After much anticipation, the Lifetime Whitney Houston biopic, Whitney , is here. There's been a lot of rumbling over this movie, as there are for most films fashioned over people's lives, but because this is a movie about Houston, it seems everyone has an opinion. Whitney follows Houston's rise to stardom and her tumultuous relationship with Bobby Brown. There will be many famous faces represented in the biopic, and one of those faces belongs to Eddie Murphy. But the star himself won't appear in the made-for-TV movie, so who is playing Eddie Murphy in Whitney ?
There have been rumors circulating for some time that Murphy and Houston dated, especially because they both grew to great fame around the same time. Nothing was confirmed at the time, but Houston and Murphy were clearly friends, at the very least. In 2012, Murphy put the rumors to rest when he told Extra that he and Whitney were friends, but never anything more. "I may have gone to dinner with her a few times, but it was never like we were dating — we were never boyfriend and girlfriend," Murphy said at the time of his relationship with with Houston, "We were very friendly acquaintances. She was a beautiful person." In a 2004 interview with Sister 2 Sister transcribed by Classic Whitney, Houston is quoted as saying she was "going with" Murphy when she first met Brown.
The man who will help portray this relationship on screen with Yaya DaCosta — who plays Houston — is named Reign Morton. Here is what you need to know about the actor.
He's An Ex-Soap Star
Morton has been acting for over 10 years, according to his IMDB. Although he started in small things — shorts, background — Morton wound up working on the soap opera General Hospital for 34 episodes (which isn't that long in the soap opera world). He's also been in movies like Forbidden Woman, and will be in the upcoming Reunion, along with working on one episode of Workaholics.
He Is A Veteran
It appears that Morton has served for the U.S. military, according to his Instagram account. There's no mention of when he served, but he used an old photo for a TBT and taking his recent success into consideration, it was most likely in the mid 2000s.
He Is In The CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase
According to a CBS press release, Morton was one of many "talent" who participated in the 2015 showcase that CBS has hosts, which gives actors access to "agents, managers, casting directors, producers and entertainment executives." From Morton's Instagram, it seems like it went well, so we might see him starring in some big roles if Hollywood big-wigs saw something they liked.
Image: Regin Morton/Instagram
