titular role, Houston recommend singer Brandy, a close friend, in her first major film appearance. Brandy had been starring on the sitcom Moesha at the time but was still relatively new to television audiences, despite her success as a recording artist. Houston believed that Brandy possessed the energy and "wonder" to play Cinderella convincingly, admitting that their fictional relationship as godmother and goddaughter translates "well on-screen because it starts from real life"; when Houston telephoned Brandy to offer her the role, she introduced herself as her fairy godmother. Brandy, who identified "Cinderella" as her favorite fairy tale, was the first person of color to portray the character on screen, with both Brandy and Houston becoming the first African-American actresses to play their respective roles in any screen adaptation of the fairy tale, although an all-Black modern-day re-telling of "Cinderella" entitled Cindy had premiered in 1978. Brandy likened being hand-selected for Cinderella by a performer she idolizes to a real-life fairy tale, accepting the role because she already had successful singing and acting careers, in addition to relating to the main character in several ways. The fact that Cinderella is traditionally depicted as white did not discourage Brandy from pursuing the role. Having grown up watching Caucasian actresses portray Cinderella, Houston felt that 1997 was "a good time" to cast a woman of color as the titular character, claiming the choice to use a multi-cultural cast "was a joint decision" among the producers, who agreed that every "generation [should] have their own 'Cinderella'." Executive producer Debra Martin Chase explained that, despite enjoying Warren's performance as Cinderella, she and Houston "realized we never saw a person of color playing Cinderella", explaining, "To have a black Cinderella ... is just something. I know it was important for Whitney to leave this legacy for her daughter." Chase hoped that the film mirroring an evolving society "will touch every child and the child in every adult", encouraging "children of all colors [to] dream." One Disney executive would have preferred to have a white Cinderella and black Fairy Godmother and suggested singer-songwriter Jewel for the titular role. The producers refused, insisting that "The whole point of this whole thing was to have a black Cinderella." Zadan maintains that Brandy was the only actress they had considered for the role, elaborating, "it's important to mention because it shows that even at that moment there was still resistance