Hudson takes on the role of a lifetime in the upcoming film.
Good thing she was anointed by the Queen of Soul herself.
(Yes, even her laugh sounds like a melody.)
Credit: AB+DM for EW
“I was like, ‘Eh, uh, eh…
I cantry.'”
I can understand that," Hudson says quietly.
AB+DM for EW
That was her outlet."
So she grew up in this household where politics was as normal as singing."
And with the Holy Spirit, too: “Even the tones when C.L.
AB+DM for EW
“It was always there, you know?
“He took her out of school to go on tour when she was 11 years old.
“And he worked to cultivate that and was very protective of that for her.
Quantrell D. Colbert/MGM
“I wanted to play a damaged man who loved a damaged woman.
People, we fall madly in love, and we find ourselves tethered to toxic things.
And so when she makes the choice to leave, I wanted it to be a hard choice.”
Quantrell D. Colbert/MGM
They were probably treated like a child, no say-so of their own.
“I’ve learned, and that’s something else that Mama Franklin taught me.”
“You’re no longer the daughter, you’re the talent.
AB+DM for EW
“They’d be like, ‘That’s exactly how Aretha would eat!
That’s exactly how she was.'”
One thing Tommy wouldn’t budge on: filming every performance live.
LD Entertainment/Roadside Attractions
Hudson was more than on board with that approach.
“When you prerecord,” she explains, “you’re married to that emotion, that delivery.
I like the rawness, the honesty of being in the moment.”
Everett Collection
That often meant shooting in front of hundreds of extras and outfitting them, too.
“We had so much fun with the clothes.”
Franklin, he says, “wasn’t after the polish, she wasn’t after conveying perfection.
Everett Collection
She was about showing soul….
But the first time Jennifer showed me her walk in a screen test, I fell out.
She just had it down pat, that little shuffle that Aretha did.”
Everett Collection
More praise for the movie’s headliner isn’t hard to come by.
“Her voice is a weapon,” Wayans says admiringly.
I think she shattered my clavicle.”
Angela Bassett as Tina Turner in ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’.Everett Collection
Tommy is quick to point out, though, that the central performance goes far beyond vocal mastery.
“I never felt like, ‘Oh, I’m working with a singer who acts.’
If it’s not a film, it’s nothing.
I’m just honored that she picked me to play her.
I mean, who can say that?
And again, I would have never done it without her wishes.”
“I still have the text chains, so every now and then I look back at them.
“I want to be like that.
I want to be 80 years old and still doing what I love to do, you know?
Sing my way home.”
[But]Judy, I actually used that as a reference to prepare.
I was like, ‘Oh!
Forest Whitaker (C.L.
There just were so many layers to that story that were incredible.
Black love, healthy in that way.”
