Halle Berry not Interested in Portraying Aretha Franklin in Upcoming Biopic

The queen of soul Aretha Franklin issued a statement last week that her top choice to portray her in an upcoming biopic would be "Monster’s Ball" actress Halle Berry. In addition to Halle Berry, Aretha Franklin also named Denzel Washington to portray her father - Baptist minister and civil rights leader C.L. Franklin - and Terrence Howard to play the role of the Smokey Robinson.

In an interview with E!News, the actress emphasized that the biggest problem for her in playing the role of Aretha Franklin is that she doesn’t have the voice to do justice to the character.

The Academy award-winning actress said, "I adore Aretha, but I'm sure she would want the actress to sing. If I could carry a tune, I'd consider it. Someone should tell Aretha that I can't do her justice."

However, Berry told CNN, “I would entertain producing and helping in any way. I believe her life and contribution to the music industry is an important part of the legacy of our people and needs to be told."

On the other hand, “Unstoppable” actor Denzel Washington is highly interested, and Terrence Howard responded positively to the project according to Franklin, who will also review the script for the biopic next week.

The legendary soul singer was reported, last December, to be suffering from a severe illness and underwent emergency surgery. There were also reports that Franklin is battling pancreatic cancer, though she dismissed those rumors.

Franklin has won 20 Grammy awards and she was recently chosen as the number one singer among the top 100 Singers of all Time by Rolling Stone Magazine.