The Respect star is going back to the 1960s.
Jennifer Hudsonis becoming something of an expert at bringing 1960s musical superstars to the big screen.
And now she’s stepping back into a beehive wig as a real-life superstar,Aretha Franklin, inRespect.
Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin in ‘Respect’ and Effie White in ‘Dreamgirls’.Quantrell D. Colbert/MGM; David James/Paramount
“I’m like, ‘What am I?
The period-piece girl in the ’60s era?'”
she quips to EW.
“EvenHairspray Live, same era.
But it’s so many different characters to come out of that.”
But I gotta skip Effie, skip Jennifer, and somehow create my Aretha."
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Aretha chose you to take on this role.
Throughout this process, has that been more pressure or gift for you?
JENNIFER HUDSON:Both.
It’s super-exciting, but it’s super-scary.
It’s like equal.
Yeah, it freaks me out and excites me at the same time.
That was the biggest challenge.
People said, “What about the songs?”
Yes, that was challenging, but to have to conform to that.
But that’s due to the era in which she grew up.
Women didn’t have what we have today back then.
As an actor, how am I going to be expressive and tell the story without being vocal?
It’s versus how I exist in space, which is very vocal.
She didn’t take up much space.
I love the scene where Aretha and her sisters figure out how to make “Respect” her own.
But I do know as a musician that would be a huge part of the process.
That’s empowering alone.
Then to have the sisters involved in the scene and see their musical connection, their sisterly connection.
I come from a singing background with a family.
Speaking of that, I know you sang live for the camera.
How did that change your approach to the performance?
It was different from how biopics or musicals are made, because normally you pre-record it.
I don’t know how to answer that, but it made it more authentic.
I’m an actor that’s portraying someone who’s learning the song.
So all the performances in the film that are live in the film were live to me.
I sang them live, we performed them live, where it felt more real.
You got to know Aretha fairly well.
I want to say yes and no, but I didn’t realize it until filming.
You know how when someone says something to you and then later it clicks?
We spoke weekly, and she would have conversations.
We would call, we would text, and we had conversations leading up to this.
It was realizations of that over and over again.
So now I’m like, “I got to go sing this song.”
I’m still gathering.
What song felt the most daunting to bring to life?
Because they’re all a treasure to us.
And as a musician, you don’t want to touch that.
And when you’ve done it like Aretha has, what else is there to do to it?
So it’s like, how do I approach this?
I get to sing ‘Respect,’ really?"
Was there one that was just plain fun to do?
All of them were fun.
I have to go back to “Respect” again.
And then the church songs felt like church to me.
How much did each of those things inform your performance and help you understand her?
It definitely helped a lot.
So I was able to pull from my own life experiences to be able to portray her story.
You’re always looking for things where it’s possible for you to relate to people.
Aretha’s on a planet of her own, but still having those similarities was helpful to draw from.
This film has deep Broadway roots.
You’ve performed there.
Director Liesl Tommy has a Tony.
You’ve got Hailey Kilgore, Heather Headley, Audra McDonald, and more.
I think it had to.
It couldn’t help but to because there’s a different language coming out of theater.
I wish I had more scenes with her.
I love her so much.
Then Liesl as a director, it gave us the courage to be able to give it something new.
Why is it hard to understand?"
We’ve done this differently.
You get so raw in the period where Aretha is facing up to her alcoholism and substance abuse.
Was that intimidating to be so vulnerable on screen, and how did you get to where you needed?
It can be, but I like real things.
That’s how I walked through the door, like, “I’m ready.
No, I don’t need no makeup because this is real.”
You want to shoot like this?"
I said, “That’s what the script said.
This is the story I am here to tell.
So I’m ready, yes, let’s go.”
This is the story, and I feel it’s real things that resonate.
Why are we sugarcoating?
