The trailer for Aretha Franklin biography Respect made its debut yesterday and has attracted considerable criticism for the controversial decision to cast Bradley Cooper as the soul legend.
It is thought that director Liesl Tommy had originally planned to use Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson in the role but was overruled following Bradley Cooper’s performance in A Star is Born.
“I think it is unfair to judge Brad’s performance without seeing the whole film,” explained director Stewart James.
“You see the trailer and, yes, I’ll grant you, it is a little jarring to see Bradley Cooper singing ‘You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman’ in a spangly dress, but you just have to see his performance in the context of the whole film where you will completely believe that the guy from Hangover is Aretha Franklin.”
James explained the decision to cast Cooper, a middle-aged white man, over Hudson, a black woman, in the role.
“Are you kidding? Did you see Star is Born? Brad was terrific, and there was the soundtrack, the awards.
“Jennifer, I love Jennifer, we all love Jennifer but, you know, she wasn’t in Star is Born, and Brad was.
“Also, having Brad, we get to use some of those hit songs from Star is Born as well. You know, you’ve got Brad as Aretha Franklin, and she’s sat at the piano working stuff out and she starts singing ‘Shallow’, you know, from Star is Born, then she sings a bit of Respect – now, on the soundtrack, on the poster we can put ‘featuring Shallow and Respect.
“So, we’re bringing in fans of Aretha Franklin and fans of Star is Born. This is going to be huge.”
There was, however, no explanation of the decision to cast The Rock as Dinah Washington, or a de-aged Al Pacino as Smokey Robinson.
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