Meet YaYa DaCosta - Whitney Houston Lifetime Movie's Leading Lady!

YaYa DaCosta is getting noticed for her portrayal of Whitney Houston in Lifetime’s upcoming biopic Whitney, which airs tonight!

The 32-year-old actress first burst onto the scene as a model contestant of Tyra Banks‘ hit show America’s Top Model in cycle 3, where she placed second.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of YaYa DaCosta

After the show, YaYa started honing in on her acting skills and starred in movies Take the Lead, The Messenger, The Kids Are All Right, Tron: Legacy, and The Butler.

Last year, Angela Bassett took a chance and cast her in Whitney.

“I know a lot of people say, ‘I’m Whitney Houston‘s biggest fan’ but I just loved her; I thought about playing her casually years ago. It’s amazing this opportunity came about. I basically didn’t sleep [in preparation], I just did my research. I spent hours and hours on YouTube watching old performances and interviews. I also watched videos of her family members, the people that raised her, her preacher in church, things that would inform who we saw, and also who we didn’t see,” YaYa recently shared to VH1.