Aretha Franklin to be Played by Cynthia Erivo

Meet one of Hollywood’s freshest faces if you haven’t already: Cynthia Erivo. Her recent role as Hariett Tubman is surpassed by her upcoming role playing Aretha Franklin.

The Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award-Winning Erivo will portray Grammy Award holding/musical icon, Aretha Franklin, in the next installment of the Emmy-Winning anthology series, GENIUS: ARETHA. The new season of GENIUS will be an adaptation of Franklin’s life.

Erivo will commence filming in November for the Spring, 2020 National Geographic cable network premier.

The showrunner of the production is Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks (“Topdog/Underdog”). Brian Grazer and Ron Howard will executive produce and be joined by music giant, Clive Davis, Atlantic Records chairman and CEO, Craig Kallman, Fox Television’s, Ken Biller, and Imagine Television Studios.

Aretha Franklin, formerly known as the Queen of Soul, was also a civil rights leader and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Aretha Franklin’s Estate supports this production, entirely.

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Tags: Aretha Franklin, Cynthia Erivo, Essohana Glinski

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