Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar winner, who lost her mother, brother and nephew to her ex-brother-in-law in 2008, plays Aretha Franklin in Respect , the first film adaptation of the life of the queen of soul.
“You know you’re going to win an Oscar for playing me, right?” As if it were another part of her will, Aretha Franklin wanted to endorse before her death the only person worthy of continuing her legacy, even if only in fiction.
And it was so clear that Jennifer Hudson was chosen that she dared to predict a destiny of ovation and an award for one of the few voices capable of showing the personality of her own but, above all, for one of the few stars who They have risen from experiences as traumatic as those lived by her.
Jennifer Hudson – An Oscar Winner
The 40-year-old Oscar-winning singer now fulfills Franklin’s wish with Respect (released September 24), the first biopic about the queen of soul and who, following the diva’s prediction, has made the statuette drums beat for the great survivor of recent Hollywood.
Perhaps the biography that hits theaters in a few years will have Hudson’s own moving life story as its narrative thread. Because the work of the Chicago girl is Respect’s most precious claim , an excessively conventional hagiography in content and form that chronicles Aretha’s particular ‘hero’s journey’, from her beginnings in the church choir to international stardom.
In addition to daring to cover all her successes, her dramatic performance has already positioned her as one of the great candidates to star this year in the race for the best actress statuette.
Taking into account, in addition, the historical devotion of academics to the recreations of figures of the song such as Billie Holiday, Judy Garland or Freddie Mercury. “His performance is Oscar-worthy,” says The Independent . Can she get the best actress nomination? Variety wondersor Billboard .
“The movie is good, but its performance is from another world,” adds Cinemablend . That it has once again been at the forefront of the industry is demonstrated by photos such as the one taken with the omnipotent Anne Wintour and Tom Ford at the last Met Gala.
Jennifer Hudson’s life has always been linked to the figure of Franklin. It was a song by the Memphis diva, Share Your Love With Me , that turned a young showgirl on cruise ship shows into a television phenomenon thanks to the American Idol program.
Hudson’s casting to enter the third season of musical talent has today more than 23 million views on YouTube and, although its passage through the transcript of Operacion TriunfoIt did not win it the final victory, it is the most successful candidate to come out of the contest in its two decades of broadcast.
Her very powerful voice has led her to sing at Aretha’s own funeral or at the Super Bowl, before Barack Obama at the inauguration of his second term and has even sung the Hallelujah at a mass officiated by Pope Francis in Madison. Square Garden, thus completing the circle of the girl who closed her eyes in the church choir because of stage fright.
It has been 15 years since the last time his name was on the minds of critics and academics. Fresh out of the television format, director Bill Condon “threw himself off a cliff” by betting on her to play Effie, one of the three lead singers in Dream girls , an adaptation of the Broadway musical.
Hudson had never set foot on a movie set or had acting studios, but his discreet media profile allowed him to focus all the focus on the film’s protagonists: Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx and a Beyonce at the peak of her popularity after the triumphant Crazy in. sees itand that he was facing his first leading role on camera.
Hudson’s face didn’t even appear on the poster and it was the aforementioned star trio that made the covers of magazines like Vanity Fair. But Hudson, supported by a song that continues to make the hair stand on end today and serving as a level test at singers auditions, And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going , not only became the unofficial star of the film, but who swept all the awards for best supporting actress in his wake, statuette included.
