Celebrity Spotlight: Meet Patrice Covington
Patrice Covington is well on her way to becoming one of the biggest names in Hollywood. Think Halle Berry or a Whitney Houston type of talent. She can sing, she can act, she can do it all! She already took Broadway by storm, so now it is time for her to make her mark in Hollywood.
Now she is in the role of a lifetime, playing Erma Franklin in the upcoming biopic Genius: Aretha. Erma was the older sister of Aretha and a huge influence on the legendary singer. She recently took time out of her busy schedule to talk to TVGrapevine about being in the movie and her life. Check out the highlights below:
- She did her audition for the role while on tour with Christina Aguilera. At the time, she was working as a backup singer for the ‘The Voice’ alum in Las Vegas, so things were very hectic. She was very interested in doing the audition, but had no idea how she was going to make it happen.
Luckily for her, one of her fellow backup singers is married to an actress, who told her about making self tapes. Patrice decided to go this route for her audition, and the rest, as they say, is history!
- One of the biggest challenges that Patrice faced while filming is that there is not a lot of information out there on Erma. Although it is known that she was a background singer for Aretha (along with their other sister Caroline), there was not much else known about her or her relationship with Aretha.
To prepare, Patrice watched whatever YouTube videos were available and based everything else on what was put in the script.
She also wanted to make sure she talked and acted like Erma, but since there was no way to do this, she did her best to capture the essence of her based on the information she was given.
- Patrice loved working with the cast, but says that one of the biggest honors was getting to work with Courtney B. Vance, who played her dad. She considers him to be a legend in the business and a man of action. For her, it was amazing to see him every day, not only in a professional aspect, but also in a personal one. She recalls how he would always be taking pictures and smiling, making it a beautiful, incredible experience.
She even quipped that they better work together soon because he isn’t getting rid of her that easily.
- So what is next for Patrice? Aside from promoting the movie, she is working on some other super secret projects. One of them includes her holiday single that was released last year and other forms of media. What does that mean? You will have to keep checking the site to find out!
- Fans would be surprised to know that Patrice grew up being a part of the Girl Scouts. She began her time as a Daisy and made it all the way to the final stage of the program when she was eighteen years old.
She says the program (which she completed with her best friend) afforded her a lot of scholarships and life opportunities she may not have gotten otherwise. She is grateful for her experiences and still supports the Girl Scouts to this day.
Keep coming back for more news on Patrice.
