Yaya DaCosta Alafia is Whitney Houston in Angela Bassett's Biopic

When Angela Bassett decided to make her directorial debut on a biopic of her late friend and Waiting to Exhale co-star, Whitney Houston, it made perfect sense that someone close to the singer would do it. The only question was if she would find an actress talented enough to fill Houston's shoes and meet what are probably Bassett's lofty expectations. But the search didn't last all that long as model/actress Yaya DaCosta Alafia is Bassett's choice to play Houston.

Yaya, who got her start on America's Next Top Model before making the move to acting in 2005, will star in the Lifetime Original Movie currently titled Whitney Houston. Yaya has been building up her resume quite nicely over the years, appearing opposite Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right, while also securing roles in Tron: Legacy, Mother of George, and Lee Daniels' The Butler. She'll be seen next in Rob Reiner's And So It Goes starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton.

The film is penned by  Shem Bitterman and Larry Sanitsky (both of Lifetime's Betty & Coretta) and will cover Houston's tumultuous relationship with Bobby Brown and the early successes of her career. Houston met Brown in 1989 when she was 26 years old and at the beginnings of her amazing career, which was threatened by her volatile marriage three years later.

Still no word on who will play Brown in what promises to be an extremely showy role, like Laurence Fishburne in What's Love Got To Do With It showy. This could be a star-making turn for Yaya, one that earns her Emmy nominations and greater attention from Hollywood.