Movies I Wanna Dance With Somebody's Naomi Ackie on the Whitney Houston wigs she stole from the set "That wig is coming home with me," Ackie said of her favorite legendary lacefront. "I'm taking it, I'm putting it in my bag. I live in London, you can't tell me nothing." By Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson's Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once. EW's editorial guidelines Published on December 22, 2022 09:00AM EST Behind every great diva is a great wig. And perhaps there's no better diva with better wigs than Whitney Houston. The legendary singer gets the musical biopic treatment courtesy of two-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten (The Two Popes, The Theory of Everything) and director Kasi Lemmons (Eve's Bayou, Harriet) with Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Stepping into Whitney's iconic shoes — and even more iconic wigs — is British actress Naomi Ackie, who was so besotted with said wigs she took one or two (or five) home. At least that's the number Ackie quoted when EW first spoke to her about becoming Houston. Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston in 'Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody'. Emily Aragones/Sony In addition to the luscious locks from Houston's 1990 performance of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" at Radio City Music Hall, seen here, Ackie had her eyes on one particular wig, come hell or high water. "There was a gorgeous kind of brown afro-y one when Whitney gets her own place," Ackie tells EW in the video above. "I kept on telling Brian Brady, who cut the hair, I was like, 'Brian, that wig is mine.' He was like, 'Let me see, because they might need it for something.' And I was like, "I don't care what they need it for. That wig is coming home with me! I'm taking it, I'm putting it in my bag. I live in London, you can't tell me nothing.'" Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody opens Friday in theaters. Related content: Becoming Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance With Somebody Naomi Ackie recreates Whitney Houston's biggest moments in I Wanna Dance With Somebody trailer Star Wars actress Naomi Ackie cast as Whitney Houston in biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody