Jennifer Hudson playing her idol Aretha Franklin is a dream come true and it's exactly what Franklin wanted too.
"I've been waiting for quite some time," Hudson tells Elvis Duran on Thursday August 12th after explaining how long ago her and Franklin met. "That's when it all began.. right there." She continues, "She was so beautiful and became a part of my life as well... I'm grateful."
Hudson admits that her and Franklin are very similar and that even certain lines of the film felt 'so true' to herself. Unfortunately Franklin passed away before they started filming however Hudson tells the show that they spoke 'up until the last days' talking about the film. "Sometimes I feel her presence," Hudson says.
One thing Hudson learned while filming about her friend and mentor was that she had 8 albums out 'before she came out with her big hits." That was something we didn't know about either!
Listen to Hudson's full interview with Elvis below and be sure to check out the movie Respect in theaters August 13th.