adminFOR Oscar and Grammy-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson, the decision to play Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in her first lead role was not easy, especially when she saw what the former South African first lady meant to the nation. The biopic “Winnie Mandela”, which opened in US cinemas last Friday, tells the story from the time she met Nelson as a young woman, through decades as the public face for her imprisoned husband’s fight against apartheid.
The film also depicts Winnie’s fall from grace when she is embroiled in murder and human rights violations before her husband is released from prison after 27 years in 1990 and goes on to become South Africa’s first black president.
“It was very intimidating for me, actually,” said Hudson of when she arrived in South Africa and heard people talk about Winnie.
“This is something they clearly treasure and take very seriously,” she said.
“I thought if I am going to do this I have to be all in. I thought maybe I should go home. And then I thought, this is a story that I would want to be a part of and tell.”
Hudson (31) plays opposite Terrence Howard.
She spent four months in Africa for the film, which was shot in 2011 by South African director Darrell Roodt. “I had to lose weight for the film and learn the accent,” said Hudson.
To conquer the accent, she immersed herself in South African culture and spent time where the Mandelas lived “just to be absorbed by their surroundings”. – Sunday World.
Online Reporter