Jennifer Hudson to debut Winnie Mandela movie

For fans wondering when Jennifer Hudson’s Winnie Mandela biopic will debt in theaters, the songstress says it won’t be longer than one month.

“It’s going to the The Toronto International Film Festival on September 16, I’m so excited,” Hudson told Chicago’s WGCI radio station’s morning show of the release date for “Winnie.” “I just got to see the film for myself.”

Mandela herself has expressed concern over Hudson playing her in a film, partly because the “Dreamgirls” star never met her in person.

“No, I did not but I wanted to,” Hudson admitted, before showing off her faux South African accent for her hometown fans.

“Oh my god, I do not know what to say right now,” she said. “I have not done my accent in about a year.”

Adopted voice aside, Hudson said “Winnie” let her know that acting is truly one of her gifts.

“I was like ‘Oh my God, I can act,’ ” Hudson said of watching her performance. “It was my first lead role so when I got there I was like ‘I don’t know … .’ ”

It’s one thing to play a character and quite another to play a living, breathing icon and Hudson says she’s didn’t take it lightly for some serious reasons.

“Because of what she stands for and how close the country and the people are to her. If you go to Africa and say the name Winnie Mandela, they shiver because she’s that dear to these people,” Hudson said.

“I want to make sure that I’m all the way able, if I’m gonna half do it, then I’m not gonna do it. But if I’m gonna be in it, I gotta be in it. So I made up my mind to to go for it.”



Source:BET