{blackbabes} Jordin Sparks' acting career gets bright start in 'Sparkle'

Celebrities are a lot like bottled water. Some are disappointingly flat, while others are sparkling.

Jordin Sparks is definitely of the bubbly variety, and her natural effervescence pours forth even on the phone.

Given her name and personality, it does seem like destiny that the youngest American Idol winner ever, now 22, would make her film debut in the title role of Sparkle, a remake of a much-loved 1976 tune-filled drama about sisters who form a singing group. It opens Aug. 17.

"It's funny," she says. "When I saw the script in my inbox and it said Sparkle, I thought, 'For real? It's really called Sparkle?' I was wondering, too, how does 'Jordin Sparks as Sparkle' sound?"

It sounded just fine to producer Debra Martin Chase, who has a keen eye for rising talent, whether it's Brandy in the 1997 TV special Cinderella or Anne Hathaway in 2001's The Princess Diaries.

"When someone brought up Jordin's name in a conversation about casting, it seemed perfect," Chase says. After director Salim Akil (Jumping the Broom) met with Sparks, "he said, 'She is Sparkle. She is the girl.' Everybody wanted to be in Sparkle. But it was always Jordin. She has natural instincts. She is the real deal."

In the six years since her Idol triumph, Sparks has hit more than a few high notes on the Billboard charts with such hits as No Air and Battlefield. But the high school drama club member who hails from Phoenix always had an interest in other types of performing and found the perfect outlet with a 2010 stint in the Broadway musical In the Heights. After that, she says, "I got bit by the acting bug."

Sparkle, however, presented a unique challenge. Sparks had no idea that the original movie, which boosted the careers of both Irene Cara (Fame) and Philip Michael Thomas (TV's Miami Vice) and was one of the inspirations for Dreamgirls, was cherished by so many.

"It's crazy," she says. "I didn't realize how much it was a cult classic. People kept coming up to me and asking, 'What songs are you doing?' and 'I hope you aren't going to change this or that.' "

A few updates were inevitable, including switching the time period and place to the late '60s in Detroit instead of the late '50s in Harlem.

But the soul of the story remains the same, as family obligations clash with showbiz aspirations. While Sparkle harbors ambitions to be a songwriter and performer, she dims her own light so her sultry and less stable older sibling Sister can shine onstage.

"I actually did relate to Sparkle in a lot of ways," Sparks says. "When I was on Idol and 17, everything was so new. Everyone is so nice and wants to see you succeed." But, just as Sparkle discovers, "I learned that is not always the truth. I connected with her determination and not letting anyone tell her not to do it."

However, there is one important difference: "My mom and family have been behind me 100% from the beginning. She had to convince her mom."

That the disapproving matriarch is played by Whitney Houston, who died in February at age 48 just months after the movie wrapped, made her first experience on a movie set extra special. "I had to tell myself to keep it together," Sparks says. "To hear her sing under her breath just a few feet away from me was so surreal." But she soon felt comfortable around the superstar, who she describes as "very nurturing and mothering,"

"She was just one of us. Down to earth. She would do her scenes and come back laughing and singing with us." Most poignant was watching the scene when Houston shakes the holy rafters with an impassioned gospel hymn: "There wasn't a dry eye in church."

Sparks, once a plus-size model, has been quite the magazine cover girl of late after losing 50 pounds and getting serious about exercise. "When I was on Broadway, I got really sick with walking pneumonia. I decided not to take my health for granted anymore and make it a priority. The great thing is, the pounds just started to fall off."

Her love life is in pretty good shape these days, too. She and singer Jason Derulo exchanged sweet tweets last week to mark their first anniversary of dating. Sparks giggles when his name is mentioned. "It's tripping me out, it's been so long. When we first met, we didn't think of each other like this. Then all of a sudden, it changed. He is the best thing."

She isn't wasting any time with the acting side of her career, either. Sparks is working on her second film, The InevitableDefeat of Mister and Pete, directed by George Tillman Jr. Castmates include fellow Idol alum Jennifer Hudson. "It has nothing to do with music," she says. "It's an indie drama and a smaller part. But, as they say, there are no small parts in show business."

Meet Sparkle's sisters

USA TODAY's Susan Wloszczyna introduces the two actresses who make beautiful music with their movie sibling Jordin Sparks in Sparkle, opening Aug. 17.

Carmen Ejogo, 38

Sparkle role: Sister, the lead singer and oldest sister who smolders with ambition and oozes sex onstage.
How she relates to her character: "Sister is very complicated. On the surface, she is all bravado and has this sheen of utter control. But underneath, there is neediness and insecurity. The challenge was to make her someone to root for even if she feels pathetic at the end."
How you know her: London-born Ejogo, who is married to actor Jeffrey Wright, earned acclaim for her TV roles as Sally Hemmings (2000's Sally Hemmings: An American Scandal) and Coretta Scott King (2001's Boycott).
Musical background: Made her professional debut in a music video at age 8; wrote and sang the song Candles with DJ Alex Reece in 1996.

Tika Sumpter, 32

Sparkle role: Delores, the practical and socially aware middle sister who only performs backup vocals to pay for medical school.
How she relates to her character: "I have six siblings, and I'm in the middle, but I feel like the adult anyway. Delores is more the older sister than Sister is. She is the protector and is all about making money and making things happen. She loves her sisters to death and wants them to go for their goals no matter what."
How you know her: The Queens, N.Y., native has had recurring roles on TV's One Life to Live, Gossip Girl and The Game.
Musical background: She co-founded the hip-hop duo Twise with rapper Marcella "Precise" Brailsford.