- The "Queen of Soul's" biopic,

"Respect", is in theaters now,

and there's alreadyOscar buzz for its star,

Jennifer Hudson.

Aretha Franklin hand-pickedHudson to play the role.

Here's a look at her work andour Studio Five conversation.

♪ R-E-S-P-E-C-T ♪

♪ Find out what it means to me ♪

♪ R-E-S-P-E-C-T ♪

♪ Take care ♪

♪ T-C-Me ♪

So Jennifer, you were actually handpicked

by Aretha Franklin to play this role.

Do you have an early memory of her?

- Wow.

I mean, Aretha has always been there,

so I can't say exactly whatmy earliest memory of hearing

her music, but again, it'salways been there for me,

maybe even unconsciously so.

Like I grew up in a churchsinging and I didn't realize

until doing research for the film,

how much her music was ablueprint in the gospel that we

were singing in church.

So she's always been thereeven without me knowing it.

- So from the early years to now,

here you are portraying Aretha Franklin.

How did you prepare emotionally,

physically, and musically tobecome the "Queen of Soul"?

- You first of all can'tjust wake up and say,

"I'm going to be the "Queen of Soul"."

It takes a lot of preparation.

I work with amazingpeople in the production,

such as dialogue coach,Tom Jones, acting coach

Leland Thompson, everything played a role

in that to develop the character of her.

Also being able to know heras well and draw from that,

which causes you to care thatmuch more in your delivery of

telling such a story.

And then musically, that I feel like

came first before anything.

And there is always the introduction

for me in any role that I play.

Music is always the introduction.

So I kind of had aheadstart with that portion

because I've always beena fan of Aretha as well.

- As we know the world's shutdown because of the pandemic,

but now this movie is beingreleased at a time that people

can actually see it in the theater.

What does that mean?

- I am so excited to see"Respect" come to theaters

and that it will bring people together.

Aretha brought everybodytogether in her life,

through her music.

So it's only be fittingfor everyone to come out

to celebrate the queenin theaters together,

celebrating her life.

So I'm so excited to seethe world be a part of that

celebration and honorthe way she should be.

- This film's director, Liesl Tommy,

has a musical theater background,

and I know you've done Broadway as well.

What was she like as a director?

- Liesl was like a hugekey piece in the making

and how "Respect" was made.

I think bringing in hertheater background and then her

amazing direction andperspective, gave the film its own

unique elements to make it its own,

which was necessary to tell the story

of the "Queen of Soul".

She was a true musician andit came from real life events.

And I feel as though Lieslbrought those real textures into

it by adding real musiciansto honor the queen

and allowing the, it tookbreathe in real time,

which made it that much moreauthentic and very similar to

how theater is done, brought to screen.

- A big thing that you andAretha Franklin have in common is

growing up, singing in the church.

Talk about those similarpaths that you two walked.

- Oh my God.

So first of all,

just being from the churchand people knowing that as a

Christian is liberating and I love that,

but for it to be said thatboth Aretha and I have

that similar background iseven more like beyond for me.

But I think it was themost important factor

in this whole thing.

Her faith was important to have present

in the film and it was myfaith that got me through

the film to be able to do it.

So that's the premise across the board,

the bookends for both of us.

(audience cheering)

♪ What you want baby I got ♪

- In this film, you showus Aretha at her lowest,

but you also show us Arethain some really joyful times.

What did you take away whenlearning about that joy?

What did it teach you?

- Wow.

You know, you love tosee your heroes shine

and so to see, it inspires me so much

to see an icon, legend,

someone I look up to,and still look up to,

like the "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin,

prevail and go after her dreams

and succeed in that from thetreasure that's within her.

That makes me want todiscover my own that much more

and it increases my driveand hunger to want to do it.

And that's the power ofa role model and an icon

such as Aretha Franklin.

♪ Hey baby ♪

♪ When you get home ♪