FILM · 1995 · USA
Waiting to Exhale
24 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (24)
- #001
Angela Bassett's monologue in the scene where the car is set on fire was entirely improvised.
- #002
In an interview with Ebony Magazine, Forest Whitaker stated that Robin Givens and Halle Berry were among the women who auditioned for the role of Robin. After casting Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston, he decided to cast relatively unknown actresses for the other two roles, and the role of Robin then went to Lela Rochon. Rochon, Berry and Givens had previously appeared in Boomerang (1992) and shared love scenes with its star, Eddie Murphy.
- #003
According to David Roberts, Whitney Houston's longtime bodyguard, Houston experienced a cocaine overdose during the making of the film.
- #004
Angela Bassett would later make her directorial debut with the Lifetime original biopic Whitney (2015) about Whitney Houston.
- #005
Halle Berry was the first choice for Robin, but the producers felt that the star quality of Angela, Whitney and Halle would draw attention away from the main story.
- #006
Director Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett would work together again 23 years later on Black Panther (2018).
- #007
According to Lela Rochon, the filming of the love scene between her and Wendell Pierce took two days.
- #008
Director Forest Whitaker was the unanimous first choice of the film's producers and screenwriters.
- #009
According to Whitney Houston, the four actresses formed a close bond before filming. To get to know each other better, they spent time together until 6 a.m., talking, sharing meals and drinking champagne.
- #010
Forest Whitaker had previously directed the HBO drama film Strapped (1993), for which he won the Best New Director award at the Toronto Film Festival. Waiting to Exhale (1995) marked his first directing experience with a film released in theaters.
- #011
Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine would later appear together in Jumping the Broom (2011).
- #012
A year later, Whitney Houston would continue working with Courtney B. Vance, Angela Bassett's husband, on The Preacher's Wife (1996). The film also starred Denzel Washington, with whom Bassett had worked on Malcolm X (1992).
- #013
Whitney Houston and Michael Beach would reunite in Sparkle (2012), which would be Houston's last film.
- #014
Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine and Gregory Hines would work together again on The Preacher's Wife (1996).
- #015
When Whitney received the film's script, she immediately connected with her character. She was intimately familiar with this type of portrayal of a Black woman and understood the profound effect relationships can have on both women and men. Moreover, she recognized how important it was at that time for four Black women to appear in the same film.
- #016
In Otherhood (2019), Angela Bassett again played a woman, Carol Walker, who destroys her husband's personal belongings after discovering his infidelity.
- #017
According to Whitney Houston, the scene in which her character Savannah talks to her mother on a cell phone at work was shot two days after her real-life mother, Cissy Houston, was inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame.
- #018
Brandy, who sang Sitting Up In My Room for this film, worked with Whitney Houston on Cinderella (1997).
- #019
In a 2023 interview with Cocoa Butter, Kenya Moore revealed that she auditioned for the role of Robin but lost it to Lela Rochon. She later appeared briefly in the film as Denise.
- #020
Loretta Devine and Michael Beach were set to reunite in First Sunday (2008).
- #021
Jeffrey D. Sams, Michael Beach and Brandon Hammond went on to appear together in Soul Food (1997), in which Hammond played the nephew of Beach's character and the son of Sams's character.
- #022
Following Strange Days (1995), this was one of two films released in 1995 starring Angela Bassett that end on New Year's Day.
- #023
This was Jazz Raycole's debut.
- #024
According to Theo Mizuhara, he auditioned for the role of the On Air D.J. and was cast in it personally by Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds. He learned he had won the role after returning from a holiday, and when he told his friends, they said they were not happy for him because they were DJs and voice actors who had also auditioned and already knew he had won the part.
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