Matthew López says Whitney Houston’s character in The Bodyguard remake will be played by a Latina

Matthew López is changing the industry. The Puerto Rican writer made history at the 74th Tony Awards on Sunday when he became the first Latino playwright to win the award for Best Play for The Inheritance. Adding to his successful resume, he has been hired to write the remake of the popular 1992 film The Bodyguard. Originally starring Whitney Houston as “Rachel Marron” and Kevin Costner as “Frank Farmer” Lopez proudly revealed that his remake will instead be about a young Latina. “It was important to me to use this opportunity to get Latin faces up on that screen and to get their stories told in a big way,” he told Variety.

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In the original film, Rachel is an Academy Award-nominated actress and singer who‘s being sent death threats by a stalker. Costner’s character, Frank is hired to protect her and her family after a bomb explodes in her dressing room. Speaking to Variety, Lopez explained, “Instead of focusing on an established star like the one Whitney Houston played, this is about a young Latina performer who has just become famous.” “It‘s about how her life has changed because she is an overnight sensation. In the 21st century, that means she’s in immediate need of protection,” he added.”

During his acceptance speech at the Tony Awards ceremony he expressed the need for change. “This is the 74th Tony Awards and yet I am only the first Latiné writer to win in this category. I say that ... to highlight the fact that the Latiné community is underrepresented in American theater, in New York theater, and most especially on Broadway,” López said. “We constitute 19 percent of the United States population, and we represent about 2 percent of the playwrights having plays on Broadway in the last decade. This must change.”