Posted by | Cyrena Rose
The Wrap is reporting that Chattrisse Dolabaille and Izaak Smith are set to play Missy Elliott and Timbaland in the biopic of Aaliyah’s life.
Both artists, known as Aaliyah’s musical mentors, worked closely with the singer on her 1996 album One in a Million (which sold 3.7 million copies in the United States and more than eight million copies worldwide) as well as her self-titled release in 2001, the same year Aaliyah died in a plane crash at the age of 22.
Dolabaille is a newcomer to Hollywood. She’s a Canadian actress, singer and dancer.
Izaak Smith, on the other hand, was a contender on “So You Think You Can Dance Canada.” He has appeared in “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” and “Mirror Mirror” as a dancer. He also played Cal Rice on popular Canadian series, “Tower Prep,” and Danny on digital series “Totally Amp’d.”
In addition to Dolabaille and Smith, the production has cast Rachael Crawford and Sterling Jarvis as Aaliyah’s parents Diane and Michael Haughton; Lyriq Bent as her uncle and president of her label, Barry Hankerson; Anthony Grant as Damon Dash; and A.J. Saudin and Jesse Sukunda will play the older and younger version of Aaliyah’s brother Rashad, respectively.
The project is aiming to “honor the legacy” of the hit singer. Filming will resume for the duration of the summer in hopes for a fall release date. Alexandra Shipp will portray Aaliyah in the movie. The working title(s) for the television movie are Aaliyah: Princess of R&B or Aaliyah: More Than a Woman and is based on the bestselling book “Aaliyah: More Than a Woman” by former Time music editor Christopher Farley.
Photo Credits | Chattrisse Dolabaille/YouTube, Isaak Smith/ IMDB, Missy Elliot & Timbaland/TheBreakfastClub