Jennifer Hudson Recalls Her Conversations with Aretha Franklin, Plus: Watch Marlon Wayans Crash Her ‘Extra’ Interview

Over the weekend, it was all about “Respect” in Los Angeles!

At the premiere of “Respect,” “Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay spoke with Jennifer Hudson, who plays Aretha Franklin in the new movie.

While Jennifer was dishing on her gorgeous Dolce & Gabbana gown, her on-screen husband Marlon Wayans crashed our interview!

When Jennifer told Marlon to “get over here,” he told her, “You look beautiful… Girl, look at you, what?”

Jennifer’s life parallels Aretha’s since both grew up singing in church and lost their mothers young.  Aretha even handpicked Jennifer for the role. She shared, “We would text weekly or she would call me and I didn’t realize until I was filming like, wow, I think back, like, she taught me a lot about life in the midst of teaching me about her life.”

Hudson is already getting Oscar buzz, and she’s “pinching” herself! She said, “When we started filming, I’m like, ‘This is really happening for the little Black girl sitting in the church choir singing.’ Every gospel singer aspires to be like Aretha Franklin, so to be one of those church choir girls, there’s so many of us out there, and to be in this position makes me pinch myself… like, ‘Wow!’”

Marlon’s performance as Aretha’s first husband and manager could land him Oscar gold as well! When Jennifer complimented his acting, Marlon said to her, “I’m okay. I’m only great ‘cause I was with you and I had to step up.”

Marlon was happy to be a part of the movie, saying, “I grew up in a house with six Black women and the Queen of Soul was played in our house all the time… I probably learned how to spell ‘respect’ listening to “Respect” and my mama saying, ‘You going to r-e-s-p-e-c-t me…’ so Aretha was a big part of our household and so I feel so good being a part of this movie.”