00:00Some days I was playing, like, 22, and then 42 in the same day,
00:06and it got quite confusing sometimes.
00:08♪♪
00:14I remember for Bohemian Rhapsody,
00:16I read that Rami Malek, the fake teeth he used
00:20was really a marker for him to get into Freddie mode.
00:23I was wondering for you if there was any marker or ritual
00:26you used to get into Whitney.
00:28Yeah, fake teeth, for one, because, you know,
00:31I've got my gap here, so that was something
00:34that we needed to figure out.
00:37But also, for me, it was the wigs, really,
00:41and not just because it was, you know, indicative of Whitney
00:46in certain parts of her life, but it also helped me to know,
00:49at least body-wise and fashion-wise, where we are in time,
00:53because a lot of hairstyle changes...
00:56Hairstyle changes changed a lot from the kind of late 70s
01:01to the early 2000s, so, you know, it helped me
01:05kind of plot out where we were to.
01:07So once I had the wig and the teeth on and in,
01:11that was my switch.
01:15I couldn't believe it. I mean, first of all,
01:17I couldn't believe that she was British,
01:19because her dialect accent is perfect.
01:23And then when she recreates those songs,
01:27I don't know how she did it.
01:29I've been acting for a long time, but I can't imagine doing that.
01:32I don't know how she did that.
01:34I understand you used various original recordings
01:38of Whitney Houston through this process.
01:40I was curious what challenges were involved in obtaining
01:43and kind of weaving them through the film in a realistic way.
01:47Yeah, the estate was very helpful with the music,
01:51because they control some of it, most of it.
01:54And so that was a good partnership.
01:58We were able to get some of the masters, which is amazing.
02:02It really helps to nail that kind of live quality
02:06of the performance, so you really believe that she's singing.
02:10And, of course, you're hearing Whitney.
02:12Naomi's also singing, and she's singing full out,
02:15but what we're hearing is Whitney.
02:17But it's getting that live version that was essential,
02:20getting a live version of all of the songs.
02:22I was able to be served by her book, her autobiography.
02:27Like, that was my saving grace.
02:29It was everything I needed to know,
02:31and that was the extent of my research.
02:35And I felt like I was getting it from Robin
02:37in the way that she wrote her book.
02:39Obviously, too, just, you know, research in the time of the 90s
02:44and understanding what the wardrobe is like,
02:46what the hair is like, what songs we were listening to.
02:49Like, I created a playlist for Robin
02:51that I would listen to in my trailer every morning.
02:54I would play some songs for me and Naomi on set
02:56just to kind of get us in that zone
02:58and travel back to that time
03:00that Robin and Whitney actually was living in.
03:02So that was a huge part of my research, too.
03:04I understand you got to meet with Clive Davis
03:07while shooting this.
03:09I was wondering if there was something that stuck out to you
03:12about his own memory of Whitney Houston
03:15that you got to maybe bring into your scenes with Naomi.
03:18I mean, it really was, you know, I talked to him.
03:21We had a Zoom call before I started filming.
03:24And, you know, he talked very honestly about how, you know,
03:28that it was very hard, obviously, what happened to her.
03:32But that relationship, you know, he really, he loved her.
03:36And, you know, like a niece.
03:39I mean, he really was sort of like,
03:41became like an uncle in a way to her,
03:43apart from, you know, being an amazing business guide
03:49in her business.
03:51There wasn't one thing in particular.
03:54It really was a series of things,
03:56which we see in the documentary,
03:58which we read about in his book.
04:00And what she told me, which is just that, you know,
04:03he knew how talented she was.
04:05And he just wanted to keep her truthful to herself
04:11and make sure she was happy within herself.
04:14I have to ask about the medley scene,
04:16because that scene absolutely floored me.
04:18Can you speak to the preparation for that?
04:22Something about creating that scene
04:25that us as audiences may not realize.
04:27Took two days to film.
04:29It was actually, when I read it in the script,
04:31it was the first thing I looked at on YouTube.
04:34And so really I'd been practicing that sequence
04:39for about eight months.
04:42And it was partially just me watching it
04:44over and over again.
04:46But it was also then working with my movement coach,
04:49Polly Bennett, who kind of,
04:51we broke it down into little pieces.
04:54But I, you know, it's that thing you just have to,
04:58in every moment I'm playing the song
05:01and like I'm doing the movements in my head,
05:03I can still do it now.
05:04That's the weird thing.
05:05It says it never leaves you.
05:07I can hear it and I can, yeah, I know what it is.
05:11It's just like I practice it so much.
05:13It took a second.
05:15But that day, those two days,
05:17were some of the most beautiful experiences
05:21I've had on this job.
05:23And in general, it felt like a kind of joyful full stop
05:27to some of the work that I was doing on this job.
05:30The medley, I love the medley.
05:32And I'm most proud of that sequence.
05:35Honestly, it's one of my favorite things that we shot.
05:38And then the national anthem also,
05:41just capturing it and the edit and the energy of it
05:45and really capturing the excitement of everybody
05:48that was watching at home
05:49and the excitement of the crowd that was there
05:51and the exuberance of her performance
05:55and the kind of rallying nature of it.
05:58Those two are my favorites.
06:01And there's such a layered kind of queer relationship
06:03that is explored between Whitney and Robin in this.
06:06And I was just curious what was most important to you
06:08about portraying their relationship.
06:10Most important part of it was to show the love
06:12and the adoration, which I believe was the foundation
06:15that they shared for one another
06:18and the loyalty that Robin had towards her
06:21and just to show that soulmates come in all different forms,
06:25although they were able to explore them all.
06:27But whether they were in a relationship or not,
06:29they were truly soulmates.
06:31Take the romance out of it.
06:32It just was real pure love that they had for each other.
06:35And I just really wanted that to come across.
06:37I also was just really careful
06:39in the way that I represented Robin.
06:42I wanted to approach that with a lot of, you know, care
06:47and, you know, just being sensitive
06:49that I'm playing a real person too.
06:51Obviously you're doing what's in the script, right?
06:53So what's in the script is really all you can do.
06:59There were times when I wish there had been more
07:02because he was so interesting
07:05and that relationship was really interesting.
07:08But ultimately it's her story.
07:11It's the Whitney Houston story.
07:12It's not the Clive Davis story.
07:14So that's really all that matters.
07:16It's my job to serve the script.
07:19I mean, there are a lot of things
07:20I wish I had more time to focus on.
07:22And, you know, earlier cuts were much longer, you know,
07:26and we would stay kind of in scenes
07:29and in relationships longer.
07:31I really love her relationship with her mother.
07:33That was a really moving relationship to me.
07:36And there's scenes with her mother that,
07:39that I wish we could, you know,
07:40I wish we could have included
07:42or that we could have stayed in longer.
07:44I wish we could have more Robin,
07:47even though there's quite a bit of her in the movie.
07:49I never got tired of her.
07:50They were amazing together.
07:53They just lit each other up and, you know,
07:55it's a wonderful capturing chemistry between actors
07:58is one of the things directors live for, right?
08:00That's like, it's like the gold.
08:02And I just, I really enjoyed that.
08:05And there were, there were a lot of things, you know,
08:09a lot of even musical performances
08:11and iconic things that she did that we,
08:14that weren't included.
08:16I would go even deeper with,
08:18with her relationship with Clive and her father.
08:21I just, I think I would have gone deeper
08:22into each of the relationships.
08:25What was it like, that love?
08:28Millions of people.
08:35The best feeling I ever know.
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