Where did her movie go? It played in Canada. Where is it? Simon Cowell didn't think she had the star quality to advance on TV's American Idol but Hollywood saw it. Jennifer Hudson landed a dream role in the movie version of Broadway's Dreamgirls. She was the talented and complicated Effie, the back-up singer seen on the far right.
After years of disappointments, Effie's talent and a new attitude bring her to center stage.
The performance earned Jennifer Hudson the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress of 2006.
In between 2006 and her recent appearance on NBC's Smash singing with the show's star and fellow American Idol loser, Katherine McPhee, Ms. Hudson went dramatic.
It was a major big screen assignment. She playedWinnie Mandela opposite Terrence Howard, Best Actor Oscar nominee for 2005's Hustle & Flow. Howard co-starredas young Nelson Mandela inWinnie. This film focuses in the early years of the woman who became the wife of the now-globally famous ex-prisoner and South African anti-apartheid activist. Winnie was supposed to supposed to be released in 2011. Here's a clip.
It was reported the film would come out in 2012. It didn't. Heck...Nelson Mandela was released before this movie was. It screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011. I was really curious to see how Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson handled the Winnie Mandela role in that biopic.
If you've seen Winnie, leave me a short review. Happy Black History Month.
Hudson's singing in DREAMGIRLS was just out of this world, but I still would have went with Rinko Kiguchi for BABEL. Kiguchi's performance was one of the most painfully honest performances I had seen in years. Heartbreaking. Howard was terrific in HUSTLE & FLOW, but then so was the winner Philip Seymour Hoffman for CAPOTE and so was Heath Ledger for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. That year was loaded with great performances by the male leads. I attend the Toronto International Film Festival every year but I did not see WINNIE that year. If I find it, I will let you know.
I’m not sure about the issues that have gone on regarding its release, but I do know that there were issues about Winnie Mandela not being consulted and some South Africans taking offense to a mostly American crew taking on such an iconic story. Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard were shining spots, but the storytelling left a lot to be desired. For a film based on a true story and adapted from a book, I believe they could have benefited from consulting Winnie.
Hudson's singing in DREAMGIRLS was just out of this world, but I still would have went with Rinko Kiguchi for BABEL. Kiguchi's performance was one of the most painfully honest performances I had seen in years. Heartbreaking. Howard was terrific in HUSTLE & FLOW, but then so was the winner Philip Seymour Hoffman for CAPOTE and so was Heath Ledger for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. That year was loaded with great performances by the male leads. I attend the Toronto International Film Festival every year but I did not see WINNIE that year. If I find it, I will let you know.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure about the issues that have gone on regarding its release, but I do know that there were issues about Winnie Mandela not being consulted and some South Africans taking offense to a mostly American crew taking on such an iconic story. Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard were shining spots, but the storytelling left a lot to be desired. For a film based on a true story and adapted from a book, I believe they could have benefited from consulting Winnie.
ReplyDelete-Wally