00:00Some days I was playing like 22 and then 42 in the same day and it got quite confusing sometimes.
00:13I remember for Bohemian Rhapsody I read that Rami Malek, the fake teeth used,
00:19was really a marker for him to get into Freddy mode. I was wondering for you if there was any
00:25marker or ritual you used to get into Whitney. Yeah the fake teeth for one because you know
00:31I've got my gap here so that was that was something that we needed to figure out but also it
00:38was for
00:39me it was the wigs really and not just because it was you know indicative of Whitney in certain
00:46parts of her life but it also helped me to know at least body-wise and fashion-wise where we
00:52are in
00:52time because a lot of uh hairstyle changes hairstyle changes changed a lot in in from the from the kind
00:59of late 70s to the early 2000s so you know it helped me kind of plot out where we were
01:06to
01:07um so once I had the wig and the teeth on and in um that that was my switch. I
01:15couldn't believe it I
01:16mean first of all I couldn't believe that she was British because her dialect accent is perfect
01:22and then when she recreates those songs um I don't know how she did it. I've been acting for a
01:29long
01:29time but I I I can't imagine doing that. I don't know how she did that. I understand you use
01:34various
01:35original recordings um of Whitney Houston through this process. I was curious what challenges were
01:41involved in obtaining and kind of weaving them through the film in a realistic way.
01:46Yeah the estate was very helpful with the music um you know because they control some of it most of
01:53it and uh so so you know that was that was a good partnership um we were able to get
01:58some of the
01:59masters uh which is amazing uh it really helps to to um nail that kind of live quality of the
02:06performance
02:06so you really believe that she's you know singing and of course you're hearing Whitney Naomi's also
02:12singing and she's singing full out um but what we're hearing is Whitney but the it's the getting
02:17that live version that was essential getting a live version of all of the songs. I was able to
02:24be served by her book her autobiography like that was my saving grace it was everything I needed to know
02:29and that was the extent of my research and I felt like I was getting it from Robin in the
02:37way that
02:37she wrote her book um obviously to just you know researching the time of the 90s and understanding
02:45what the wardrobe is like what the hair is like what songs we were listening to like I created a
02:50playlist for Robin that I would listen to and my trailer every morning I would play some songs for
02:55me and Naomi on set just to kind of get us in that zone and travel back to that time
03:00that Robin and
03:00Whitney actually was living in so that was a huge part of my research too. I understand you got to
03:05meet with Clive Davis while shooting this I was wondering if there was something that stuck out to
03:11you um about his own memory of Whitney Houston that you got to maybe bring into your scenes with Naomi.
03:18I mean it really was you know I talked to him we had a zoom call uh before I started
03:24filming
03:25and you know he talked very honestly about how you know you know that it was very hard obviously what
03:32happened to her but but that relationship you know he really he loved her and and you know like like
03:38a
03:38like a niece to me he really was sort of like it became like an uncle in a way to
03:43her apart from you
03:45know being an amazing um business uh uh guide in in in her business uh um there wasn't one thing
03:54in
03:54particular it really was a series of things which we see in the documentary which we read about in his
04:00book and what she told me which is just that you know he knew how talented she was and and
04:06he just
04:06wanted to keep her truthful to herself and keep and make sure she was happy within herself.
04:14I have to ask about the medley scene because that scene absolutely floored me can you speak to um
04:20the preparation for that um something about uh creating that scene that us as audiences may not
04:26realize.
04:27It took two days to film it was actually when I read it in the script it was the first
04:31thing I looked
04:32at on YouTube uh and so really I'd been practicing that sequence for about eight months um
04:41um and it was partially just me watching it over and over again um but it was also then working
04:48with my movement coach Polly Bennett who kind of we broke it down into little pieces um but I I
04:54you
04:55know it was it's that thing you just have to every in every moment I'm playing the song and like
05:01I'm
05:01doing the movements in my head I can still do it now.
05:04That's the weird thing it says it never leaves you so like I can hear it and I can like
05:08I can yeah I know I know what it is it's just like I practice it so much so.
05:13It took a second um but that day those two days were some of the most like um beautiful experiences
05:21I've had on on this job and it and in general it felt like a kind of joyful full stop
05:26to um some of
05:27the work that I was doing on this job.
05:30The medley I love the medley and I'm most proud of that sequence honestly it's it's one of my
05:36favorite things that we shot and then the the national anthem also just capturing it and and
05:42the edit and the energy of it and um really capturing the excitement of everybody that was
05:48watching at home and the excitement of the crowd that was there and her the the exuberance of her
05:54performance and the kind of rallying nature of it um that those two are my favorites and there's such
06:01layered kind of queer relationship that this that is explored between Whitney and Robin in this and
06:06I was just curious what was like most important to you about portraying their relationship.
06:10Most important part of it was to show the love and the adoration which I believe was the foundation
06:15that they you know shared for one another and the loyalty that Robin had towards her and just to show
06:22that you know soulmates come in all different forms although they were able to explore them all but
06:27whether they were in a relationship or not they were truly soulmates uh take the romance out of
06:33it it just was real pure love that they had for each other and I just really wanted that to
06:37come across
06:37I also was just really careful in the way that I represented Robin I wanted to approach that with a
06:43lot
06:44of you know care and you know just being sensitive that I'm playing a real person too.
06:51Obviously you're doing what's in the script right so what's in the script is really all you can all you
06:57can do um there there were times when I wish there had been more uh because he was so interesting
07:04and
07:06and that relationship is really interesting but ultimately it's it it's her story it's the Whitney
07:11Houston story it's not the Clive Davis story um so that's really all that matters it's it's my job to
07:17serve the to serve the script I mean there there are a lot of things I wish I had more
07:21time to focus
07:21on and you know earlier cuts were were much longer you know and we would stay kind of um in
07:28scenes and
07:29in relationships longer I really love her relationship with her mother that was a really moving relationship
07:35to me and um there's scenes with her mother that um that I wish we could you know I wish
07:41we could have
07:41included or that we could have stayed in longer I wish we could have more Robin uh even though there's
07:47quite a bit of her in the movie I never got tired of her they were amazing together uh they
07:53just lit
07:53each other up and you know it's a wonderful capturing chemistry between actors is is one of
07:59the things directors live for right that's like it's like the gold it's and um I just I really enjoyed
08:05that
08:05and there were there are a lot of things you know a lot of even musical performances and and iconic
08:12things
08:12that that she did that we that weren't included um I would go even deeper with with her relationship
08:19with Clive and her father right I just I think I would have gone deeper into each of the relationships
08:24what was it like that love millions of people
08:34the best feeling I ever know
