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National Geographic's "Genius: Aretha" follows
the late singer's rise to stardom as well as her personal life.
Franklin, known for her powerful voice and her hit songs likes
"Chain of Fools" and "Respect", died in 2018, aged 76.
"To be able to step into that body and understand it ... that
meant a great deal because now I got to know her a bit more,
which, I guess makes me even more of a fan but it also makes me
understand her more," Erivo told Reuters.
The 34-year-old actress, known for the film "Harriet" in which
she portrayed escaped slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman as
well as the Broadway musical "The Color Purple" for which she
won a Tony Award, sings Franklin's songs in the series.
"When you're going through something and the only thing that
really expresses it in the right way is a song - I learned that
because of (Franklin), I learned that by listening to her,"
Erivo said.
"Lovecraft Country" and "American Crime Story" actor Courtney B.
Vance play's Franklin's preacher father in the series, which
begins on National Geographic on Sunday.
"I listened to a lot of his sermons over and over and over again
... and then I took a lot of notes about ... his cadences and
the words that he seemed to use over and over," he said.
Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, the series' showrunner,
executive producer and lead writer, said she had previously
spoken with Franklin about developing a biographical musical
many years ago.
"Among the things she mentioned was ... she wanted us to put
respect on her name ... And of course that was one of the
guiding principles of this project," Parks said.
"It's a celebration and a recognition of her genius, the moments
where she created things that will last long after she's gone."
(Reporting by Alicia Powell; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian;
Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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