The Big Piciure

Having helped orchestrate Whitney Houston's acclaimed performance in The Bodyguard (1992), Nicole David, a senior vice president at the William Morris Agency, is something of a pioneer in her field. She represents Houston as well as the likes of Garth Brooks and Lauryn Hill, who has been pursued for everything from a Bob Marley biopic to the remake of A Star Is Born with Will Smith to the big-screen version of Charlie's Angels.

"It's all in the way the deal is put together," says David, speaking from her script-flooded LA. office. "In Whitney's case, she had Kevin Costner coming off an Oscar. She had passed on many movies before that-- we couldn't just stick her in anything. Singers should not choose a role that's going to hurt their core audience," David cautions. "In the case of Lauryn Hill, who's an intelligent, healthy voice for young people, it wouldn't be a good idea if in her first [post-Grammy] movie she was shooting heroin."

As for which artist is responsible for sounding Hollywood's wake-up call for music-industiy talent-- aside from Diana Ross and Cher, with their groundbreaking achievements in Lady Sings the Blues and Silkwood, respectively-- David says, "The amount of money The Bodyguard made had a strong impact on [movie] executives. When you have the right singer in the right part, you have an instant audience. Whitney's a star who brought a soundtrack with her." David naturally agrees with a remark that Houston made during her recent sold-out Madison Square Garden concert: "Honey, singers can act, but actors can't sing." The seasoned agent laughs and says, "A great singer has to be able to act. She's talking to you from her soul. She's not just talking."