Twelve years ago — an eternity in cat years — Jennifer Hudson‘s name was called as Best Supporting Actress at the 79th Academy Awards for her performance as Effie White in Bill Condon‘s musical “Dreamgirls” (2006). Cut to the present day and Hudson is once again earning Oscar buzz for taking on the role of Grizabella in yet another Broadway adaptation, “Cats.”
Tom Hooper‘s latest film has already broken the internet for its trailer in which Hudson’s voice belts out the iconic song “Memory” over images of humanoid felines prancing around town. Before we get too far down this rabbit hole of predicting whether Hudson will win her second Oscar for “Cats,” let’s wet our whiskers by revisiting her 2007 speech for “Dreamgirls” (watch above).
“I have to just take this moment in. I cannot believe this. Look what God can do,” JHud remarked at the podium after being handed the Oscar by the previous year’s supporting male winner George Clooney (“Syriana”). Hudson continued, “If my grandmother was here to see me now … she was my biggest inspiration for everything. She was a singer and she had the passion for it, but she never had the chance. And that was the thing that pushed me forward to continue.”
Hudson was heavily favored to win the Oscar over co-nominees Adriana Barraza (“Babel”), Cate Blanchett (“Notes on a Scandal”), Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) and Rinko Kikuchi (“Babel”) thanks in part to her stand-out performance of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” in the musical film. In a rare instance of industry-wide support, Hudson prevailed at all of the major precursors that year: the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, BAFTA and SAG Awards. “Dreamgirls” earned a whopping eight Oscar nominations, winning for Hudson and sound mixing, but was shockingly snubbed for Best Picture.
The former “American Idol” finalist and future “The Voice” coach also thanked her family, her “genius” director Condon and her “unbelievable” cast, which included Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles. “I thank you all for helping me keep the faith even when I didn’t believe,” she stated as the music tried to play her off. “Jennifer Holliday, too!” Hudson shouted out, a nod to the former “Dreamgirls” Broadway star.
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