston in 1995’s Waiting to Exhale, will make her directorial debut with the biopic. She is best known for her role in 1998’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back and in the current season of American Horror Story.
In a statement on the Lifetime movie, Bassett said, “I have such regard for both Whitney’s and Bobby’s amazing talents and accomplishments; and I feel a responsibility in the telling of their story. Their humanity and bond fascinates us all. I’m beyond excited to have this opportunity to go behind the camera and into their world.”
TMZ reported that Houston’s family is upset over the upcoming film based on the “I Will Always Love You” pop star’s life.
“Whitney is certainly worthy of more than a television movie. If Whitney were here today, this would not be happening,” said Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law, to TMZ.
