Jennifer Hudson: On The Fast Track
It's funny how life can change on a dime: a few years ago Jennifer Hudson stood before "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell as he said she was "out of her league."
Flash forward to Dec. 14, 2006, and Hudson, 25, is up for a Golden Globe award for her much-talked about role as Effie Melody White in the new film "Dreamgirls," which opens Dec. 25. Not bad for a girl who used to be a cruise ship performer.
"I knew something was coming," Hudson says in the new issue of Jet magazine. "I didn't know what, when or how, but I knew it was something and I knew I was going to have to sing my way to it."
Her powerful voice has taken the Chicago native to the silver screen, right next to big names like Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Beyoncé Knowles.Photos: 'Dreamgirls' Goes West
"I feel so honored that they say my name in the same breath as that," she says. "I'm overwhelmed. I can't believe what I'm hearing. I just wanted the part and right now I'm living in the moment."
Her costars can't gush enough about Hudson's talent. "I think Jennifer had things up her sleeve," Foxx tells the magazine. "Although she never did a movie before, she still had something inside her. Her life is going to change."
"She is going to be a household name after the movie comes out," says music producer Clive Davis.
With a New York Critics' Circle award already under her belt, Davis could be right.
The new issue of Jet magazine is available Dec. 18.