Jennifer Hudson Says It Was An “Honor” After Wrapping Production On Aretha Franklin Biopic ‘Respect’
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Saying she was “overwhelmed” with emotion from portraying the Queen of Soul, Jennifer Hudson announced Saturday that she just wrapped production on Aretha Franklin biopic Respect.
“It is officially a wrap on @respectmovie wrap it up, it’s done!” Hudson shared on Instagram. “Too overwhelmed to get into it right now but words can’t express how grateful I am to be chosen by the queen herself and to live out yet another dream! It was my honor, to honor the Queen’s request! The one and only Queen of Soul.”
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A post shared by Jennifer Hudson (@iamjhud) on Feb 15, 2020 at 4:14pm PST
Franklin died of pancreatic cancer at age 76 in August 2018. During her prolific career, she received 18 Grammy Awards and was nominated a total of 44 times.
In April 2019, Franklin made history as the first individual woman to receive a special Pulitzer citation award. A press release stated that she was selected for the posthumous honor “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.” Past winners include Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and John Coltrane.
As Hudson noted in her post, she was handpicked by Franklin for the role. In 2018, she sang “Amazing Grace” at Franklin’s funeral.
Respect (not to be confused with Nat Geo’s upcoming Genius: Aretha series starring Cynthia Erivo) follows Franklin’s life from singing in her father’s church, to becoming one of the most iconic figures in the music industry.
Joining Hudson in the cast are Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Tate Donovan, Heather Headley, Skye Dakota Turner, and Mary J. Blige.
The biopic is directed by Liesl Tommy from a script written by Tracey Scott Wilson. MGM is set to release Respect in theaters on October 9, 2020.
Watch the teaser trailer below.
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