By Christina Radish
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Beyonce Knowles at the premiere of "Dreamgirls" held at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. on December 11, 2006. |
In the new DreamWorks film Dreamgirls, Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles), Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) and lead singer Effie White (former American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson) -- three friends from Chicago -- are a promising singing trio called The Dreamettes. Accompanied by their songwriter C.C. White (Effie’s brother, played by Keith Robinson), they travel to New York to compete in a talent show at the Apollo Theatre. Although the girls lose this first bid for fame, their talent attracts an ambitious manager by the name of Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx), who uses unscrupulous tactics to move the girls from back-up singer of superstar James “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy) to superstars of their own.
Curtis quickly reshapes the group to cross-over from R & B to the lucrative pop music scene, replacing Effie with Deena, as the lead singer. Eventually dropping Effie from the trio altogether, the group becomes the more sophisticated The Dreams, with a lighter sound and a chic look, which helps them rise to international superstardom. However, over time, they learn that money, fame and adulation doesn’t bring happiness.
Written and directed by Academy Award winner Bill Condon (Chicago), the groundbreaking Tony Award-winning Broadway phenomenon finally comes to life on the silver screen, having already received five Golden Globe nominations, for Best Picture, Best Actress (Knowles), Best Supporting Actress (Hudson), Best Supporting Actor (Murphy) and Best Original Song (“Listen”). Having known about Dreamgirls for 15 years, recording superstar Beyonce Knowles knew she wanted to be involved with the project, regardless of the size of the role.
{quote_top}“I wouldn’t know what a diva is, and I wouldn’t know half of the things I know, if it wasn’t for Dreamgirls,” the 25-year-old former Destiny’s Child singer tells MediaBlvd Magazine. “When I heard they were doing this movie, I said, ‘I have to be a part of it. I don’t care what I do. I have to be a part of this, even if I’m in it for five minutes.’ I knew it would be important. I knew it would be history. And, I knew it would be relevant, quality and classic. I’m from a singing group and, if it wasn’t for groups like The Supremes, or Aretha Franklin, and all of the artists that have crossed over, I wouldn’t be able to have international tours. It’s also important that people know the down sides of fame. They think that, if you have the glittery dresses and the eyelashes, everything’s happy, but there’s a price to fame and there’s something very sad about it. This reveals that.”
The Houston, Texas native says that, although she has seen fame ruin people, the same didn’t happen to her because she has a solid family behind her. “I’m not like most celebrities I meet,” reveals Knowles. “I am very happy. My family is with me and I have honesty around me, and most people don’t have that.”
Even though Knowles was confident that she could play Deena, she admits that it did take some convincing, on the part of Condon, before he could see her in the role. “I invited him to see my rehearsals with Destiny’s Child and I think I scared him because I’m more like Tina Turner on the stage, and my vocal performance, my dancing and everything is nothing like Deena. I would have loved to play Effie, but I knew, if he didn’t believe me as Deena, then there was no way he would believe me as Effie. I also knew that Deena was not the biggest part in the script, but I didn’t care. I was happy to be a part of it.”
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Jennifer Hudson at the premiere of "Dreamgirls" held at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. on December 11, 2006. |
“I did my screen test. I found the ugliest dress I could find, the ugliest wig I could find, put these big eyebrows on, and I did it. When I got the part, I immediately blocked off six months of my schedule, which I’ve never done. When I do albums, at most, they take two months. Everything I do is very fast. Every movie I’ve done, I did in two months. I didn’t allow myself to perform or do anything, outside of Dreamgirls. I only listened to ‘60's music. I had a shrine of Diana Ross in my trailer. I even lost 20 pounds, and I love to eat, so that was really hard. I did whatever I could think of, to do the best job I could. And, I worked with my acting coach every day, even on weekends, because I wanted to make sure that I showed that I could act, and was finally given a part that was different, and that had range. It was so exciting.”
Beating out 782 other hopefuls for the coveted role of Effie White, made famous on Broadway by powerhouse singer Jennifer Holliday, newcomer Jennifer Hudson is humbled by all of the acclaim that she has been receiving for her performance in Dreamgirls, regardless of the Oscar talk that has already started. “I just have to take things one step at a time and cross the bridges when I get to them,” the 25-year-old Chicago, Illinois native tells MediaBlvd. “I’m still living in the moment. During filming, I was like, ‘Oh, God, this is Jamie Foxx, and this is Eddie Murphy!’ I just sat back and learned from them, like I was at school. I had to get to know my character. Effie and Jennifer had to meet, and I needed to know everything about her, what triggered her, why she was so upset in this scene, what her relationship was to every individual around her, and why she was so hurt by them.”
{quote_middle}The thing that stands out most about Effie is the big ego that is always getting her into trouble. For Hudson, that was the hardest part about taking on the role. “I didn’t have that big diva attitude and sassiness, and that unbelievable presence,” she says. “I just needed direction with that, so that I could get the attitude and diva-ness that Effie had.”
In quite the contrasting position, Knowles, who is used to being the center of attention, had to adjust to toning things down, in order to play Deena. “I didn’t do the movie to become a bigger star. I’m already a big star, and the thought of being bigger is actually scary. I knew that I was going to have to hold back, vocally. I also knew that, in the beginning, when everyone else has their make-up and hair, I still have to be the oddball with the eyebrows, but that is part of being an actor and that’s part of the character, and I’m very comfortable with that. I don’t really have anything to prove, at this point. As far as being a star and being a singer, I already have nine Grammy’s, so this was really about the acting for me.”
Unsure, at this point, whether music or movies will, ultimately, become her main focus, Knowles says that she just wants to continue to do good work. “I’m still young. I love music. I love doing musicals. I want to do more. I want to do grayer movies. I want to play different parts that don’t have singing. I’m open to whatever inspires me. The thing I learned is that, when I look at a script, if I don’t have the passion that I had about Dreamgirls, then I’m not going to waste my time.”
{quote_bottom}Starting in January, Hudson wants to focus her attention on recording her first album, under her new recording contract with music mega-mogul Clive Davis. “Once the 20 minutes of the film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, everyone kept coming up to me, saying, ‘Have you met Clive yet? You need to meet Clive. I’m going to tell him about you,’” says the former cruise ship singer, who was originally passed over by Davis for a record deal, following American Idol. “After that, I heard that he saw my screen test for Dreamgirls, and he called for me to come out and meet with him. I sat and talked with him and, ever since then, we have been working towards getting a deal done. We’re looking to have the album out in June of ‘07. All I know is that I want it to be filled with a lot of soul.”
