Naomi Ackie Channels Whitney Houston In Look-Alike ‘Liquid Metal’ Dress At Movie Premiere

Naomi Ackie — who plays Whitney Houston in the Kasi Lemmons-directed biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody — paid homage to the precocious popular star astatine the red-carpet premiere connected Tuesday, Dec. 13 successful a shimmering metallic dress. The 30-year-old British histrion channeled the six-time Grammy winner by donning a gown designed aft the “Queen of the Night” look (seen aft the 3rd paragraph) from 1992’s The Bodyguard, successful which Whitney wore a futuristic armor costume consisting of a fringe skirt and metallic bra top. Naomi’s stunning gown (seen below) featured hundreds of layers of metallic strands that draped horizontally crossed her full assemblage opening astatine her precocious torso.

Naomi Ackie wears a Daniel Roseberry-designed gown to the Dec. 2022 premiere of ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock)

The stunning formal was designed by the Maison Schiaparelli manner location and took 4,900 hours to make, according to the designer’s Instagram post. The gown was constructed of 21,950 Swarovski crystals and 212,500 metallic solid bugle beads. The bust was covered with metallic cups that featured 3-D flowers crawling up it. The angiosperm ornament seemingly bloomed retired of Naomi’s close enarthrosis and roseate to the apical of her ear.

Allowing the formal to shine, Naomi styled her hairsbreadth successful a abbreviated and sleek bob. She wore sparkling crystal stud earrings and metallic heels that featured a elemental strap crossed her toes that was covered successful shining gems.

Whitney Houston wore a metallic formal successful 1992’s ‘The Bodyguard’ (Photo: Ben Glass/Warner Bros/Regency/Canal +/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Naomi revealed she primitively had a “liquid metal” plan successful caput erstwhile she was successful the opening stages of readying for the premiere with her stylist, Nicky Yate. “I was talking to Nicky astir the thought of liquid metal, due to the fact that I was reasoning astir the ‘Queen of the Night’ look in The Bodyguard,” the histrion told Vogue in an nonfiction published connected Dec. 13. “It’s that equilibrium of femininity and a benignant of toughness too, particularly with the flowers crafted from metal. It conscionable felt precise womanly and sexy, but besides similar being protected—a benignant of armor.” Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry brought the thought to life.

Not lone was playing specified an iconic prima a peculiar acquisition for Naomi; she said wearing Schiaparelli was besides a dream. “My archetypal ever manner amusement successful Paris was the Schiaparelli couture amusement conscionable earlier lockdown, and I was truthful nervous, arsenic I’d ne'er been connected the beforehand enactment of thing before,” she recalled to the magazine. “I was truthful alert of the past of Schiaparelli, and erstwhile I got determination and the models began walking down the runway, I got truly affectional due to the fact that of the euphony and the clothes, and I started crying.”

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is meant to observe and grant the beingness of Whitney — who died successful 2012 astatine the property of 48 — and the bequest of her music. Naomi admitted doing truthful was “a large challenge,” but thinks she and the talented squad down the movie would marque Whitney arrogant with the finished piece. “It was truly hard to do, but I deliberation it does it the champion mode it can,” she told The Hollywood Reporter connected Dec. 14. ” To archer the information but to support somebody’s dignity and integrity is truly important.”

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