She plays Whitney, the superstar actor and vocalist who was nicknamed “The Voice” by Clive Davis. Whitney was a New Jersey native who rose to fame in the mid-1980s with the release of her self-titled debut album. She would continue to dominate the music industry as she dropped more highly successful music collections over the years. Her fame grew even further with her onscreen performance and music from the 1992 film The Bodyguard, which still has the bestselling movie soundtrack ever, per Smooth Radio. In her personal life, Whitney married singer-songwriter Bobby Brown in 1992. The two went on to have one daughter together, Bobbi Kristina Brown, before separating in 2006 and officially ending their tumultuous marriage in 2007. Whitney, who had a drug addiction for years while in the public eye, sadly died in 2012 at the age of 48. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office determined her cause of death to be an accidental drowning, with cocaine use and heart disease also being contributing factors, per the Washington Post. He plays legendary music executive Clive Davis, who signed Whitney to his record label Arista Records in the early ’80s. Clive and Whitney would remain close colleagues over the years as he continued to guide the singer in her career. She portrays Cissy, Whitney’s mother. Cissy is an accomplished singer herself who previously did backup vocals for artists like Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin. In Whitney’s early years onstage, Cissy helped coach her on how to perform. She plays Robyn, a longtime good friend of Whitney’s. In recent years, Robyn has stated that their relationship was intimate for a time but this ended when Whitney signed with Arista Records. They stayed close while Robyn worked as Whitney’s assistant for years. However, two decades after the pair first encountered each other as teens, Robyn exited this role. She and Whitney then lost contact with one another. He plays John, Whitney’s father. John was a talent manager who sometimes contributed to certain areas of Whitney’s professional life, such as business negotiations. His company later sued Whitney for $100 million, alleging she owed it money for legal and business services it had fulfilled. John died in 2003 at the age of 82. In Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Ashton portrays Bobby Brown. Bobby and Whitney met at the Soul Train Music Awards in 1989, after which they began their roller-coaster romance. They were together as husband and wife for 14 years prior to separating in 2006. She plays Bobbi Kristina, Whitney’s daughter whom the performer shared with Bobby Brown. Bobbi Kristina was seen on Being Bobby Brown, her family’s mid-2000s reality show, and later The Houstons: On Our Own. She had planned to carry out a singing career after Whitney’s death. Bobbi Kristina had also begun a relationship with Nick Gordon, a family friend who had been taken in by the Houstons at the age of 12. It was made public that they were engaged in March 2012. Tragically, Bobbi Kristina died in 2015 at the age of 22. This occurred after news outlets had reported that Nick and a friend had found her unconscious in her bathtub and she subsequently endured a months-long coma. Nick was later found legally responsible for Bobbi Kristina’s death. He died in 2020.
