Jennifer Hudson says it has always been her 'dream' to play Aretha Franklin in upcoming movie

The biopic is understood to be in early production
Natasha Sporn26 September 2018

Jennifer Hudson has opened up about playing Aretha Franklin in an upcoming biopic, branding the role as “her dream”.

The singer will take on the role of the late musical icon, who passed away last month, in a forthcoming movie currently in early production.

Hudson also revealed that it was Franklin herself who requested she took on the role during a chat with Ellen DeGeneres.

Speaking on her show, Hudson told the host: “It's always been my dream to play Aretha, and it's actually happening. It blows my mind.

"I've always looked up to Aretha and to portray her—I cannot even speak about it because it's like, 'Oh, that's a huge task’.

“Think about it: It's not just two, three decades of a career. This woman had a lifetime of a career. That's like 70 years. I cannot even begin to imagine how long it's going to take to cover.”

In memory: Jennifer Hudson sang at Aretha Franklin's funeral in August
ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images

Her publicist Gwendolyn Quinn announced the sad news in a statement, coming just days after the news of Franklin’s ill health had begun to circulate.

The statement said: “Franklin’s official cause of death was due to advance pancreatic cancer of the neuroendocrine type, which was confirmed by Franklin’s oncologist, Dr. Philip Phillips of Karmanos Cancer Institute.

“In one of the darkest moments of our lives, we are not able to find the appropriate words to express the pain in our heart. We have lost the matriarch and rock of our family.”

Aretha Franklin - In pictures

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