Yaya DaCosta has some big shoes to fill.
According to TVLine, the former "America's Next Top Model" contestant will play the late Whitney Houston in a new Lifetime television movie currently titled "Whitney Houston".
The 31-year-old model and actress will act out several events in Houston's life, including her success in the music industry and her unstable relationship with ex-husband Bobby Brown, whom she married in 1992, but divorced in 2007.
"[The film] chronicles the headline-making relationship between the iconic singer, actress, producer and model and singer-songwriter Bobby Brown - from the time they first met at the very height of their celebrity, to their courtship and tumultuous marriage," according to a press release. "Throughout it all, difficulties followed the superstar couple while they dealt with the overwhelming rewards and consequences of the fame and fortune created by Whitney's meteoric rise that would soon overshadow them both."
In 2012, Houston was found dead at the age of 48 from an "accidental drowning."
Since making her debut on "America's Next Top Model" Cycle three, DaCosta has had feature roles on shows including "Ugly Betty," "House," and "All My Children," and films like "The Kids Are All Right," "In Time," and most recently Lee Daniels' "The Butler."
Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett, who co-starred with Houston in the 1995 drama "Waiting to Exhale," will make her directorial debut with the film. Shem Bitterman will serve as screenwriter and Larry Sanitsky as producer.
TMZ reported that Houston's family isn't happy about the Lifetime movie, and believe that the late singer deserves more than just a television movie. Pat Houston, Whitney's sister-in-law, told the gossip site that "Whitney is certainly worthy of more than a television movie. If Whitney were here today, this would not be happening."
"Whitney Houston" is scheduled to be released in 2015.
