For many, the Disney+ movie The One and Only Ivan will be the first introduction to the heartfelt story. However, the story of the film directed by Thea Sharrock is based on a novel by the same title from author Katherinee Applegate, who wrote her book from a true story. While the book topped the New York Timees best seller list, it is very possible for it to have missed people, including the cast of The One and Only Ivan movie. Still, for actors like Chaka Khan, the inspirational film sent them straight to the source material for some additional information and Chaka Khan tells ComicBook.com she was delighted with what she found.
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Chaka Khan says she first heard of Ivan’s story “when I got the script, actually.”
“The book totally missed me, but it is a fine book and there’s a multitude of the messages in it,” she explains in the video interview seen above. “Great life messages and it’s really… If you can say anything good about this lockdown, it’s that I’m sure many parents and children and grandmothers and grandfathers and their grandkids and stuff are watching this film together and discussing certain aspects of the film. Like about animal rights and things like that. There’s so much stuff to discuss about this film. I’m just glad that I think families are in discussion now, which is great. You know, coming together.”
In The One and Only Ivan, Chaka Khan voices a very free spirited Henrietta, a character which is a chicken living in a mall’s circus. Chaka Khan says she was attracted to “the fact that she’s baseball coach,” and much more. “I really love that because we have a lot of similarities, she and I, we’re very well paired. And I’m not a baseball coach, but I’m sort of a life coach around here, and we both feel very strongly about, you know, moving forward, getting it done. Get her done, let’s get her done, folks. And being I think honest and truthful. Truth means a lot to her, I think. It means everything to me. We’re just really a lot alike. If you want the truth, you might wanna come to me, but you might not. You know what I mean? So we have a lot of similarities.”
As for letting her geek side show, it sounds like Chaka Khan has a special appreciation for Marvel heroes. “There’s more than one [favorite],” she says. “I’ve always liked all the Marvel characters. The Hulk and all of them, yeah I’m totally into them. I liked Shadow Man. I like dark stuff, too. I was really into the darker.”
ห is available now on Disney+.
