Rihanna would love to play Whitney Houston in biopic

Image: Universal Studios

When the inevitable biopic about Whitney Houston goes into production, singer Rihanna will likely be at the casting call.

In a recent interview, Rihanna expressed her long time respect for Houston, and said she would “love” to take on the role of her idol in a movie, according to Us Weekly.

“[Playing Whitney] would be something that I would have to give my entire life to do, because I would really want to pull it off,” Rihanna said. “That’s a huge, huge role and whoever does it has to do a good job.”

There’s no doubt she would give it her all, as Rihanna credits Houston with being “partly responsible” for her being in the music industry.

“My first song that I remember falling in love with was a Whitney Houston song, ‘I Will Always Love You,’” Rihanna said. “It was really inspiring and it made me develop a passion for music.”

Houston was found dead in a hotel room before the Grammy awards on February 11, at the age of 48. Los Angeles Coroner officials ruled her death an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use contributing factors. A number of other drugs including Xanax and Flexeril were found in her system at the time of her death.

While Rihanna’s singing voice has appeared on numerous soundtracks, despite a brief cameo in the 2006 film “Bring it On: All or Nothing” the world hasn’t taken a good look at her acting chops yet. That will change this May, when RiRi co-stars in the movie “Battleship” based on the classic Hasbro game.

Houston will posthumously return to the big screen for the first time since 1996 in this summer’s release of “Sparkle,” a remake of the 1976 film of the same name. The film also stars Jordin Sparks in her feature film debut.