The late 'I Will Always Love You' hitmaker admitted that she didn't consider the upcoming drama as a 'comeback project', but she saw it as a gift God gave her to contribute to the cast.
- Feb 15, 2012
AceShowbiz - Following the sudden death of Whitney Houston last Saturday, February 11, Coming Soon released the diva's last movie interview for her upcoming film "Sparkle". During the chat, the late songstress admitted that she didn't see the movie as a "comeback project" after her long hiatus from acting.
"I don't think of it as a comeback. I don't think of it as a pressure," she shared. "I think of it as a gift God gave me to contribute to a cast of people who are working as hard if not harder than I. I have two jobs and executive of the soundtrack. I've done it before." She added, "In my life it was not that I want to be an entertainer, it's in my family bloodline. I can't help it. It is something that God said this is what you do. To me it's not a comeback, it's innate, it's natural."
Houston also talked about what drove her to work on "Sparkle". She explained, "As a young girl back in the '70s there was the black exploitation movie thing. This was a positive reinforcement for young African American women. For anyone who wanted to pursue their dream and present their gifts it just appealed to me."
"I would go every Saturday for four months straight to watch the matinee to the evening show," she continued on. "I would just never let go of it. Fifteen years later [producer] Deborah [Martin Chase] and I were talking and I said, 'Debra, have you ever looked at 'Sparkle?' She said, 'Wow, great project.' Sony picked it up, they moved some folks out, moved some folks in. As the cast came together it worked out perfectly."
The "I Will Always Love You" hitmaker went on sharing about her role as a "not-so encouraging mother" to Jordin Sparks' titular character. She said, "Now that I'm older and more seasoned in this form of entertainment, it coincides with my life as a mother. Now I have three daughters, but I have one daughter that adds up to three for me, as far as I'm concerned. [laughs]."
The pop sensation said, "I'm comfortable with it because I'm an on-hands mother, and a disciplinarian mother. I don't make it idle threats, you know what I'm saying? It's a good position for me to be in because I feel close to all three of them as my daughters. I'm very comfortable with it."
Speaking about the target audience for the upcoming movie, Houston explained, "The grand part of this movie is you'll be able to go with your children to see this movie. It's a family movie. It's inspiring, it's encouraging. You'll see the ups, the downs, the all-arounds, and we still come out alright."
"We're not trying to set precedents for other black movies to be done," she added. "If so, then God bless it, but we just want to make it available to families and mothers and daughters and fathers. My daughter goes to see movies and I'm not going to see that, you know what I'm saying? [laughs] That's our goal, for families to go back to the movies together."
Aside from talking about "Sparkle", Houston opened up about how she balanced her career and family life. "I have priorities. Maintaining my daughter is my first. She also has it in her blood too. She does her acting classes and her vocal coaching so I keep her busy with that. She's very happy with that. She's 18 now, gonna be a woman in a minute, Lord have mercy," said the diva.
She continued, "I also have a godson, he's 22, a well-balanced young man. That I took care of first, and now I can keep my focus on what I have to do here. In pre-production you have to do prep work, and you never know what happens in between but you be ready for whatever it brings. You try to balance it and you try to make the proper decisions and be prayerful about it. Make sure you confer with that inner spirit and do whatever you can."
"Sparkle" is a remake of the 1976 music-themed film of the same title. In addition to Houston and Sparks, the drama stars Mike Epps, Cee-Lo Green, Omari Hardwick, Tika Sumpter, Derek Luke and Carmen Ejogo. Directed by Salim Akil, the movie will arrive in the U.S. theaters on August 17.
