00:00 Some days I was playing like 22 and then 42 in the same day
00:05 and it got quite confusing sometimes.
00:08 (upbeat music)
00:10 - I remember for "Bohemian Rhapsody"
00:16 I read that Rami Malek, the fake teeth he used
00:20 was really a marker for him to get into Freddie mode.
00:23 I was wondering for you, if there was any marker
00:25 or ritual you used to get into Whitney?
00:28 - Yeah, fake teeth for one, 'cause you know,
00:31 I've got my gap here.
00:33 So that was something that we needed to figure out.
00:37 But also it was, for me, it was the wigs really.
00:41 And not just because it was, you know,
00:44 indicative of Whitney in certain parts of her life,
00:47 but it also helped me to know,
00:49 at least body wise and fashion wise, where we are in time.
00:53 Because a lot of hairstyle changes,
00:56 hairstyle changes changed a lot in,
00:58 from the kind of late seventies to the early 2000s.
01:03 So, you know, it helped me kind of plot out where we were to.
01:07 So once I had the wig and the teeth on and in,
01:10 that was my switch.
01:15 - I couldn't believe it.
01:16 I mean, first of all, I couldn't believe
01:17 that she was British because her dialect accent is perfect.
01:22 And then when she recreates those songs,
01:26 I don't know how she did it.
01:28 I've been acting for a long time,
01:29 but I can't imagine doing that.
01:32 I don't know how she did that.
01:33 - I understand you use various original recordings
01:36 of Whitney Houston through this process.
01:40 I was curious what challenges were involved in obtaining
01:43 and kind of weaving them through the film
01:45 in a realistic way.
01:47 - Yeah, the estate was very helpful with the music,
01:50 you know, because they control some of it, most of it.
01:53 And so, you know, that was a good partnership.
01:58 We were able to get some of the masters, which is amazing.
02:01 It really helps to nail that kind of live quality
02:06 of the performance.
02:07 So you really believe that she's, you know, singing.
02:10 And of course you're hearing Whitney.
02:11 Naomi's also singing and she's singing full out,
02:14 but what we're hearing is Whitney.
02:16 But it's getting that live version that was essential,
02:20 getting a live version of all of the songs.
02:22 - I was able to be served by her book, her autobiography.
02:27 Like that was my saving grace.
02:28 It was everything I needed to know.
02:30 And that was the extent of my research.
02:35 And I felt like I was getting it from Robin
02:37 in the way that she wrote her book.
02:39 Obviously to just, you know, research in the time
02:43 of the nineties and understanding what the wardrobe is like,
02:46 what the hair is like, what songs we were listening to.
02:49 Like I created a playlist for Robin
02:51 that I would listen to.
02:52 And my trailer every morning,
02:54 I would play some songs for me and Naomi on set
02:56 just to kind of get us in that zone
02:58 and travel back to that time that Robin and Whitney
03:01 actually was living in.
03:02 So that was a huge part of my research too.
03:04 - I understand you got to meet with Clive Davis
03:07 while shooting this.
03:09 I was wondering if there was something that stuck out to you
03:13 about his own memory of Whitney Houston
03:15 that you got to maybe bring into your scenes with Naomi.
03:18 - I mean, it really was, you know, I talked to him,
03:21 we had a Zoom call before I started filming.
03:25 And, you know, he talked very honestly about how,
03:28 you know, that it was very hard,
03:31 obviously what happened to her,
03:32 but that relationship, you know, he really, he loved her.
03:36 And, you know, like a niece to me,
03:40 he really was sort of like,
03:41 it became like an uncle in a way to her,
03:43 apart from, you know, being an amazing business guide
03:49 in her business.
03:51 There wasn't one thing in particular,
03:55 it really was a series of things,
03:57 which we see in the documentary,
03:59 which we read about in his book.
04:01 And what she told me, which is just that, you know,
04:03 he knew how talented she was
04:05 and he just wanted to keep her truthful to herself
04:10 and make sure she was happy within herself.
04:14 - I have to ask about the medley scene
04:16 'cause that scene absolutely floored me.
04:18 Can you speak to the preparation for that?
04:22 Something about creating that scene
04:25 that us as audiences may not realize.
04:27 - Took two days to film.
04:29 It was actually, when I read it in the script,
04:31 it was the first thing I looked at on YouTube.
04:33 And so really I'd been practicing that sequence
04:39 for about eight months.
04:40 And it was partially just me watching it
04:44 over and over again,
04:46 but it was also then working with my movement coach,
04:49 Polly Bennett, who kind of,
04:50 we broke it down into little pieces.
04:53 But I, you know, it's that thing,
04:56 you just have to,
04:57 in every moment I'm playing the song
05:01 and like I'm doing the movements in my head,
05:03 I can still do it now.
05:04 That's the weird thing.
05:05 It says it never leaves you.
05:06 So like, I can hear it and I can like,
05:09 I can, yeah, I know what it is.
05:11 It's just like I practice it so much.
05:13 - It took a second, but that day,
05:16 those two days were some of the most like
05:19 beautiful experiences I've had on this job.
05:23 And in general, it felt like a kind of joyful full stop
05:26 to some of the work that I was doing on this job.
05:30 - The medley, I love the medley
05:32 and I'm most proud of that sequence.
05:35 Honestly, it's one of my favorite things that we shot.
05:38 And then the national anthem also,
05:41 just capturing it and the edit and the energy of it
05:45 and really capturing the excitement
05:47 of everybody that was watching at home
05:49 and the excitement of the crowd that was there
05:51 and the exuberance of her performance
05:55 and the kind of rallying nature of it.
05:57 That, those two are my favorites.
06:01 - And there's such a layered kind of queer relationship
06:03 that is explored between Whitney and Robin in this.
06:06 And I was just curious what was like most important to you
06:08 about portraying their relationship?
06:10 - Most important part of it was to show the love
06:13 and the adoration, which I believe was the foundation
06:15 that they shared for one another
06:18 and the loyalty that Robin had towards her.
06:21 And just to show that soulmates come in all different forms
06:25 although they were able to explore them all,
06:27 but whether they were in a relationship or not,
06:30 they were truly soulmates.
06:32 Take the romance out of it.
06:33 It just was real pure love that they had for each other.
06:36 And I just really wanted that to come across.
06:38 I also was just really careful
06:40 in the way that I represented Robin.
06:42 I wanted to approach that with a lot of, you know, care
06:47 and, you know, just being sensitive
06:49 that I'm playing a real person too.
06:51 - Obviously you're doing what's in the script, right?
06:53 So what's in the script is really all you can do.
06:57 There were times when I wish there had been more
07:02 because he was so interesting
07:05 and that relationship is really interesting.
07:08 But ultimately it's her story.
07:11 It's the Whitney Houston story,
07:12 it's not the Collab Davis story.
07:14 So that's really all that matters.
07:16 It's my job to serve the script.
07:19 - I mean, there are a lot of things
07:20 I wish I had more time to focus on.
07:22 And, you know, earlier cuts were much longer, you know,
07:26 and we would stay kind of in scenes
07:29 and in relationships longer.
07:31 I really love her relationship with her mother.
07:33 That was a really moving relationship to me.
07:35 And there's scenes with her mother
07:38 that I wish we could, you know,
07:40 I wish we could have included
07:42 or that we could have stayed in longer.
07:44 I wish we could have more Robin,
07:47 even though there's quite a bit of her in the movie.
07:49 I never got tired of her.
07:50 They were amazing together.
07:53 They just lit each other up.
07:54 And, you know, it's a wonderful,
07:56 capturing chemistry between actors
07:58 is one of the things directors live for, right?
08:00 That's like, it's like the gold.
08:02 And I just, I really enjoyed that.
08:05 And there were a lot of things, you know,
08:09 a lot of even musical performances
08:11 and iconic things that she did that weren't included.
08:16 I would go even deeper with her relationship
08:19 with Clive and her father.
08:21 I just, I think I would have gone deeper
08:22 into each of the relationships.
08:25 - What was it like, that love?
08:28 Millions of people.
08:30 (upbeat music)
08:34 (crowd cheering)
08:36 - The best villain I ever knew.
08:38 (woman vocalizing)
08:41 (dramatic music)
08:43 (laughing)
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