Her Academy Award stands unceremoniously on a mantel in her Chicago apartment.
“I want to get it framed by the door,” said Jennifer Hudson, “in a frame shaped like a diamond, never to be touched again.”
But this Dreamgirl hasn’t had time to get furniture for the apartment, let alone a frame. In fact, she hasn’t really been there much. She’s been working in Los Angeles. Two weeks ago, she filmed her part in “Winged Creatures,” a drama starring fellow Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. On a recent afternoon, Hudson was getting ready to write and record with Grammy-winning producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
“Every day is like: studio, studio, studio,” said Hudson, who vaulted to stardom as Effie in “Dreamgirls,” which won her a supporting-actress Oscar two months ago. “I almost feel like a foreigner. I’m trying to get used to it.”
Hudson’s priority is recording her debut album, due in October on Clive Davis’ J Records. But she is squeezing in a handful of benefit concerts.
Church is still her favorite place to sing, she says; she performed three selections at an Easter Service in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Aretha’s pick to play her
At the beginning of a half- hour conversation, Hudson, 25, sounded busy and distracted, but she unleashed her beaming and bountiful personality when the subjects turned to things that excite her.
She recently performed the national anthem at the L.A. Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson Day.
“That was such a magical moment,” she said. “I felt honored just to be there. I’m still crossing my fingers for the Jackie Robinson (movie) project. Meeting Mrs. Robinson did motivate me, which is the character I want to play.”
That’s not all. The legendary Aretha Franklin has said she’d like Hudson to portray her in a biopic based on her autobiography, a prospect Hudson called a “dream.”
For now, she’s basking in the wake of filming “Winged Creatures.”
“The character is the very opposite of Effie,” Hudson said. “I’m new to all of this. I did ‘Dreamgirls,’ but that wasn’t a whole bunch of credibility. I hope they don’t go: ‘She has an Oscar, let her do what she wants to do.’ I said, ‘No, I’m learning here. Please continue to direct me and show me things.’ Watching Forest Whitaker was amazing.”
Reflections on “Idol”
Hudson has entertained thoughts of Broadway.
“That’s what I always wanted to do – to be in ‘Dreamgirls’ on Broadway,” she said. “But God always gives you a little bit more than you ask for, and I ended up in the movie. Broadway is definitely a goal of mine, but later on.”
She still watches “American Idol,” where the country first discovered her. Asked to speculate on who might win, Hudson picked Jordin Sparks. “She’s the full package. She has everything. She’s young, she’s gorgeous, she’s talented. All of those things.
Even though she made it only to the final seven on the 2004 “Idol” season, her big voice made a big impact.
It led to her “Dreamgirls” audition, and she beat out Fantasia Barrino, who’d beat her on “Idol,” for the role of Effie.
As a child, she studied dance and modeling but, at age 7, got hooked on singing. After appearing in a local musical, the self-described homebody landed a gig on a cruise ship at age 20. “I sang five or six days a week” for six months, she said. “That was my test. I said, ‘If I can get through the ship, that means I’m cut out for ‘Idol.”‘
Carefully branching out
Hudson recently recorded her first post-“Idol” song, a duet with soul balladeer Ne-Yo for his upcoming album. It doesn’t have the typical J. Hud vibe – which is why she did it. Ne-Yo has returned the favor and contributed to her album.
So have the Underdogs, the New York producing duo that did the “Dreamgirls” soundtrack and hits for Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey. John Legend is also expected to work on Hudson’s CD. She wants a variety of styles.
“I don’t just want to do pop or just do hip-hop,” she said. “I want to do something that appeals to everyone. I’m being very picky. I want to go more mainstream than anything.” She plans a concert tour in the fall.
“I can’t wait for that,” she said. “But I don’t understand how I will be able to balance the two, of being on tour and then if I have to film a movie.
“How do you even do that? I’m willing to try.”
