Aretha Franklin's special message to Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson and Aretha Franklin pose together in 2015. Photo / Getty Images

Aretha Franklin told Jennifer Hudson she would win an Oscar for playing her.

The 39-year-old actress-and-singer is set to portray the late Queen of Soul - who passed away in 2018 - in the upcoming biopic Respect, and she has recalled being left speechless when the music legend surprised her with the compliment.

Appearing on 'CBS Sunday Morning, Jennifer - who previously won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her part as Effie in 2006 musical Dreamgirls - shared: "The very first thing Aretha said to me when we sat down was, 'You're going to win an Oscar for playing me, right?'"

She added: "I didn't know what to say." The Grammy-winner recently admitted she has been feeling the "pressure" to live up to the expectation placed on her shoulders for the flick. She said: "That's a lot, a lot, a lot of pressure!.

"Everyone is counting down and I'm like, 'Please don't tell me! I don't want to know, that's enough pressure.'

"Enough with her being like, 'Jennifer do this.' But that's that women power, that's that empowerment, like if she passed the torch and she said, 'Jennifer you can do it,' that gives me the strength and the encouragement to try.

"Jennifer released Here I Am (Singing My Way Home), an original song from the film's soundtrack, and she hoped she was able to do Aretha's roots justice with the track.

She said: "You should feel the church in it, the spirit, the soul.

"I wanted to make sure that was the base and the premise of everything because Aretha was the gospel... I'm so happy to hear that [it sounds like Aretha] because that was my sentiments exactly."