Whitney Houston’s Powerful Advice to Brandy During ‘Cinderella’ Still Resonates
Long before their on-screen magic in Cinderella, Brandy Norwood had already grown up admiring Whitney Houston as one of her greatest influences. And when they came together for the groundbreaking film, Houston stepped into a guiding role behind the scenes. She offered support and career advice to Norwood, and their relationship evolved into a genuine mentor–protégé bond. Norwood opened up about Houston’s influence in her forthcoming memoir, Phases. And she also discussed the powerful advice Houston once gave her while they were shooting Cinderella. Here’s what it was.
Whitney Houston handpicked Brandy Norwood to play Cinderella in the 1997 adaptation
The 1997 musical adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella will forever be remembered as one of Disney’s greatest works. The cast included the legendary Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother and Brandy Norwood as Cinderella. Whoopi Goldberg also played Queen Constantina, and Bernadette Peters played the Wicked Stepmother.
In February 2021, Norwood remembered how Houston chose her as the lead for the film.
“For her to consider me for the role, it just was unbelievable, because I spent my whole childhood wanting to sing, and nobody could have told me in a million years I would be working with her,” Norwood recalled to Entertainment Weekly. She added that Houston “adored” her and took her “under her wing.”
Norwood also spoke to Goldberg about their time filming together and remembered the kind words that Goldberg offered, as seen in a clip from The View.
“I just always remember you telling me to be kind and professional: ‘Get you some relationships. All these people can send you things when you’re doing your jobs,'” Norwood said with Goldberg laughing. “You were so supportive of me. I just had a great time with you.”
As for Houston and Norwood’s relationship, Norwood recalled the sage advice that the legend gave her at the time.
“[Houston] said, ‘Please promise me that you’ll always be yourself. Never change, not for anyone,’” Brandy remembered. “If I’m myself, then I won’t have any issues. And I took that, and I received that.”
Brandy Norwood opens up about her last conversation with the legend in her forthcoming memoir, ‘Phases’
Brandy Norwood discusses her relationship with Whitney Houston in her memoir, Phases, releasing in March 2026. According to Norwood, Houston arrived at a February 2012 rehearsal for Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala, where Norwood and Monica were rehearsing their hit, “The Boy Is Mine.”
“’I had to come see my babies! Y’all are gonna kill it,’ she said with genuine excitement,” Norwood wrote of Houston’s appearance, according to an excerpt from The Cut. “’Okay, now remember, you have three places to sing from,’ she said. And like the good students we were, Monica and I both said in unison with Whitney, ‘Heart, mind, guts.'”
Houston later returned with her daughter, Bobbi Kristina. Then, Houston handed Norwood a note. The two spoke on the phone that night for three hours.
“‘This is for you,’ Whitney whispered, her breath warm against my ear,” Norwood wrote. “She pressed something into my palm. A small, crumpled note written on hotel stationery. Then she planted a kiss on my cheek so tender it nearly fractured the wall I put up to shield my emotions from the cameras still trained on us.”
Norwood wrote that she knows the world longs to know what Houston wrote to her. However, she doesn’t want to reveal the secret.
“I know that people weave their own stories from my silence,” she revealed in her memoir. “But I hope you can understand — after giving so much of ourselves to the world, I want to keep some small piece of our bond untouched by the world. I’ve kept the paper folded away, a reminder that the bond we had was achingly, beautifully real. The instant I got home, I called her, uncertainty pulsing through me about which version of Whitney would answer — the nurturing maternal figure who had guided me through Cinderella or the unpredictable force I’d glimpsed today.”
