Christina Milian Felt ‘So Honored’ To Be ‘Trusted’ To Take Over Naya Rivera’s ‘Step Up’ Role (Exclusive)

Step Up play 3 premieres connected October 16, and Christina Milian is taking implicit the relation of Collette Jones. The relation was originated by the precocious Naya Rivera. Christina spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife astir playing the quality aft Naya.

Christina Milian arsenic Collette Jones. (STARZ)

“Stepping into the relation of Collette Jones was challenging. It was fun. I felt truthful honored that they trusted maine to play this character, but besides knowing the situation. This quality has existed for 2 seasons, has a precise beardown storyline, and there’s truthful galore layers to this woman. With truthful overmuch respect to Naya Rivera and her acting, like, I really was a large fan. As an histrion and arsenic a mother, to me, I felt truthful connected adjacent to that situation, it was a large prime for maine to really adjacent instrumentality connected the role,” Christina told HollywoodLife.

She continued, “When I yet did marque that choice, I deliberation it was a communal benignant of content betwixt myself, STARZ, the aforesaid happening with Holly [Sorensen], that, hey, you tin bash this, you tin fig it out. We tin fig this retired consecutively. We tin archer this communicative successful a classy way. You tin bash this, and you tin go your ain mentation of Collette. It took maine immoderate time. I did bash immoderate praying. I adjacent cried, I’ll admit it. I had immoderate days that I did outcry astir it. It has thing to bash with anybody connected set. It was conscionable like, what it is. I deliberation aft overmuch supplication and conscionable talking to myself and trusting what this was I said, ‘Okay, spot the process. You merit this, and now’s your clip for the fans of Step Up, for the fans of Naya Rivera, for the fans of Collette Jones to proceed this bequest and archer this communicative successful a mode that is your own.”

Naya passed away successful July 2020 pursuing a tragic boating accident. The histrion drowned astatine Lake Piru successful California portion swimming with her son, Josey. She was 33 years old. At the time, accumulation was astir to get underway for the 3rd season, but it was enactment connected clasp aft her death.

Naya Rivera played the relation of Collette successful the archetypal 2 seasons. (Broadimage/Shutterstock)

Christina noted that seeing Ne-Yo connected acceptable allowed her to get into her “comfort zone. It made maine consciousness precise blessed to spot his look and besides beryllium acting with him successful a mode that some of america had ne'er acted before. It made it truly special.”

Christina and Ne-Yo, who plays Sage Odom successful the series, person known each different for years. “This is the archetypal clip we’ve worked unneurotic successful a melodramatic mounting that was meant to beryllium melodramatic versus 1 that would up dramatic,” Ne-Yo quipped. “I’ve known the powerhouse that is Christina Milian for a small portion now.”

Sage and Collette person a affluent past together, and Ne-Yo teased that the brace volition look their just stock of ups and downs successful play 3. “I deliberation you truly get to spot the grit of the some of them successful the 3rd season,” Ne-Yo said. “They look challenges bigger than immoderate they’ve faced successful immoderate different erstwhile seasons successful the 3rd season. You truly get to spot what they’re made of arsenic radical arsenic opposed to conscionable 2 radical that are benignant of tolerating yet falling successful emotion with each other, being successful emotion with each other. Everything’s each bully erstwhile it’s each good, and that’s each relationship. It’s casual to speech astir however overmuch you emotion the idiosyncratic erstwhile things are going good. It’s erstwhile things commencement going atrocious that you truly spot what that narration is made of, what those radical are made of. And I deliberation that this play you get to spot that from some of them. You get to spot what they’re genuinely made of.”

Ne-Yo and Christina Milian successful ‘Step Up.’ (STARZ)

As for Sage, who’s recovered himself successful occupation a fig of times, Ne-Yo revealed, “Without giving excessively overmuch away, I volition accidental that the challenges that Sage Odom has faced they’re not over, but it sets the signifier for maturation and improvement for Sage arsenic a idiosyncratic due to the fact that that’s needed and necessary.” Step Up play 3 volition airs Sundays connected STARZ.