From Doctor Who to Whitney Houston: A look inside Naomi Ackie’s career as she’s up for a BAFTA

Breakout star Naomi Ackie has been nominated for a BAFTA award and this year’s show for her portrayal of Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Naomi has been in the acting game for a while but it was her role in the biopic that truly put her on the map. Besides playing popstar icon Whitney Houston, Naomi has an incredibly successful career. Here’s everything you need to know Naomi Ackie, who has just been nominated for a BAFTA at the 2023 awards.

Naomi is 31 and is from London

via BBC

Naomi Ackie is 31 years old and is from Walthamstow in London. Her passion for acting began after she starred in her school’s nativity as the angel Gabriel. Naomi went on to study at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and graduated in 2014. Just a year after graduating, Naomi made her TV debut in an episode of Doctor Who.

She starred as Whitney Houston in the singer’s biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Naomi’s most recent project is something everyone keeps talking about. Naomi portrayed American singer Whitney Houston in the biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody. She has been nominated for the Rising Star award as a result for her role in the movie. Talking about Whitney Houston’s song catalogue, Naomi said she stills gets “shivers” from Whitney’s song Home.

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In a Q&A with Elle, Naomi said: “I was not actually aware of that song until I read the script, or at least aware of her performance of that song. She was 19 at the time. And my goodness, I still get shivers. I had such a rich amount of performances to pick from. Even at that age, she was able to capture this magic in her voice.”

Naomi said playing Whitney Houston was ‘extremely humbling’

Naomi has spoken loads about her time working on the biopic and said it was “an extremely humbling year” of her life. Whilst preparing for her role, Naomi admitted she struggled to learn Houston’s mannerisms ahead of the movie.

Naomi said: “The biggest thing I realised was that I had to scrub away my perception of her, which is really hard because I’ve put Whitney, and people like Whitney, on a pedestal for so long that when I got the part, it was like, ‘how do I live up to that person?'”

If you can cast your mind far back enough, Naomi was Bonnie in The End of the F***ing World

via Channel 4

Naomi starred in the second season of the Channel 4 series The End of the F***ing World as Bonnie. Bonnie was nothing other than iconic but Naomi did disappoint fans when she admitted a third season of the series would be unlikely.

She previously won a BAFTA in 2020

In 2020, Naomi won the BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the The End of the F***ing World. In her acceptance speech, Naomi thanked those she worked with her her family. She said: “My dad, I love my dad and he has been so supportive. And my mum, up in the clouds, would be so proud, and my sister. Oh man! I am really happy. This makes lockdown so much better.”

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Featured image credit via BBC.