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Jennifer Hudson On Her Next Big Role: I Want To Play Aretha Franklin

(CBS Detroit) - Is there an actress out there with the stage presence and soaring voice to play Aretha Franklin? Jennifer Hudson thinks so.

On a Howard Stern interview Wednesday morning where she was promoting her new album "JHUD," Jennifer Hudson talked about a range of topics, including working on a Disney cruise ship in a stage performance of "Hercules", coming in 7th on "American Idol" and her breakout role. She won the Academy Award Best Supporting Actress winning performance for "Dreamgirls."

Stern asked if another big movie role is in the works and Hudson quickly brought up the Aretha Franklin biopic.

Hudson spoke of a meeting with the Queen of Soul where the film was discussed. Stern asked if Franklin had given her seal of approval and Hudson replied, "Yes, but Aretha has her way of giving approval."

Lifetime has reportedly been in talks with Franklin to produce the movie and it would come off the heels of the network's other legendary music story slated for a 2015 release, "I Will Always Love You: The Whitney Houston Story."

As the interview was wrapping up, Hudson made a final appeal for the role, speaking directly to the Motown icon. "I'm right here, Aretha. And I'm ready," she said.

According to an Essence article Hudson is a frontrunner and has had a meeting with Tony Award winner Audra McDonald about the role.

Related: Queen Of Soul Says Blair Underwood 'First Choice' To Play Her Brother in Biopic
Aretha Franklin Slams Burger Joint Server's D-I-S-R-E-S-P-E-C-T

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