by Nathaniel R
With Respect, the Aretha Franklin biopic, hitting theaters today let's talk Jennifer Hudson's movie career. Well, her TV and Broadway career, too, since she's primarily a singer even when moonlighting as an actress. She's made more movies than you probably think.
How many of her performances have you seen? The posters are after the jump...
Chapter 1 - Introducing Jennifer Hudson
AMERICAN IDOL -season 3 (2004)
DREAMGIRLS (2006)
SEX AND THE CITY (2008)
Though she was ridiculously voted off of American Idol early despite that powerhouse voice (I am proud to say I was rooting for her at the time --she was the only one I was ever roused to call in and vote for), she had the last laugh. The first few years of her career proved explosive anyway. She won an Oscar for acting (Dreamgirls), was nominated for four Grammies winning one for Best R & B Album for her debut lp "Jennifer Hudson" in 2008. All that and, in what proved to be a dubiously prophetic career move, was stunt-cast in a supporting role in the blockbuster Sex and the City movie (her first non-singing acting role though she sang on the soundtrack.)
Chapter 2 - She's more of a singler, really!
WINGED CREATURES (also known as FRAGMENTS) (2008)
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (2008)
THE THREE STOOGES (2012)
WINNIE MANDELA (2011/2013)
THE INEVITABLE DEFEAT OF MISTER & PETE (2013)
BLACK NATIVITY (2013)
Her next wave of movies didn't create excitement with only Black Nativity and The Three Stooges getting mainstream attention. Her only leading role, the biopic Winnie Mandela, failed to impress and only surfaced briefly in theaters two years after its festival bow. But her singing career and celebrity remained strong with Super Bowl and White House performances and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her second album "I Remember Me" in 2011 went Gold just like her first.
Chapter 3 - Queen of Stunt Casting
CALL ME CRAZY (2013)
SMASH season 2 (2013)
LULLABY (2014)
EMPIRE season 1 (2015)
CHI-RAQ (2015)
THE COLOR PURPLE (2015)
HAIRSPRAY LIVE (2016)
CONFIRMATION (2016)
SANDY WEXLER (2017)
MONSTER (2018)
CATS (2019)
The bulk of the past decade was spent in small supporting roles capitalizing on either her fame or that stellar voice. The best of the lot was Spike Lee's bold funny and confrontational musical Chi-Raq. Cats of course went from prestige property to Razzie flop though that can hardly be blamed on JHud! She received one Grammy nomination for the song "It's Your World" from her flop third album (though to be fair everyone's record sales had collapsed at that point in time due to streaming music becoming the norm)
She had more success as a live performer on TV's version of Hairspray and in her Broadway run in The Color Purple which netted her a second Grammy win (Best Musical Theater Album) though the bulk of the praise and the Tony wins or nominations went to her co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Danielle Brooks. She reacted to the lack of a Tony nomination with "My presence was used for my celebrity, not my talent. I'm not surprised." She later deleted the tweet. Maybe it read like sour grapes to some but we appreciated the candor and the lack of delusion!
Chapter 4- Right Now
RESPECT (2021)
In her first leading role in 10 years, Jennifer headlines the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. It's now in theaters. Reviews for her performance are kind and her voice is in spectacular form, acquitting herself well in the performance scenes just as she did in Dreamgirls. It surely helps the buzz along that Aretha Franklin reportedly approved the casting before her death in 2018. Are you seeing it this weekend?
Oscar Punditry Side-Note: While Jennifer is definitely in the Best Actress mix for now, we suspect the buzz won't last if the fall/winter films are strong. But will they be? If it's a weak fall/winter she could snag her second Oscar nomination because there's no subgenre more appealing to Oscar voters than the musician biopic, irrespective of quality; For every Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter there's a Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody.