Toni Braxton chronicles her tumultuous life in Lifetime biopic 'Unbreak My Heart' January 23

But Lifetime puts viewers through the paces of Braxton's past 25 years in a pithy two-hour biopic "Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart" debuting Saturday evening January 23. It's based on Braxton's 2014 autiobiography of the same name.

"Lifetime wanted to do the movie," Braxton said in a recent interview. "I didn't shop it. I didn't do anything. I was really flattered my story was compelling enough for them to want to know more about me. It's a little scary, too, although it's all in the book."

An unknown actress Lex Scott Davis carries the load as Braxton, who comes across as sweet and naive in her early days working with then Atlanta-based LaFace Records. "You don't sell sex," La Face co-founder L.A. Reid tells her in the film. "You sell pain."

Indeed, many of her hit songs play off pain: "Another Sad Love Song." "Breathe Again." "Unbreak My Heart."

"I love Lex," Braxton said. "She has my mannerisms down. She stands like me. She moves her hands like me. She lip syncs like me. She's great!"

Despite Braxton's massive success as a music artist with millions of albums sold and critical acclaim, she harbored guilt about taking front and center over her singing sisters. And her ensuing bankruptcy and litigation over her recording contract humiliated her.

She also suffered for years from autoimmune disease lupus and was gobsmacked when she was diagnosed. It's a chronic illness with no cure.

"There are tough days," Braxton said. "Today's a good day. When I was diagnosed, I knew nothing about it. And a doctor told me at the time I wouldn't be able to perform again, that I had to take it easy. The movie details that health scare. I'll be taking meds for the rest of my life."

One positive effect of the lupus: it makes her appreciate life more and forced her to scale back her workaholic tendencies. "I wasn't really living," she said. "I enjoy life a lot more than I have."

In 2010, when her sisters asked her to join them for a reality show that would become WE-TV's breakout hit "Braxton Family Values," she relented. They needed her star power to get it green lit.

Ultimately, 48-year-old Toni takes a backseat on the reality program to her four more drama-driven sisters. And as a result of the show's popularity, her baby sister Tamar Braxton has become an R&B star in her own right as well as a host on syndicated talk show "The Real."

"I was the oldest and always felt responsible for my sisters and my family," Braxton said. "This provided them a platform so they could spread their own wings and grow. They all have so much talent and this enables the world to see that. I'm proud of all my sisters."

She said her sisters are far more comfortable than she is airing out their lives in real time on social media. "I'm only 10 years older than Tamar," Braxton said. "But I feel like we're from completely different generations. I was taught that you explain yourself in your music," she said. (Toni has 1.1 million followers on Instagram with 603 posts. Tamar? 2.2 million followers with 1,784 posts.)

Braxton said she can now look at all the turmoil in her life, which also included an abortion and a divorce, with clearer eyes.  "I'm happier now," she said. "I have so much to be happy for. I don't feel guilty about anything now. I can really enjoy my life and relish it."

The film was shot in Vancouver. She said she wanted itto be shot in Atlanta but Canada offered a better deal at the time. "I wasn't born in Atlanta," said the Baltimore native, "but in many ways, it's still my hometown." (Braxton moved to Los Angeles a few years ago.)

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

TV PREVIEW

"Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart," 8 p.m., Saturday, Lifetime