david-cross

David Cross playing Jerry Wexler in new Aretha Franklin miniseries, playing Saint Vitus

If you watched last night’s Oscars telecast, you may have seen the trailer for upcoming miniseries Genius – Aretha Franklin, which will air beginning Memorial Day on National Geographic. Cynthia Erivo, who was up for Best Actress for Harriet (and who sang its also nominated song “Stand Up”) stars as Aretha and playing her producer and collaborator, Jerry Wexler, is David Cross who you hear talk in the trailer . Watch that below.

David writes a little about playing Wexler in the miniseries, and how its not the only upcoming Aretha Franklin project on the way, on his website:

the single best thing about shooting this show is not just that I get to play Jerry Wexler, Aretha’s real life producer/champion, nor that I get to affect his oddly deep Bronx accent, but that one of my oldest and closest comedy friends is playing him in a different production as well. Marc Maron is playing him in the Jennifer Hudson version (also filming in Atlanta). Pretty weird/cool. If the two of us were in wardrobe and make-up and ran into each other I believe there would be a shift in the time/space continuum. We should experiment and find out.

David has also been working on new material for a tour and will be testing that out at more NYC shows, including Saint Vitus on February 24. That show will be $12 at the door. It’s currently his only date but Cross says more will be announced “as the dates get solidified.”