Fresh off the set of the up and coming movie Sparkle, Barbadian make up artist Marietta Carter-Narcisse fondly remembers the long days and nights she spent with Whitney Houston.
“I was so nervous, not even star struck per se but just nervous because I was doing 1960?s makeup with like Whitney Houston,” said Carter-Narcisse.
The Davie, Florida resident said Houston quickly put her at ease and was anything but a diva on the set in Detroit in November.
“She greeted me with open arms the first day I met her,” said Carter-Narcisse. “She hugged and kissed me like I had known her for years. I was shocked at how humble she was and how an old-school professional she was,” she added.
Houston played a starring role in the movie which was slated for release this August. She was also the film’s executive producer. Despite being away from the movie industry for more than a decade, Carter-Narcisse said Houston never missed a beat.
“You don’t expect to see that calibre when there’s been such a huge break . . . that calibre performance, and I’m telling you it was mind boggling. She sang in the church in one of the scenes,” said Carter-Narcisse. “Oh there was not a dry eye left in that church when we were finished filming.”
Carter-Narcisse said she was mostly charmed by Houston’s love for her family.
“She was just a mum like me, talking about our kids and the importance of how we raise them and spend quality time with them,” she said.
Carter-Narcisse said she was impressed by Houston’s stamina and focus on the set. The movie is a remake of the 1976 movie about a trio of singers.
It was difficult for Carter-Narcisse to keep a dry eye after hearing of Houston’s death.
“She wasn’t ready to go. God might have been ready for her but I don’t think she was ready,” said Carter-Narcisse. “Knowing the person from a distance is one thing but when you actually touch them and work with them . . . and so many hours of the day . . . it’s just a whole different feeling. It feels like a part of you is gone too.”
Carter-Narcisse added that when she heard Houston had been found dead in a bath tub with prescription drugs in the room she could not believe it.
“Maybe she was just trying to relax because there were huge pressure nights. I mean, it doesn’t make sense. Drugs in the sense of, you know, recreational drugs or anything like that. I don’t see that . . . not from the person that I met and saw.”
Carter-Narcisse, is the granddaughter of Barbados’ oldest living resident James Sisnett who will be 112 on February 22. He is her mother’s father. Carter-Narcisse left Barbados for New York with her family in 1971.
Her winding road to Hollywood didn’t begin with the intention to end up there. However, it seemed that Fate had been preparing her for that path.
“My brother lived in Los Angeles so I moved to LA and I met Natalie Cole through my brother, Ian, who was working with the Commodores,” Marietta said. “I met her at the airport but I didn’t recognise her and I kept looking at her thinking her face looks real familiar. Then my brother, Ian, introduced me.
“Inside I was so star-struck, but I was trying to stay calm. So I said ‘Nice meeting you’ but inside I was going ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ As we were walking out the airport together, I said, ‘You know, Miss Cole, if you ever need anybody to do your hair, your make-up or wardrobe, you can call me.
“I had no cards, no paper, nothing. She gave me a little piece of paper to write my number on and I never thought she would find it in the big bag she had. Then she said ‘As a matter of fact, I’m getting ready to put my tour together so I probably will need someone.”
Three days later Miss Cole called and Marietta’s career as a make-up artist took off. From that initial job came a barrage of offers for work with different celebrities and on different movie projects.
“I met Patti LaBelle through Natalie, Dihann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg and more. Never did I dream that I would be Whoopi’s personal make-up artist for two-and-a-half years,” an astounded Marietta said.
She worked on movies such as Malcolm X, Boyz n’ the Hood, Eve’s Bayou, Beverly Hills Cop 3, and a host of others and also with celebs such as Denzel Washington, Michelle Pfeiffer, Samuel L. Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett and Cindy Crawford.