Cox says Whitney’s role is ‘in good hands’
NEW YORK (AP): here’s one important person to thank for Deborah Cox stepping into Whitney Houston’s shoes for the national tour of ‘The Bodyguard’ – Whitney Houston herself.
Cox and Houston were labelmates and friends; the late pop star mentored Cox, telling her to put family first.
“I take pleasure in the fact that I did know her. I did have a relationship with her,” Cox says. “There was a sisterhood that we shared.”
Cox and Houston recorded the duet Same Script, Different Cast in 2000. After the song was done, the two chatted about Cox starting a family.
“That really helped to bring me to where I am today, where I have a family, I have a career, I have a wonderful husband, I have a team support system – and it’s because of that advice,” she said.
TCox said she’s honouring Houston’s memory with the musical based on The Bodyguard, the Oscarnominated 1992 romantic thriller about a diva who falls for a former Secret Service agent.
Houston died in 2012. The stage version features songs from the movie, such as I Have Nothing, Run to You and I Will Always Love You.
Singing those songs is both a responsibility and a pressure for Cox.
“I know what the expectations are. I know what people want to hear. But also as an actor, as an artiste, as a singer, as a performer, I want to be able to deliver as well,” she says. “I want people to know that, for me, this role is in good hands.”
The tour kicked off at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse this month. It will make stops in more than 20 US cities.