Jennifer Hudson felt a spiritual connection to Aretha Franklin and Respect, the new biopic in which she plays the Queen of Soul, long before filming began. “It’s like it was already ordained, already happening,” she told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in a conversation about her adoration of Franklin and her journey with Respect. “Even thinking back to when I auditioned for American Idol: ‘What are you gonna sing?’ ‘“Share Your Love With Me” by Aretha Franklin!’ Who would’ve ever thought?! I didn’t know at the time that I would play Aretha Franklin.” Before Franklin died in 2018, Hudson got to know the icon, who chose Hudson to portray her onscreen and was never far from her mind while she was making the film. “I was going through one of my phones the other day, and I ran across her messages,” she recalled. “It was certain songs: ‘Jennifer, I want you to sing this, I want you to sing this, [and] I want you to sing this.’ So now, my only goal is to do whatever she asked me to do. It was my dream to do it, too, let me be clear: It ain’t just her, I wanted to play Aretha, that’s my ideal of a role! But even going back, it’s like, no: I take it seriously, I respect it, and I just want to meet whatever her request was, whatever her wishes were.” The movie, as well as the life and music of Aretha Franklin, has left a transformational impact on Hudson—one that has only magnified her reverence for her talent and deepened her appreciation for her strength, onstage and off. “My takeaway is owning your treasure, your voice, and trusting it,” she says. “That’s where the power lies. As soon as she did that, that’s when we got our Queen of Soul.” Check out the playlist Hudson made to go alongside the release of the movie and its soundtrack.