The ZORA Interview
‘Own Your Voice’: Jennifer Hudson on Aretha Franklin and ‘Respect’
The star of the Queen of Soul biopic has the perfect advice for women who lead.
For Jennifer Hudson, Respect is not just another movie where she stars as a famous person who sings. For this biopic, she embodies her idol, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. The film swings through Franklin’s Detroit church roots, her relationship with her father, and, of course, Franklin’s massive song catalog, much of which provided a backing track to the civil rights movement.
It’s the kind of film with impossible expectations that might make anyone else quiver in their boots. After all, what if you get it wrong? What if the family doesn’t like it? Or the fans? What about the unconventional decision to focus on several decades of Franklin’s life versus a cradle-to-grave examination? But Hudson says none of that ultimately was a concern. Not even pushing back the release date and the closure of movie theaters due to Covid-19 deterred her. Also, it’s fitting that the film arrives this August, released nearly to the day three years ago that the songstress died.
“Well, this project is different; it’s far more personal to me,” says Hudson. “So jitters is a huge part of it, but I think it’s more…
