Respect: Marlon Wayans on Making the Aretha Franklin Biopic

With director Liesl Tommy’s feature film debut, Respect, opening in theaters this weekend, I recently spoke to Marlon Wayans about his fantastic performance as Ted White (Aretha Franklin’s first husband) in the biopic. During the interview, Wayans talked about what he did to make sure he landed this role, what people would be surprised to learn about the making of Respect, how damaged people damage people, the way he prepared for the movie, why he wanted to make sure they showed both sides of Ted White, and more. If you haven’t seen the trailers, Respect stars Jennifer Hudson stars as the Queen of Soul and the film chronicles her journey from a gifted child to an international sensation around the world. The star-studded cast includes Forest Whitaker as C.K. Franklin, Audra McDonald as Barbara Franklin, Tituss Burgess as Dr. James Cleveland, Marc Maron as legendary Atlantic Records music producer Jerry Wexler, Kimberly Scott as Mama Franklin, Saycon Sengblah as Erma Franklin, Hailey Kilgore as Carolyn