Alexandra Shipp To Play Aaliyah In Lifetime Movie

Lifetime’s Aaliyah biopic has a new leading lady.

Alexandra Shipp has been cast as the late R&B singer, according to the film’s executive producer Wendy Williams. The talk show host confirmed the news Friday via Twitter.

“I'm excited to exec produce the Aaliyah @lifetimetv movie w/ @DebraMChase,” she wrote. "Prod starts later this month and @AlexShipppp will play Aaliyah.”

In the first pictures of Shipp as Aaliyah, the actress is seen in midriff-baring tops and belly chains, which were the star’s signature looks.

Shipp is best known for her role on Nickelodeon’s “House of Anubis,” and has also appeared on MTV’s “Awkward” and Showtime’s “Ray Donovan.”

The TV star hinted at the scoring the role last week, tweeting: “It's like God keeps making life better, I swear. thank you universe!!! #amazingnewstocome.”

She is taking over the role from Zendaya Coleman, who dropped out of the project in June, only two weeks after she had been cast. Upon receiving backlash for scoring the role, the 17-year-old Disney star initially defended her involvement in the film.
"She's been an inspiration and influence in my whole career, her talent still shines brighter (than) ever,” she tweeted last month. “All I wanna do is honor her.”

But Coleman left the movie not long afterwards. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, she explained that “after actually starting the project, I feel like there were certain things that were missing and things that weren’t 100 percent taken care of.”

“I feel like if I’m going to portray one of my idols ... it has to be done right,” she added. “It just wasn’t a good choice for me.”

Aaliyah’s family also has issues with the film, telling the Daily News last month that they felt that the singer deserved a more high profile vehicle.

“We want a major studio release along the lines of ‘What's Love Got to Do with It,’ the Tina Turner movie,” said Jomo Hankerson, who was Aaliyah’s cousin and president of her label, Blackground Records. “This needs A-list actors, A-list talent that can breathe life into what we think is a phenomenal story.”

Now that the film’s lead role has been cast, production is set to resume this summer. “Aaliyah: Princess of R&B” is scheduled to premiere this fall on Lifetime.

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