Alexandra Shipp Reveals Why She Took On 'Scary' Aaliyah Role
Alexandra Shipp has admitted that taking on the role of Aaliyah Haughton in the late singer's upcoming Lifetime movie was scary.
"Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B," starring Alexandra Shipp, will make its two-hour premiere on Lifetime Networks Saturday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m. EST. The television movie, executive produced by Howard Braunstein, Debra Martin Chase and Wendy Williams, is based on the best selling book Aaliyah: More Than a Woman.
"It was scary, but I knew that I had to do it," Shipp told Kevin Frazier of "Entertainment Tonight." "I don't know, something in me was like you have to do this, you're going to love this experience more than anything."
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Talk show host Williams recently appeared on "The View," where she insisted that the movie was not made to offend anyone, despite the late singer's family publicly saying they were against it being made.
"We do it tastefully. The family is not happy that the movie is being done but we did it so tastefully. I think the family would be proud," Williams insisted. "We're not throwing anybody under the bus, but we are telling a story that, I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to know."
After Aaliyah's family publicly spoke out against the small screen film, actress Zendaya Coleman backed out of starring in it. Her replacement, Shipp, 23, is an actress and singer who starred in Nickelodeon's show "House of Anubis" along with other programs such as "Victorious," "Switched At Birth" and "Awkward." While she is gearing up to star in Nick Cannon's "Drumline 2: A New Beat," it seems the entertainer has spent little time on social media since news broke that she would star in the film.
Shipp was forced to face the anger of fans of the late singer who believe she is not honoring Aaliyah's memory. Last summer, Shipp took to Twitter to ask God for help in the situation.
"God, blind me to negativity," she tweeted previously. "Give me strength to overcome the obstacles ahead and do what you put me on this planet to do: illuminate."
