[EDITOR'S NOTE: As of Thursday, April 8th, Jawn Murray reports that Aretha Franklin has clarified-- Karen Clark Sheard is not slated to star as Aretha; she will have another role].
According to a recent post by Jawn Murray at AOL BV Buzz, gospel legend Karen Clark Sheard may be steps away from solidifying her deal to star as her Aretha Franklin in the film, Aretha: From These Roots.
If selected, it will mean that Karen Clark Sheard was selected by the Queen Of Soul over other actresses rumored to be considered for the role, including Jennifer Hudson and Halle Berry.
As many know, Aretha Franklin is Karen Clark Sheard’s favorite vocalist… EVER. This should be interesting… and the soundtrack??? A must-have.
Click here to read Jawn Murray’s full article.
Thoughts???
Although I think Karen is a GREAT vocalist, I feel that Jeniffer Hudson would portray a more plausible Aretha.
I respect Aretha's judgement; if she believes Karen is the best for the part, then she MUST be. Aretha is Karen's "idol," so I know she must be thrilled (& so am I). Can't wait for this production to come out in theaters and their new song in May!
i think its a BIG move karen as it wud get her more national exposure but the question is can she act? granted jennifer hudson wud smash the role but that wud be predictable...i hope first lady does her homework and kills the role halle berry????
CONGRATS KAREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE HAS BEEN BLESSED TO BEEN IN THE PLAY "CHURCH GIRL" AND SHE'S IN "BLESSED AND CURSED" BY DEITRICK HADDON THAT COMES OUT THIS SUMMER!! SO I'M PRETTY SURE SHE KNOWS HOW TO ACT A LIL! GOD IS OPENING MANY DOOR FOR KAREN!!! (if this is true, its great, someone said it was a rumor)! *AND DON'T FORGET TO GET THE NEW KAREN CLARK SHEARD ALBUM "ALL IN ONE" ITS HOTTTTT!!!!
WOW THAT IS AMAZING! I am just speechless
GO KAREN!!
I'm sorry, Y'all, but I don't think it's going to work. I'm not trying to be a negative Nancy on this subject, but in my mind I can't draw any parallels between the two artist. I, too, think J-Hud would have been a better choice, but after doing Dreamgirls and winning the Oscar maybe another singing role may not be the best avenue for J-Hud at this time. That said, I DON'T SEE IT! God is my witness when I say I love myself some Karen Clark-Sheard; she can record an entire CD singing gingles and I would buy it. Will she be believe as Aretha Franklin in a feature length film? Can she even act? Hmmmm... Stay in the LIGHT! M.
Wow! I heard this on the radio today, although the info was a tad bit different. I Love Karen but I'm wondering how she's gonna play a young Aretha. Is this gonna just focus on the later years? I just can't see Karen pulling off a 20something year old Aretha. This is gonna be interesting!
Aretha Franklin is a diva. She's not going to just cast anybody to play her on screen if she was not impressed or didn't feel that they captured her essence. It's not the studio or producers doing the castings without the subject's consent. Aretha is in total control of the project from the interview I heard. So Karen Clark-Sheard must have knocked her audition out of the park if she is in consideration for the lead role. As for parallels, they have more in common than Jennifer Hudson and Halle Berry (which is the biggest joke here, l.o.l). For starters, they are both Detroit natives and are both pastor's kids.
alright Karen !! Aretha holds that revival at Greater Emmanuel so I am confident that she can get the role !! Im so excited for her !! And I'm sure that Karen can sing the part also !! @Marcel: jingles? lol
Very nice! As far as the singing goes, I think that both Karen & Jennifer would do a fantastic job at it either way, without question. So that doesn't really matter to me. With the acting I don't know about Karen, but she may very well do more than a great job...I can't wait to see :)
...Halle Berry. whplz.
I'm gonna give the saints some food for thought. I think vocally it will be good. But do you all think this will put Karen in a compromising position. After all, Aretha sang secular music as well and smoked - heavily might I add. To make this movie a success, all of Aretha, the good, bad and indifferent will need to be shown. I don't think anyone has thought of this. Will Karen do a secular twist on Aretha's story? And how will church folk respond to this? Personally, I don't care, but I don't see her pulling it off for the reasons stated above.
I look forward to seeing how this will turn out. My fave playing the role of her fave.
LOL @ all the Halle comments...I don't get why she even took the time to try out, LOL... @ Michael - I questioned the EXACT same thing as well as her acting ability. Theatre and film are TWO DIFFERENT MONSTERS, folks. I think my pic would have been J-Hud too...
Here I go.... I think if I was actually interested to be in Hollywood, I'd be a GREAT casting agent. For example, for the James Brown biopic, Wayne Brady is my no. 1 choice. With that said, KCS would not have been my first choice to play ReRe. JHud is an obvious choice, but then we haven't seen the audition tapes to see how either might show on screen. On top of that, ReRe chose KCS so since she did, we gotta go with what's been given.... So at this point, I'm in disciple Thomas' "show me" mode. :-) And also, it's great that KCS gets to expand her horizons in such opportunities. That's a great blessing to get the opportunity to go out of your comfort zone and out of the box that folk try to keep one trapped in....
Halle--no way--she will have to gain so much weight in Aretha's later years. KCS would be a great choice vocally, however, Jennifer Hudson would be a logical choice to play Re Re. I would also consider Mo'nique to play the part as well or even Queen Latifah. I just hope the casting directors do not make a mistake like back in the day when they had Diana Ross playing Billie Holliday. That was a mistake which Berry Gordy, Jr. made.....
vocally it might be an intresting choice but for as the acting i think Queen Latifah would be a better choice.....interested to see how it turns out!!
I'm actually relieved by the editor's note, lol. @ Gayle - I LOVE "Lady Sings the Blues"! I even have it on DVD! I thought Diana was great...didn't sound like Billie, lol. But the acting and performances were on point. What didn't you like about it?
I read that KCS will be playing Kitty Ward of The Ward Sisters, not Aretha.
Well all I can say is watch God move!!!! Whatever comes of the whole thing it is obvious that God is opening doors on Karen's behalf that men can't do anything about. Congratulation Karen on all that is happening for you. Eyes have not seen, neither have ears heard all the great and marvelous things that God is preparing just for you!!!!
I am a hugh fan of Jennifer Hudson, and I love Karen. I really don't care who Aretha get to play her. I just hope she get it over with already. It is clear Aretha has problems within herself and others. ***EDITED FOR PROFANITY*** I don't think anybody would be disappointed that she did not chose them. Lord bless Karen Clark Sheard, because she is going to need it.
@norma-- I dunno if Aretha stole your jumprope when y'all were kids, or what, but you feel SO strongly about this that you had to cuss?! you're out of line. you're also banned from the site. worth it?
@ EJ: "dunno if Aretha stole your jumprope" LOL...I am done for the rest of the night...*dead*
wow! this is fantastic! however as everyone mentioned Jennifer is obvious, but Karen? wow! *claps* def. a must see! go Karen! I would love 2 see either of the two play her! GB
Now, I can see the boo birds and the right wing nut jobs who frequent here would spread some negativity on Karen and would say, "She should not be with those sinners because Hollywood is not of God". Hollywood is the right place for Christians because this is their mission field. And Karen will do just fine because this is where God has called her to do to expand the gospel there and to plant seeds to those non-believers outhere.
Oh wow... [laughing at "jumprope" comment. I gotta use that... ] Well, I am glad to hear she may be in another role - NOT as Aretha because the definitely would have NOT worked. That said, being in a movie will definitely be an excellent opportunity for Karen - her next level. You betta sing, KCS! [begin to mimick Karen's runs in my head. I do a horrible job] Stay in the LIGHT. Marcel
@Gayle, "right wing nut jobs" how did politics get into this discussion? LOL As for Karen, I SURE do hope she can act. "HOLLYWOOD" is relentless & if she messes up THE "QUEENS" movie, it wont be a good look. I kind of wish Karen turns it down. :-/ I mean, i PRAY she knocks it out the park but... we'll just see.
Karen isn't going to be playing Aretha anyhow, but She will knock it out the park!! Go KCS!!
Yes "me", please SEE first before you begin making preposterous requests such as Karen Clark-Sheard turning the whole thing down. When God blesses you with something, then it's safe to say that it IS for you. Think about it, she's not a "big-time" celebrity in Hollywood so there's no real incentive to cast her for something if she did not prove herself already.
@Keisha, great, you see it as a blessing from God. I hope it is. Beyonce thought her movie roles were blessings from God also... she still can't act. I feel sometimes we attribute things to God that He possibly could not have cared any less about. Is it a blessing or not? Who knows. I hope so.
Hey boys and girls, let's see the finished product before we go around and judge her, ok. And I believe it is a good opportunity for her anyways. Maybe Dr. Clark wanted her family to think out of the box, that mean out of the four walls of the church.
"Beyonce thought her movie roles were blessings from God also… she still can’t act." Wwwwoowwwwwwwww!!! LOLLLLL! One word: "Obsessed!" I have been curious about the Lord's Name being mentioned in this process. Simply: what's God got to do with it? Granted, we don't know if acting jobs are on KCS' prayer list, and if it is so, is this an answer of divine will, permissive will, or nothing? Hmmm... I digress.... Second question: for the record, I just want to be clear: should KCS' performance, as best as she may give it, still may not be up to par, am I going to be called a hater because of a unfavorable review of the PERFORMANCE? Is someone going to toss out Psalm 105:15: "Touch Not My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm’”? Just want to be clear, saints....