And for people to react that way I was like, “Oh my God, this is about to be amazing!”
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I was like, “Oh my God, please stop …” But that was so important because it was such a huge part of her, her walk. I remember Clint Ramos busting out laughing at how well I was doing it.
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The walk! We did a screen test, and that was the first thing I got to do, the walk. Was there a moment when you started to feel like you were really nailing it? But how, as an actor, can I do it differently and be who she was in her time? I’m an artist of this time that’s paid tribute to her heavily. I wanted to live in the moment as she did. I wanted to discover how women existed during that time as opposed to how we exist today. What it was like being a celebrity, artist and a mother. Patti LaBelle was someone I called to help me understand what was it like being a Black woman during that time. That’s home to me as well, so they couldn’t help but be genuine, authentic and treasured. In those moments I was like, “This goes beyond Jennifer the singer and actress,” even in the church scenes. Coming off of being someone who’s had a lot of life trials myself, I think she knew I could relate in that way. There were a lot of times while filming where I was like, “Wow, she really knew what she was talking about!” She was speaking from experience and saw things in me that may have been similar that I didn’t even realize were there until we were filming. īy immersing yourself in the character, did you find more of her within yourself? I hope it’ll do the same for everyone else that sees. So if you go within yourself and look, what is your treasure? That helped me to own my voice and who I am that much more. It wasn’t until she owned and found her treasure, her voice within her, that we got our Queen of Soul. And to me that’s the premise of the story. It’s her legacy and her sound, which is why it was also important not to imitate what she did but to pay homage to it. I think it was important to her that who she was giving understood and respected that. What did she mean by her “Queen of Soul” comment? You just point me in the right direction.” But other than that, other than saying “I want you to play me,” not really. No, but she would tell me, “OK now, I’m the Queen of Soul,” and I’d say, “Yes, ma’am. I used to tell the cast members, “If I don’t make you feel like that, if I don’t make you feel uncomfortable, then I’m not doing my job.” I wanted to create that presence.īefore she died, did Franklin give you any marching orders or explicit direction? If you were around her, it was like, “What do you do? How do you be? How do you exist? How does she feel about me?” It wasn’t a bad feeling, but you knew you were in the presence of royalty. Putting it all together helped me to channel her - or at least try.īy knowing her, what did you learn that you were able to bring to the screen? But when it’s now “you have to portray the singer,” it’s a completely different perspective.
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Obviously, it’s one thing to look at her as a fan or as a singer. And then it came from being able to know her and get a sense of who she was as a person being around her through conversations and watching how she existed in life - even her influence in my life as well.
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How did you prepare to become the Queen of Soul?Ī lot of my influence came from being a fan first of all. How 'Respect' Filmmakers Ensured Musical Authenticity for Aretha Franklin Biopic Do not tell a soul.” I said, “Yes ma’am,” and the next day she told the press. She said, “I’ve made my decision and it’s you I want to play me. She called me while I was on Broadway doing The Color Purple - and just so happened to be right next door doing the play Eclipsed. We had several conversations about it, but she made it official in 2016. It was about eight years after our initial meeting. During a recent promotional visit to Franklin’s hometown of Detroit - where she visited the artist’s childhood home and sang in the local New Bethel Baptist Church - Hudson sat down to share the rigors of living up to the Queen’s standards. It’s a performance that certainly deserves, well, respect. “I can’t even imagine the pressure that she was feeling. “Jennifer is a disciplined, rigorous artist … and she knew ,” says Tommy. Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin in 'Respect.' MGMĪt the center of it all is Hudson, a Grammy Award-winning singer who also won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2006’s Dreamgirls.