Naomi Ackie is not 'stimulated' by Hollywood
Naomi Ackie has revealed that she prefers London over Hollywood.
Naomi Ackie is not "particularly stimulated" by Hollywood.
The 35-year-old actress has starred in a host of big-budget Hollywood movies, including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Mickey 17 - but Naomi insists that she feels most at home in London, the city of her birth.
Speaking at the BFI London Film Festival, Naomi explained: "The London film scene feels like home."
The movie star explained that she feels "so comfortable" when she's running into old friends and acquaintances in the city.
Naomi added: "I feel, controversially maybe, [that] in America, it feels like Hollywood, and Hollywood is not a thing that I’m particularly stimulated by. It’s a machine, and I respect it, but it’s not necessarily the thing that makes me feel the most comfortable."
In 2022, Naomi portrayed music icon Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance with Somebody, the biographical musical drama film directed by Kasi Lemmons, and the actress now admits that it was one of the toughest roles of her career.
She said: "I’m a perfectionist, and this shit sent me crazy because you can never know a person.
"It was something about the pressure of people knowing Whitney, people loving Whitney, me playing her. Am I good enough? This is a mountain.
"I remember saying to my sister: ‘I feel like I’m a baby looking at the top of a mountain, and somehow I need to crawl up to the top.'"
Although the movie was poorly received by critics, Naomi now regards the project as one of the most instructive roles of her entire acting career.
The film star said: "It was probably the most difficult part, but I look back at the film now, and I’m like: ‘Good for you!’ That’s probably one of the favourite things I’ve ever done.
"The reviews weren’t the most incredible; the box office didn’t do great, but for me personally, it changed my approach to my craft. Because once you do something like that, I was like: ‘Give me anything!’ … Because I know I’ve probably done one of the hardest things I can in my life."
