All My Children alum Yaya DaCosta (ex-Cassandra Foster) has signed on to play iconic songstress Whitney Houston in Whitney, a new biopic of the singer's life.
According to a press release, the film will depict Houston's relationship with singer Bobby Brown "from the time they first met at the very height of their celebrity, to their courtship and tumultuous marriage."
DaCosta made her television debut as a contestant in the third cycle of the modeling reality series, America's Next Top Model. The aspiring model finished second in the competition.
Post-ANTM, DaCosta landed the role of Cassandra Foster on All My Children. DaCosta remained with the then-ABC soap for only a few months in 2008, but the soap stint opened up other doors. After playing the fictional adopted daughter of Debbi Morgan (Angie Hubbard) on AMC, DaCosta went on to have another very famous on-screen mom: Vanessa Williams on Ugly Betty.
In 2013, DaCosta portrayed Carol Hammie in Lee Daniels' critically acclaimed film, The Butler.
A wife and mother, DaCosta is a graduate of Brown University, where she studied Africana Studies. She can speak several languages conversationally -- English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish -- and also knows bits and pieces of Japanese and Swahili.
Whitney Houston is the only artist to chart seven consecutive number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and more than 200 million of her records have been sold worldwide. Houston also transitioned her career into film, where she starred in The Bodyguard, Waiting To Exhale, and The Preacher's Wife.
Houston was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton in February 2012. A coroner's report listed accidental drowning as the cause of death.
Oscar nominee Angela Bassett, who co-starred in Waiting To Exhale with Houston, will make her directorial debut on the biography project.
News of DaCosta's casting in the project was first reported by TVLine. Whitney is scheduled to premiere on Lifetime on January 17, 2015.
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