Since Lifetime announced that they were putting together a biopic on Whitney Houston controversy has circulated the production. From the casting to the Bobby Brown storyline, people have been criticizing the biopic, which is currently being helmed by actress Angela Bassett.
Surprisingly so, Bassett seems to be welcoming of the controversy. Bassett attended the Emmys to support the rest of her American Horror Story: Coven cast, and the discussion quickly turned to the Whitney Houston biopic.
Of all the criticism Angela told Billboard that she doesn’t hate the controversy per se.
“Controversy can be good. It can pique your interest.”
This of course is a whole new experience for the actress. While she’s used to being in front of the camera, her Whitney Houston biopic TV movie is set as her first directorial film. It’s a huge undertaking for the actress, but one that she doesn’t seem to be daunted by.
“It felt like it was flowing from the beginning. Except me with the learning curve, you know. Coming from one side of the camera to the other.”
Lee Daniels’ The Butler’s Yaya Da Costa is portraying Whitney Houston and Arlen Escarpeta is taking on the role of Houston’s husband Bobby Brown. This biopic will focus on the turbulent relationship the two had together and won’t shy away from the dramatics, which is what Lifetime is often known to do. For evidence check out Lindsay Lohan’s gif-worthy performance in Lifetime’s Liz & Dick .
While we don’t have any information that would lead us to believe that this biopic will be any different from the melodramatic biopics that Lifetime has already produced, we do hold Angela Bassett in high regard as an actress. That said, this is also a unique situation because Bassett has a personal connection to Whitney Houston, and we can’t really picture her using Whitney’s pain to create an exploitive look into her demons.
As many of you know Bassett starred alongside Whitney Houston in the 1995 hit Waiting to Exhale . Even with that Houston’s family is not happy about this biopic. According to TMZ the family didn’t have issue about the content but instead they were focused on the fact that it was a Lifetime production . Houston’s mother has been very vocal about her dismay.
Pat Houston spoke out to TMZ about the TV movie:
“Whitney is certainly worthy of more than a television movie. If Whitney were here today, this would not be happening.”
[Image via Bing]