Beyoncé is going to have the best coach in the biz when she takes on the role of Etta James in Cadillac Records, a forthcoming movie about Etta’s life. The legendary singer tells PageSix.com exclusively that she’s going to be advising the star herself.

“It’s a privilege and an honor to have somebody like that girl. I don’t think she looks like me, but that’s all right. They can fix that up,” Etta tells us.  And appearance isn’t all Beyoncé will have to work on.

“Oh my god, she’s going to have a hill to climb, because Etta James ain’t been no angel!” she says.

Producers have informed Etta that she’ll get the chance to consult with the 26-year-old Destiny’s Child star, giving her pointers on both the acting and the singing — the latter being something the “At Last” singer was most concerned with when she got wind of the casting.

Of her many hits, Etta feels, “I have my own way of putting those songs over, and I was just wondering if Beyoncé could, and my son said, ‘They’re thinking about how she looks, but mama, she can really sing!’”

It was the Dreamgirls star’s performance at the Grammys earlier this month that won Etta over, when Jay-Z’s main squeeze rocked “Proud Mary” with Tina Turner.

“I kinda have a man’s voice. It’s a contralto, more bluesy, religious. I would really like to work with her on that,” the 70-year-old songstress says.

Of her life lessons, Etta, who battled heroin addiction for many years, says, “I can tell Beyoncé some things; some of the things I might not tell her.”

She does stress that the emotional transformation Beyoncé must undergo will have to be a little intense.

“I wasn’t as bourgie as she is, she’s bourgeois. She knows how to be a lady, she’s like a model. I wasn’t like that… I smoked in the bathroom in school, I was kinda arrogant, so those are some of the things I would want to tell her.”

The flick will co-star Adrien Brody (reportedly replacing Matt Damon) in the role of music exec Leonard Chess, as well as Cedric the Entertainer and Jeffrey Wright.

The meeting between the divas will be happening soon, as sources tell us filming is scheduled to start on March 10 in New Jersey, with two days on location in Mississippi.

Splash, Page Six

Tags: Beyonce