The movie will explore the life and career of Houston from her early beginnings as a choir girl in New Jersey to one of the best-selling and most-awarded artists of all time.
Newsweek has everything you need to know about the cast of I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
How ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ Actors Compare To Real-Life People
Whitney Houston—Naomi Ackie
Naomi Ackie portrays Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Ackie is best known for her role as Jannah in 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Bonnie in Netflix’s The End of the F****** World.
Speaking to The San Diego Union-Tribune about taking on the role of Whitney Houston, Ackie shared: “When I got cast, I was like: ‘What?!’ Because I don’t look like Whitney at all.
“At the same time, it gave me the freedom to create a new version of something everyone knows. This film is an impressionist version of a real person. The thing I learned the most is that it was not about imitating someone to a ’t’ and looking and talking exactly like them. It was having the freedom to share their essence because there’s no one else like Whitney—and there shouldn’t be.”
Clive Davis—Stanley Tucci
Multi-award-winning actor Stanley Tucci portrays Clive Davis, Whitney’s record producer in I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Tucci is best known for his roles in The Terminal, The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, Spotlight, The Lovely Bones and Monk.
The real Clive Davis, 90, served as a producer on the movie. He first met Houston in the 1980s at a New York City club where he saw the Houston family perform. He ultimately signed Houston to Arista records and served as her mentor.
During his career, Davis has signed many artists including Houston and Barry Manilow. Other big names Davis has worked with include Billy Joel, Pink Floyd and Aerosmith.
Bobby Brown—Ashton Sanders
Ashton Sanders, best known for his role as Chiron in Moonlight, plays Bobby Brown, Whitney’s husband.
Sanders has also appeared in The Equalizer 2, Captive State and Native Son.
Bobby Brown and Houston married in July 1992 and had one daughter together, Bobbi Kristina Brown in 1993. As seen in I Wanna Dance With Somebody, their marriage was always in and out of the spotlight and subject to rumors of abuse and infidelity.
Their divorce was finalized in April 2007.
Cissy Houston—Tamara Tunie
Tamara Tunie stars as Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mother in I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Audiences will likely recognize Tunie from her role as Jessica Griffin on the CBS series As the World Turns and Melina Warner in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Like her daughter Whitney, Cissy Houston is also a singer who began her career as a backup singer for Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin. During her successful solo career, she won two Grammy awards.
Bobbi Kristina Brown—Bria Danielle Singleton
Up-and-coming actress Bria Danielle Singleton portrays a young Bobbi Kristina Brown, Whitney and Bobby Brown’s daughter.
Bobbi Kristina Brown was born on March 4, 1993, and grew up in the public eye as the daughter of famous parents. Like her mother, Bobbi Kristina Brown was a talented singer, actress and dancer.
Bobbi Kristina Brown died on July 26, 2015, aged 22. A final autopsy report determined she died of lobar pneumonia.
Robyn Crawford—Nafessa Williams
Black Lightning’s Nafessa Williams takes on the role of Robyn Crawford, Whitney’s assistant and creative director.
Williams’ other credits include Streets, One Life to Live and Code Black.
As seen in I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Houston and Crawford had a very close and intimate relationship. In her 2019 book, A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston, Crawford stated she and Houston were in a same-sex relationship in the early years of her career and lived together as a couple.
John Houston—Clarke Peters
The Wire and Da 5 Bloods star Clarke Peters takes on the role of Whitney’s father, John Houston.
John Houston was an entertainment talent manager and served as his daughter’s manager for several years. However, in 2003, John Houston sued Whitney, claiming that she hadn’t paid her father’s company for its help in negotiating a record deal.
John Houston died in February 2003. He was 82 years old.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody is out in cinemas now.
