One in a million girls would give anything to play the iconic role of the late R&B singer Aaliyah and Alexandra Shipp was more than ready to grab the spotlight after Zendaya Coleman dropped out of Lifetimes biopic, Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B, airing at 8 p.m. Saturday.
What people dont know is that I had 10 days between completing [the movie] Drumline 2 and getting into the character of Aaliyah, says Shipp, 23, who took over the role when Coleman, the former Disney Channel star (Shake It Up), suddenly exited the movie after backlash from fans who said she wasnt black enough for the role. (Coleman cited concerns about the production as her reasons for bowing out.)
Aaliyah, born Aaliyah Dana Haughton, was only 22 when she was killed, along with eight others, in a 2001 plane crash in The Bahamas after filming a music video there.
Im not worried what people will say, Shipp said. I am more excited than fearful about the premiere. Drumline 2 was a good introduction for people to see my work. So, this time around, people will get to see who I am not only when it comes to acting but the singing and dancing as well.
The movie opens with Aaliyah performing on the TV show Star Search at the age of 10, and goes on to chronicle her life and career, which included several huge albums and hit singles including Back & Forth.
My favorite song to perform was The One I Gave My Heart To and Gotta Give it Up, Shipp says. Those songs just had a great beat and a groove to them and it was so sweet yet street just like Aaliyah.
Shipp with Anthony Grant in the Aaliyah biopic.Photo: Christos Kalohoridis
It hasnt all been smooth sailing, though. Aaliyahs cousin, Jomo Hankerson, president of Blackground Records (which released all of her music), has been highly critical of The Princess of R&B, saying that the family was not consulted on the movie and that it should have been a theatrical release and not a TV movie.
And Aaliyahs brother, Rashad, recently took to Twitter to voice his opinion on Shipps recent acting skills.
Alexandra Shipp cant act and this new Drumline movie already makes me not want to watch her in the Aaliyah movie, he tweeted.
I didnt hear about him tweeting but I guess we will have to see what he says after the movie airs Shipp says. It sounds like he is going to watch!
One thing that we will all be watching for are the love scenes between Aaliyah and hitmaker/ex-husband R. Kelly the marriage was quickly annulled because Aaliyah was 15 Kelly was 27.
There are also scenes with her producer and boyfriend Damon Dash.
Well, you have to remember that this is a Lifetime movie. So it will be clean and respectful [and] there are no heavy s*x scenes, Shipp says. It is more of a courtship and how they both treated a young woman with whom they were in love and had a relationship.
Source: http://nypost.com/2014/11/14/shipp-charts-course-for-lifetimes-aaliyah-biopic/
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