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Denzel Washington<\/a>\u00a0is opening up about\u00a0<\/span>Whitney Houston<\/a>. During an appearance at the\u00a0American Black Film Festival on June 15, the actor discussed his\u00a0<\/span>The Preacher’s Wife\u00a0<\/span><\/em>co-star.<\/span><\/p>\n “I felt like I always wanted to protect her,” Washington said of Houston, according to <\/span>People<\/em><\/a>. “I always felt like I wanted to protect her. You know? She wanted to be so tough, but she really wasn’t. That’s all. OK.”<\/span><\/p>\n Washington and Houston starred alongside one another in the 1996 remake of\u00a0<\/span>The Bishop’s Wife<\/span><\/em>. The Penny Marshall-directed film, which also stars <\/span>Courtney B. Vance<\/a>, Jenifer Lewis and Lionel Richie, tells the story of an angel (Washington) who comes to help a struggling reverend (Vance) and his wife (Houston) save their church and family.<\/span><\/p>\n Washington isn’t the only one of Houston’s\u00a0<\/span>The Preacher’s Wife<\/span><\/em>\u00a0co-stars to speak about the late actress, who died in 2012 at age 48. Last year, Vance told\u00a0<\/span>People<\/em><\/a>, “I loved her so much. For me to be playing her husband, I was in a state of euphoric shock. It was a turning point in my life and Whitney was a huge, huge part of that.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Bishop’s Wife\u00a0<\/span><\/em>was one of many iconic movies in which Houston acted. The late singer also starred in the 1992 flick\u00a0<\/span>The Bodyguard\u00a0<\/span><\/em>alongside <\/span>Kevin Costner<\/a>. During <\/span>a recent appearance on\u00a0The Armchair Expert\u00a0<\/em>podcast<\/a>, the <\/span>Yellowstone\u00a0<\/span><\/em>actor recalled picking Houston for the role of a famous singer with a stalker who falls in love with her bodyguard (Costner).<\/span><\/p>\n “I had promised Whitney that she’d be good in it,” Costner said. “…We had this movie that worked and that was my promise to her. She’s always gonna love me in the song and I was always gonna keep my promise to her.”<\/span><\/p>\n