Jennifer Hudson: Living The ‘Dream’

NEW YORK (December 5, 2006) — Jennifer Hudson will no longer be known as an “American Idol” castoff.

And while we all knew she could sing, now we know she can act too as she steals the movie “Dreamgirls”.

Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson sat down with the film rookie, who is truly living the “Dream”.

“And a star is born,” Shaun smiled as Jennifer entered the room. “What cloud are you on right now – 9? 10? 11? 12? You must be so ecstatic.”

“Oh my God, yes,” Jennifer beamed.

In landing the role of Effie White, Jennifer beat out nearly 800 other girls.

But only one woman could fill the shoes of Effie, the temperamental diva, who started out as the group’s lead singer but was demoted to backup so they could make it big.

And while Jennifer shares the screen with superstars like Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy, her star is as bright as any.

“This is your first film role and there is already talk about Oscar,” Shaun told her. “When you first heard that, what did you think?”

“I still can’t believe it. It’s such an honor, especially thinking back to the fact that all I wanted was the part. That would have been enough just to be part of such a great project and work with all these stars,” Hudson gushed.

In fact, Jamie Foxx praised Jennifer’s performance.

“Oh my God! This woman!” Foxx raved.

“She has some lungs on her,” Shaun laughed.

“Oh man, she killed,” Jamie added. “When she sang the song, they had the camera on me first and she was singing off camera and they were telling me to be tough and mean and I was like ‘Oh my God, it’s just so good’ and they’d have to call cut.”

As Jennifer told us, her and Jamie created a bond while working together.

“Jamie was my strongest support system while filming, and even after. He was always positive and carried a positive aura around. He was just upbeat and fun. He would always entertain the extras too. If you didn’t see Jamie, you heard his mouth,” she laughed.

While it may have been her first film, as Jamie noted, she fit right in.

“It was her first time but she has some tricks up her sleeve,” he smiled. “She knew something was going on, because when she did her line to me she didn’t shake, didn’t drop one line and gave it to me like ‘I don’t care if you are Jamie Foxx. I don?t care who you are, you’re gonna get this in your face.?”

Eddie Murphy was also eager to compliment his young co-star.

Fellow “Dreamgirl” Beyonce said Jennifer did a great job when the cameras were rolling – even though she had some big shoes to fill.

“She had so much pressure because whenever I would tell people that I was doing ‘Dreamgirls,’ they didn’t want to talk about any character but Effie and she completely pulled it off,” Beyonce told Shaun. “She is incredible. Her voice is like an angel and she is an angel so she deserves everything that she’s getting.”

But Jennifer’s real-life dream come true was a telephone call from none other than Lady O.

“I understand that Oprah Winfrey called you and you wouldn’t get on the phone,” Shaun asked.

“I didn’t know it was Oprah on the phone,” Jennifer laughed. “I was like right, Oprah’s on the phone. Stop playing with me. And once I realized it was Oprah I was like, ‘Oh my God. This is not Oprah on the other end of this phone’ and that was the only thing that came out of my mouth that made sense.”

And as for “Idol” judge Simon Cowell, who once told Jennifer she was “out of her league” on “Idol,” Jennifer is still gracious.

“Simon, I love you and thank you but I just want to see you in the theater when everybody comes. Come Christmas, come the day after Christmas. I just want to see you in the theater,” she laughed.

Catch Jennifer, Beyonce, Jamie, Eddie & more when “Dreamgirls” opens nationwide on December 25.