PHOTOGRAPHED BY DWAYNE ROGERS
“I’ve always been a fan and into her music,” actress Nafessa Williams says of the late Whitney Houston. “[I Wanna Dance with Somebody] was very well written and told in a way that we’ve never seen before,” she adds. Once Williams auditioned for the role of Robyn Crawford, Houston’s best friend, collaborator and love interest, what really piqued her interest was the chemistry that she and lead Naomi Ackie shared. “I felt it in my audition and it was really exciting to know that once I booked it, how much fun we could have,” she shares. “You don’t always get that—it’s like a magic supernatural chemistry that you sometimes get out of your castmates.”
Throughout filming, Williams and Ackie became best friends. “It was very true to what Whitney and Robyn shared in real life,” Williams says. “That was very much a blessing, to see our chemistry. When you can bring that dynamic on set, it doesn't feel like you’re working.”
Williams was also eager to work with director Kasi Lemmons. “One thing I love about Kasi is that she’s a very smart director—I mean in the sense of making the set feel safe and collaborative. As artists, we felt safe and free to come out and play, so I felt very safe, supportive, well taken care of,” she says. “There's a gentleness and there’s communication that I think smart directors have when they’re able to communicate eloquently and clearly because it’s not always easy to digest notes and get the right direction,” she adds.
A longtime Houston fan, Williams knew a lot about the singer’s career, but she was new to learning about the relationship between Houston and Crawford. “They were more than best friends. I believe that they were soulmates. What I loved and what I wanted to make sure that I portrayed was the loyalty and adoration that I feel Robyn has still for her,” Williams says.
For the role, she had to do extensive research, which included reading— and rereading—Crawford’s autobiographical book, A Song for You: My Life with Whitney Houston. “The biggest challenge was playing a real-life character. You want to pay respect and you want to make sure it’s done in a loving way,” she says. “She was the closest person to Whitney Houston and I want to be really conscious and sensitive to that. … I’m really excited for the world to be able to see the true dynamic of their relationship.”
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