(Corrects typo in film title in headline and paragraph 2)
* "American Idol" winner makes feature film debut on Friday
* Movie marks Whitney Houston's final appearance on film
* Sparks says Houston offered advice, companionship on set
LOS ANGELES, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Five years after becoming
the youngest female to win "American Idol," Jordin Sparks
restarts her career in a new movie role that the 22-year-old
sees as remarkably close to her own life singing her way to
fame.
Just like her real-life parents, Sparks' onscreen mother
Whitney Houston cheered and coached her, off camera, as she
rebounded from career changes and transitioned from music to the
movie "Sparkle," which hits theaters on Friday.
Houston, in the last screen role before her accidental death
in February, plays a tough mother who is set on sabotaging her
daughter's dream in her last, feisty role before her accidental
death in February.
"'Sparkle'" came at a moment where I was actually pretty
unsure with what was happening in my career," Sparks told
Reuters.
The singer released two albums after winning "Idol" and was
nominated for a Grammy for her collaboration with Chris Brown on
the 2009 pop song "No Air". A year later she tried her hand on
Broadway like many past "Idol" alums, in the Tony Award-winning
show "In the Heights".
It all seemed to be going well, until things fell apart.
"My label was going through a transition and people were let
go. Then I parted ways with my management and then I had some
things personally going on," Sparks said, but did not elaborate.
"It just felt like everything was starting to not work out
all at once. I was like, 'This is it? Five years and that's it?"
But along came the offer to play the sister named Sparkle
whose stellar voice leads her to fame. Sparks said she saw
parallels between her own ambition and that of the strong-willed
singer who wanted more than anything to perform and wasn't going
to let anyone stand in her way.
The major difference, Sparks said, is that unlike Houston's
role in the film, Sparks own parents have been "100 percent
supportive of me from the beginning."
"I knew that music was what I wanted to do. I knew that I
was going to be a singer. I just didn't know when, but I was
going to do what it took to get there," Sparks said.
Sparks portrays one of thee sisters - the other two are
played by Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter - who form a girl group
during the 1960s over the protestations of their mother only to
find that fame can tear their family apart.
The rise to music stardom is a climb that Houston, a huge
pop star of the 1980s and 1990s with hits like "How Will I
Know", knew all too well, and by the time she made her acting
debut, in 1992's "The Bodyguard", she was a huge star.
Houston drowned in a hotel bathtub last February at age 48.
MOVIE MOTHER AND MENTOR
Houston provided Sparks a shoulder on which to lean and a
voice of experience when making the film.
"The biggest thing I took from Whitney was you're never too
big to sit down with somebody. You're never too big to say
'hello' or to smile at someone," Sparks said.
"She would sit and talk like we had known each other for
years. For that example to come from a superstar, somebody I
idolized, was just amazing."
Playing a character like Sparkle, who is young and naive at
the film's beginning before blossoming into a young woman by the
end, is a journey that resonates with Sparks who said she, too,
feels like she is at the same stage - a new beginning.
"I feel like I'm blossoming into a woman and coming in to my
own," she said.
On August 1, Sparks and her boyfriend, singer Jason Derulo,
22, celebrated their one year anniversary together.
Sparks said during the filming of "Sparkle" turned more
serious after both suffered setbacks. Derulo narrowly escaped
paralysis when he broke his neck while rehearsing an acrobatic
move while training for a tour. A few weeks later, Houston died
and Sparks lost a new friend.
"Both of us realized how much we really cared for each
other," she said. "Your priorities get in line when stuff like
that happens. The feelings grew really, really deep."
Sparks, once known for wearing a purity ring to symbolize
her dedication to avoid losing her virginity before marriage,
blushed when told it was noticeably absent from her finger.
"Well, I wear lots of rings, but hey," she said laughing.
"The conversation of marriage and family is something that
doesn't scare us," Sparks said of their relationship. "We have
those conversations."
But don't look for a wedding any time soon. Sparks is back
in the studio recording her third album, which she says will
have a more R&B sound, thanks to the influence of "Sparkle". And
she is now shooting her second film, "The Inevitable Defeat of
Mister and Pete", with Anthony Mackie and "Idol"
contestant-turned-Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson.
"I didn't think I would get another super-mega career
turning point," Sparks said of the way her life has transformed
since "Sparkle."
"I figured personally, marriage in a few years, then kids.
But as far as career goes, I have no idea what's coming. I'm
just buckling up!"
(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and
Richard Chang)