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First-time director Bassett recalls 'Whitney' By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it Not only did Angela Bassett know Whitney Houston, she knows what it's like to play a music icon. Those two factors work in the "American Horror Story" co-star's favor as she makes her directing debut with the Lifetime movie "Whitney" Saturday, Jan. 17. The teleplay focuses largely on the passionate, some - times stormy relationship the late Houston (played by Yaya DaCosta, of "The Kids Are All Right," with singing vocals by Bassett friend Deborah Cox) had with fellow hus - band-to-be Bobby Brown (Arlen Escarpeta, "Ameri- can Dreams"), framed by Houston's career trajec- tory as a star of records and movies. One of those films, 1995's "Waiting to Ex- hale," acquainted Bassett with co-worker Houston. "I had such regard for her and such respect, love and adoration, from the first time I met her," Bassett says. "I always thought that if I ever got to direct, that's the way I should feel about the story. It takes staying up all night and never tiring. I thought, 'Oh, this is go - ing to age me, this entire process,' but it gave me more energy and enthu- siasm than I could have imagined." Bassett's husband, Courtney B. Vance, act- ed opposite Houston in 1996's "The Preacher's Wife." Bassett embodied a music legend herself in her Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Tina Turner in the 1993 film "What's Love Got to Do With It." That gave her a feel for working with DaCosta to capture Houston's es- sence: "I couldn't have done it without her, ab- solutely not. She was the first choice, that vision I had in my mind." Houston's family and Brown did not assist with the production of "Whitney" — quite the opposite, in the cases of some relatives who have denounced the project — but Bassett was touched that Vance considered her "the perfect person" to be the TV movie's di- rector, as were "a lot of people who were (Hous- ton's) friends and ac- quaintances," she says. "That went a long way toward being the wind beneath my wings and giving me confidence." Given the performance sequences, the elaborate wedding scene and the more intimate moments "Whitney" spans, Bassett had her work cut out for her. She said she had "no idea whatsoever" the movie would be her first calling-the-shots venture before executive produc- er Larry Sanitsky, a friend for whom she starred in 2013's "Betty & Coretta," told her he was planning a Houston film. "I suppose two years later (after Houston's 2012 death), it wasn't as offensive to me," Bassett reflects, adding that she already believed such a film "was a foregone con- clusion. I thought, 'This woman meant so much to the world — and, in particular, to the African American community — maybe a black director would have more sensi- tivity to her."' Bassett suggested oth- ers including Ava DuVer- nay ("Selma") for the job, though she admits she had "a wistful longing" that she could do it. Now that she has, she says of Houston, "I worked with her, I love her and as a 'celebrity,' I think have a little bit of insight. I don't have the popularity she had, of course, but I get some love." Page 2 January 12 - 18, 2015 Title star Yaya DaCosta (left) is guided by debuting director Angela Bassett in the new movie "Whitney" Saturday on Lifetime.

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