Alexandra Shipp will now play Aaliyah in Lifetime biopic

One actress left, but another is now on board to portray the life of Aaliyah, who was a chart-topping singer and budding actress when her life was cut short in a plane crash at age 22 in 2001. On Friday, talk show host Wendy Williams, who is one of the executive producers of a Lifetime original movie about the singer’s life, announced that actress Alexandra Shipp had been chosen to star as Alliyah.

“I’m excited to exec produce the Aaliyah @lifetimetv movie w/ @DebraMChase,” Williams wrote. “Prod starts later this month and @AlexShipppp will play Aaliyah.”

Shipp is best known for starring in the Nickelodeon series “House of Anubis.”

Shipp replaces actress Zendaya Coleman, who left the role in June following criticism of the project by members of the late singer’s family. The film, “Aaliyah: Princess of R&B” will be based on the biography “Aaliyah: More Than a Woman” by music journalist Christopher Farley.

Aaliyah had just filmed a music video for her single, “Rock the Boat” in the Bahamas, when a small plane she was riding in crashed, killing all nine people aboard.

Follow me on Twitter: @patrickkevinday