Denzel Washington on working with Whitney Houston

At one of the peaks of his career, after films like “Malcolm ‘bishop”. Directed by the late Penny Marshall, the remake was called “The Preacher’s Wife” and centered on a struggling Baptist pastor, played by Courtney B. Vance, and an angel who comes to help him, but who ultimately becomes more focused on the pastor’s wife. . Marshall gave this role to another megawatt talent of the era, Whitney Houston. Discussing his career with Chaz Ebert at the American Black Film Festival in Miami, according to People, Denzel Washington recalled the concern he had for Houston while filming the film.

“I felt like I always wanted to protect her,” he said. Ebert recognized how present this was in the film. She said: “You saw a vulnerability. »

Surprised that this was reflected in his performance, Washington asked Ebert, “So, you really get it?”

Ebert confirmed his view, for which Washington took credit in a mocking tone, as if it were intentional. As a joke, he replied, “Well, of course.”

Putting jokes aside, Washington said of Houston: “I always felt like I wanted to protect her. You know? She wanted to be so tough, but she really wasn’t. That’s all.”

Houston died in 2012 after many years of substance abuse problems and at her funeral, Kevin Costner delivered a moving eulogy. He had starred with her in “The Bodyguard” and they developed a close relationship during production, but Costner, while promoting his upcoming film “Horizon: An American Saga,” recently admitted, also according to People, that he was a little surprised to be given this responsibility.

“Whitney was certainly worth talking about, but it’s not my first instinct to go over there, to rush to the mic,” Costner said. “But I got a call from Dionne Warwick (Houston’s cousin) and I could tell in her voice that she was broken. I told him yes even though I had told him no all week. I could hear in her voice how tired she was, how many decisions she probably had to make, who would speak, who wouldn’t. She said, “Kevin, can I ask you?” and I (just) said, ‘Yes.’