Rihanna told The Press Association, ”That would be something that I would have to give my entire life to do because I would want to really pull it off. That’s a huge, huge role and whoever does it has to do a good job.” Hmm, even if Ri Ri were to give her entire life, I still believe she wouldn’t be able to pull that off. Oh and just in case Rihanna giving her entire life wasn’t enough for her to be able to play Whitney, she also states, “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, so really she’s partly responsible for me being here in this industry.”

You can’t just get a role like Whitney Houston just because she inspired you. Here’s a short list of actresses that could be options for the ultimate role of Whitney Houston.

1. Paula Patton

Not only is Paula Patton gorgeous, but her acting chops are strong. She could carry the complexity of Whitney with grace.

2. Kimberly Elise

We know Kimberly’s got what it takes to bring the drama, but still keep he character likable enough to root for.

3. Elise Neal

Elise doesn’t get enough credit, but she’s a definite force to be reckoned with as an actress. She deserves a moment to shine.

4. Sanaa Lathan

If you’ve never seen Sanaa perform on stage, you’d know that her acting skills are beyond.

Who would you want to see play Whitney Houston if there’s a biopic made of her life?

Whitney Houston’s “Sparkle” Trailer Debut On “Today” Show [VIDEO]

Rihanna Shuts Down Reporter: “How Disappointing Was That Question” [VIDEO]

Sanaa Lathan

This is  Sanaa’s second TV role in addition to her character on The Cleveland Show.

SOURCE

Sanaa Lathan Is The New Face Of Pantene! [PHOTO]

Sanaa Doesn’t Just Want Roles Written For Blacks

Sanaa Lathan

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About her new gig, Sanaa said:

“Throughout my life, Pantene has been one of the few hair care brands that effectively address the specific needs of my hair texture. My hair is prone to dryness and my career does not help the situation! All of the styling and heat on set leaves my hair dull, lifeless and damaged. I need a shampoo and conditioner that nourishes my hair and I want to use more natural products. That is why I love Nature Fusion Moisture Balance shampoo and conditioner. It is great that, as a black woman, I can look to a brand like Pantene to provide my hair with the nourishment it needs.”

Add this to her list of projects including “The Clcveland Show” on television and “Meet Vera Sparks” off-Broadway.

See her first ad below:

Ciara, Sanaa & Gabby Go Glam For Charity: Who Looked Best? [PHOTO]

Confirmed! “The Best Man” Is Getting A Sequel

Sanaa Lathan Scores Role On Original HBO Comedy Series

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Dressing up for a good cause, the ladies each rocked beautiful frocks: Gabby an ivory, belted knee-length number, Sanaa a lime green wrap mini with draping, and Ciara a sheer-and-leather pale purple skirt-and-shirt combo.

Who looked best?

Did L.A. Reid Sign Ciara?

Is Gabrielle Union Cheating On Dwyane Wade?

Confirmed! “The Best Man” Is Getting A Sequel

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Deadline is reporting:

“Universal has set Malcolm D. Lee to write, direct and produce Best Man 2, a sequel to the 1999 film. Lee wrote and directed the original, a comedy in which a writer (Taye Diggs) is preparing to be the best man for his football player buddy (Morris Chestnut), but the timing is bad because the writer’s autobiographical novel is about to pop and it describes how the best man bedded the bride.

Terrence Howard, Harold Perrineau, Nia Long and Sanaa Lathan also starred. The original grossed $35 million. Lee’s plan is to ask the original cast to reprise; in fact, I’m told the whole idea came out of a reunion dinner he held with most of the cast members, and they sparked to the idea of a re-team and so did the studio.”

We can’t wait! Who stayed together? Who broke up? Who had kids? Who cheated?

So what has the cast been up to? Click the links below!

Taye Diggs Admits “My Mother Always Knew I’d Marry A White Girl!” [VIDEO]

A Very Pregnant Nia Long & Her Boyfriend Take A Stroll [PHOTOS]

Sanaa Lathan Scores Role On Original HBO Comedy Series

Terrence Howard’s Third Wife Michelle Ghent Files For Divorce

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HelloBeautiful readers can receive a 40% discount off the regular price of tickets to the show.

The show is scheduled to run April 6 – May 22, 2011.

SECOND STAGE THEATRE
305 West 43rd Street
New York, New York 10036

Here are the details:

See BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK and save when you use code: MPVS

Tickets: $42.50* (regular price $75)

Three easy ways to purchase tickets:

Online: Visit and purchase online HERE!

By Phone: Call 212.246.4422

In Person: Mention the code at 2econd StageTheatre Box Office

305 West 43rd Street at 8th Avenue

The plays stars:

STEPHANIE J. BLOCK (Gloria Mitchell) recently starred on Broadway in 9 to 5: The Musical as Judy Bernly, for which she earned a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Prior to to 9 to 5, Stephanie starred as Elphaba in the Broadway company of Wicked and recorded her debut solo album, This Place I Know. Other Broadway credits include originating the roles of Grace O’Malley in The Pirate Queen and Liza Minnelli in The Boy from Oz (opposite Hugh Jackman). She also starred in the first national touring company of Wicked as Elphaba for which she won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress and the Carbonell Award for Best Actress in a Musical.  Some of her regional credits include Funny Girl, Crazy For You (L.A. Ovation Award Nomination), Oliver (Critics Award-Best Actress), James Joyce’s The Dead, Triumph Of Love, The Grass Harp, South Pacific, Will Rogers Follies, They’re Playing Our Song opposite Jason Alexander, and the World Premiere of Wicked.

DANIEL BREAKER (Leroy Barksdale/ Herb Forrester) most recently appeared on Broadway as Donkey in Shrek the Musical. His other Broadway credits include Passing Strange (Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, Theatre World Award, AUDELCO Award), Cymbeline (LCT) and Well. Off-Broadway he starred in Passing Strange (Public), Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation (Playwrights Horizons), Pericles (Red Bull, Culture Project). Regionally Breaker has appeared in Life Is a Dream (South Coast Rep), The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Theatre Company; Helen Hayes nomination), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (SCR), The Tempest (STC; Helen Hayes nomination), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (STC), The Rivals (STC), The Silent Woman (STC), HMS Pinafore (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Black Sheep (Barrington), Sundance Theater Lab, 2005. Breaker’s film and television credits include Passing Strange directed by Spike Lee and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

DAVID GARRISON (Slasvick/Brad)  Broadway:  A Day in Hollywood/A Nicht in the Ukraine (Tony Nomination), Wicked (Carbonell Award), Titanic, Torch Song Trilogy, The Pirates of Penzance, Bells Are Ringing.  Off-Broadway:  Middletown, New Jerusalem, I Do!  IDo! (Drama Desk nomination), The Torch Bearers, Geniuses, It’s Only a Play.  Television:  “The West Wing,” “Law and Order,” “The Practice,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “NYPD Blue,” “Murphy Brown,” “Murder She Wrote,” “LA Law,” Steve Rhoades on “Married With Children.”  David’s voice is currently playing on Broadway as the radio announcer in That Championship Season.

KIMBERLY HÉBERT GREGORY (Lottie/ Carmen Levy-Green) recently starred in The Brother/Sister Plays at The Public Theatre.  Gregory’s other theatre credits include the first national tour of The Lion King, Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery at Chicago Theatre Company (Joseph Jefferson Nomination), Amen Corner at the Goodman Theatre, Nickel and Dimed at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Waiting to be Invited at the Victory Gardens Theater, and Julius Caesar at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Antony and Cleopatra and Gee’s Bend at Hartford Stage, Tough Titty at The Magic Theatre, and a one-woman piece entitled Evangeline Elsewhere at the 1st National NY Irish Theatre Festival. Gregory’s television and film credits include I Think I Love My Wife, “Gossip Girl,” “New Amsterdam” and “The Black Donnellys.”

KEVIN ISOLA (Maximillian Von Oster/ Brian Blaze) recently appeared in the Transport Group’s production of The Boys in the Band. His other New York theatre credits include Brooklyn Boy (MTC, Broadway), Trust (Play Company), The World Over, The Water Children (both for Playwrights Horizons), Twelfth Night and Venus, WASP and Other Plays (NYSF/Public Theatre), Everett Beekin (Lincoln Center) and The New Bozena (Cherry Lane). Regionally he has appeared in Twelfth Night (McCarter), The Glass Menagerie (Old Globe), King Lear (STNJ), The Rainmaker (Center Stage) and Venus (Yale Repertory).  Isola’s film and television credits include Frank the Rat, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Uninvited, 24 Nights, The New Yorker, “Fringe,” “Damages,” “Boston Legal,” “Law and Order,” “All My Children.”

SANAA LATHAN (Vera Stark) recently starred as Maggie the Cat in the West End revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Her previous theatre credits include: Beneatha Younger in A Raisin In The Sun with Sean Combs (Tony® Award Nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress); Isabella in Measure For Measure opposite Billy Crudup at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park; Emily Webb in Our Town at South Coast Repertory; Por’knockers at The Vineyard Theater; A Movie Star Has To Star In Black and White at the Public Theater; and Viola in Twelfth Night at Yale Repertory Theater. Her film credits include the upcoming Steven Soderbergh film Contagion, opposite Matt Damon and Kate Winslet, opening in October, Wonderful World opposite Matthew Broderick, The Family That Preys with Tyler Perry, Something New (NAACP Image Award Nomination), Alien vs. Predator, Out Of Time opposite Denzel Washington, Brown Sugar (NAACP Image Award Nomination), Love and Basketball (BET Award, NAACP Image Award), and The Best Man (NAACP Image Award Nomination). Her television credits include: “The Cleveland Show,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Nip/Tuck” (NAACP Image Award Nomination), and HBO’s Disappearing Acts.

KAREN OLIVO (Anna Mae/ Afua Assata Ejobo), the 2009 Tony Award winner for her portrayal of Anita in West Side Story, also created the role of Vanessa in the Tony Award-winning musical production of In the Heights both on and off Broadway.  She also starred in the televised documentary “In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams.” Her other Broadway credits include Rent and Brooklyn. On television Olivo has been seen in recurring roles on “The Good Wife,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Conviction” as well as in “A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House.” Her film credits include  Adrift in Manhattan, Sibling, The New Twenty and Two Lovers.

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Take a look at beautiful ladies, Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall, Monica Calhoun and Melissa DeSousa, and the gorgeous men, Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, Terrence Howard and Harold Perrineau. Also there, the man who made it all happen: director Malcolm D. Lee.

About the reunion, Lee said,

On Saturday, January 29th, the cast and the director of the 1999 film, The Best Man, which opened at #1 in the box-office, got together in West Hollywood for drinks and dinner to reminisce, catch up and discuss the future. It’s hard to believe we all haven’t been in the same space for over 12 years, but it was like we’ve seen each other everyday. It was a joy to reunite with the “Black Pack”, one of the best casts ever assembled in my view. Judging from the laughs, conversation and smiles we’d all love to find a way to collaborate again. God willing it’ll happen.

Can we get a sequel?

And if you’re wondering what they’ve all been up to:

Nia Long Is Dorothy Dandridge For Ebony Mag [PHOTOS]

Sanaa Lathan Scores Role On Original HBO Comedy Series

Actress Regina Hall Goes Nude For Allure Magazine

Taye Diggs Defends Slim Thug’s Racist Comments About Black Women

Wendy Drools While Interviewing Morris Chestnut

Terrence Howard Has Another Secret Wedding

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Sanaa Doesn’t Just Want Roles Written For Blacks

Sanaa wore a cute bright pink dress to the event and looked fab. Check it out:

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Sanaa Lathan is returning to television this fall. She will be joining the cast of “Tilda,” an HBO original comedy pilot written and directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls). The project stars Diane Keaton as a powerful and much-feared Hollywood blogger with a no-holds-barred personality. She meets her match in Sanaa’s character, Sasha Litt, a mysterious new head of operations that RMG head Andrew Brown (Jason Patric) brings in to work at the studio.

Sanaa recently wrapped up her theatre stint in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and can presently be heard voicing the character of Maggie on the FOX comedy “The Cleveland Show.”

GALLERY: Sanaa Lathan “Acts Out” In PRIDE Magazine

Sanaa Doesn’t Just Want Roles Written For Blacks

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Actress Sanaa Lathan talks to SoulCulture.TV about her family’s history in entertainment, being very critical of her own work and distinguishing between herself and the characters she plays.

“I am my instrument, you can’t just leave yourself behind. There’s a little of me in every character…. and yet… well-written characters have their own spirit about them.”

SoulCulture also discuss her fun, cartoon role in “The Cleveland Show” – and the issue of under-representation of black culture, as well as being typecast for specifically “black” roles.

“The truth is… I just want more opportunity. You don’t want the role that’s always written for a black woman because it just limits your choices; and that’s just the world that we live in today. I think it’s slowly changing…”

She names her recent theatre stretch in London’s West End – playing Maggie The Cat in a “historic” all-black casting of Tennessee Williams‘ classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof – as some of her proudest work to date, enjoying the in-the-moment immediate audience response of theatre compared to the detachment of film work.

“I just wanna keep on being challenged… be scared a little, push myself out of my comfort zone; I think that’s how you grow… It’s not always the most comfortable thing to do, but that’s always been my philosophy.”

GALLERY: Sanaa Lathan “Acts Out” In PRIDE Magazine

Sanaa Lathan Shacking Up With Music Executive

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Sanaa Lathan Shacking Up With Music Executive

GALLERY: Essence Celebrates Hollywood’s Black Women

Sade, in Pride Magazine, Addresses Critics Who Say She Can’t Sing

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Jamie Foxx’s new movie Law Abiding Citizen premiered last night in Los Angeles! Eva Marcelle, Sanaa Lathan, Regina King and more celebs showed up for the event! Check out the photos below!

Is Jamie Foxx dating Kirstie Alley???

Jamie is upset about leaked nude photos!

Kelly Rowland, Sanaa Lathan, Nicole Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross all came out for the L.A. premiere of the September Issue! Check out the fab photos of these women looking oh so glam!!

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Take a peek at Kelly Rowland get giggly in St. Tropez!

Is Sanaa shacking up with a music exec??

We always wanted to know who Sanaa Lathan was dating? The gossip sites had her breaking up Denzel’s marriage, being a member of the secretive down low Hollywood lesbian party circuit and shacking up with Regina Hall.  According to bossip.com, they’ve learned that Sanaa is dating music executive Steve Rifind and the two are supposedly living together.

Check out the actress below:

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Are Tyrese and Sanaa Lathan dating?

The ladies hit up In Style’s summer soiree in Hollywood and we must say they looked amazing!!

Take a look:

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Here’s what they’re saying:

So this past weekend while I was in L.A. for the BET awards I ran into none other then Mr. Transformer himself Tyrese Gibson walking hand and hand with Ms. Sanaa Lathan at quite a few events. They tried to duck the media and paparazzi but it obviously didnt work because everyone was talking about this hot new couple this past weekend. These two were spotted sneaking into Diddy’s BET party at club My House to the famous eatery Katsuya! And Ms. Lathan did not seem shy displaying her affection because she could not get enough of her new beau her hands were all over him! It’s obvious that these two have been dating for a while because they seemed VERY much in tune with one another to be in a “NEW” relationship. I am guessing that they had to try and keep it hush hush due to Tyrese’s recent high profile divorce, but these two didn’t let anything stand in their way this weekend!!

Get it girl!!!

Take a look at our Tyrese gallery below:

Sanaa Lathan may not always be a target on the paparazzi radar, but she always seems to sparkle wherever she’s spotted.  And you may or may not know this random fact, but she can also wear the hell out of a red dress (see gallery below).

The actress recently hit up an event and restaurant in this cute red/coral dress with multi-stranded pearls, silver clutch and shoes, and Kim Kardashian in tow. They both look cute! But this post is about Sanaa.

What do you think of her outfit and accessories?

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Yesterday, beautiful black celebrity women stepped out for the second annual Essence Black Women In Hollywood Luncheon. While some celebs like Halle glammed it out proper and some like Laila Ali opted to dress down in jeans, others chose the middle ground by wearing little tea dresses like the one you see on Sanaa Lathan, above.

I’m feeling some kind of way about this dress. Maybe it’s the bow? Or maybe I just don’t think it flatters her figure too well. I can’t decide. What do you think?