by Gill Pringle
Today, less than five months after Cynthia Erivo’s commanding portrayal of Franklin on TV’s Genius, Hudson delivers an intimate interpretation of the singer; a vulnerable and confused young woman searching for a hit and trying to escape the domineering forces of both her father and the other men in her life.
When we meet Hudson, 39, she says her starring role in Liesl Tommy’s Respect, feels like fate. “It was definitely a dream come true because it was something I wanted to do and, after Dreamgirls, everyone was asking, ‘What’s your next dream role?’ And I said, ‘I’d like to play Aretha Franklin’,” recalls the actress who earned an Oscar for her debut performance in that film, loosely based around The Supremes.
Further sealing the notion that she was born to carry Franklin’s torch, she says, “My American Idol audition song was Aretha’s ‘Share Your Love with Me’. I would have never guessed that 17 years later, I would be playing Ms Franklin, so that was a goal and a dream of mine and, as an artist, she’s someone that we all look up to and want to be like.”
Franklin’s anointment to play The Queen of Soul in this biopic did not mean it came easy. “It obviously added to the pressure because it made it that much more personal and more of a responsibility than it already was. It was exciting and scary all at the same time,” says the triple threat actress/singer/best-selling author.
Portraying Franklin as a demure diva-in-training, who would take years to finally speak up for herself, Respect features a strong supporting cast, with Forest Whitaker as her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, Audra McDonald as her sister Barbara, Mary J Blige as Dinah Washington and Marlon Wayans as Ted White, Franklin’s first husband and former manager.
Ask Hudson if her relationship with Franklin was like that of a mother and daughter, given how both tragically lost their own mothers relatively young, as well as the fact that Franklin had four sons and no girls, she hesitates before saying, “Oh my God! I never thought about that but maybe. It kind of felt like that dynamic to a certain extent.”
Even though we’re chatting over zoom, she instinctively tears up, “That makes me emotional, just to think of that. I never thought about that, but I guess that could be a good way to look at it.”
If Franklin’s life story, in some ways, echoes the romantic turmoil of other leading soul and R&B powerhouses – one can’t help but think of Tina Turner and Whitney Houston – Hudson understands that she was only human. “She was a woman as well as an artist, so everybody has their own taste and style in what they gravitate to and like; and she was living her life! I’m not judging it either way. To each his own, that’s all I can say.”
If Ted White was not the best of husbands, then Wayans was an attentive co-star, bringing Hudson tea and chocolates whenever she was exhausted after working long days on set.
“Do you know that he literally just brought me this cupcake?” she exclaims, holding a frosted confection up to the camera. “He is the sweetest thing, and he was such an amazing Ted. He created a chemistry, which made it easier to work with and make it believable and realistic. He took extremely good care of me on the set – and even now! So, if you ever need a co-star? Marlon Wayans all the way,” says Hudson whose films include The Secret Life of Bees, Sex and the City and Black Nativity.
Growing up in the church, the Chicago-born singer certainly sees similarities between her own life and Franklin’s. “She definitely influenced my journey, to want to aspire to be a singer especially being a little Black girl coming from the church and singing for the choir. Aretha is the one that every little choir girl wants to be. She’s the role model. And then to see her as a Christian and to walk with her faith inspires me. And to see her as a woman and owning her power and, as a Black woman, overcoming obstacles. She is an inspiration in so many ways and an icon of so many things,” says Hudson who spoke weekly with Franklin during the final months of her life.
Hudson’s voice changes throughout the time frame of her portrayal. “My Aretha in the film starts when she’s 17 years old and your voice changes throughout that and her sound, style and artistry develops as it goes along, so you’re continually evolving throughout the storyline and telling the story vocally as well because when you’re young and 17, your voice is more youthful, maybe even higher pitched, and then starts to change… so there’s a vocal arc too.”
The process was exhausting. “It was definitely something that required a lot of me. I had to be present physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually and in every way, shape and form – and I sang live, so to add that element along with emotion and then allow myself to portray someone else, but still kind of channeling my own emotions at times, it was like different entities all at the same time. The most challenging parts were when it was a very emotional scene and needing to sing and act in that while portraying someone else.”
Certainly, she regards Respect as the most challenging role of her career. “Mostly, because I actually got to know the person I’m portraying, it gives more of a sense of responsibility which makes you want to handle it differently and with as much care, integrity and respect as I possibly could.”
Impossibly tough on herself, she says, “Even after the fact, I still sit and say: ‘Did I do everything that I was supposed to do? Is there more that I can do?’ And that’s why I became an executive producer as well, so I could be as hands-on as possible in every way. Ms Franklin left me with this, so I have to upkeep it and I’m a person of my word and I think she knew that about me as well.”
Hudson enjoyed so much time with the late legend, she struggles to recall her favourite moments. “I remember I was doing a tribute to her for BET, and it was supposed to be a surprise, and we were in rehearsals, and it was me and my band and my backup singers and all of us in there. And who walks in the door? It’s Aretha Franklin. She crashes the entire rehearsal. Now this is a surprise, so everybody stopped, and she just filled the room, and she goes to the organ, and she just sits there. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, Aretha Franklin is here’. And we just sat down and talked and I felt like that was the first time, and there is a picture of it on Instagram somewhere where it feels like a mother-daughter type of moment.
“And then right before she passed, we would have regular conversations; she would call and ask about my son. He loves to cook, she loves to cook, she would tell me what she’s eating, and I would tell her what he was cooking. She was always so present, so I have tons of memories. To think that Aretha Franklin was a part of my life and my son in the backseat like, ‘Mommy, that’s Aretha Franklin’. I miss her a lot.”
Respect is in cinemas August 19, 2021
