Movies

EW Presents...

Continued

Chasing Down the 'Dreamgirls'

More

Previous Page 2 of 6 Next

HUDSON

Jennifer Hudson Photograph by James White

Condon knew that the original Effie's towering Act 1 showstopper, ''And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going'' — sung as she is sent packing from the Dreams — was not merely the stuff of legend. It was easily accessible legend, thanks to a Tony Awards telecast clip of Holliday that now hovers just a mouse click away on YouTube. That would put huge pressure on Hudson to hold up to direct comparisons, and Condon felt that despite good work in rehearsals, she hadn't quite hit heavyweight-champ status. ''It felt as if she was kind of still learning it all,'' he recalls. ''There was some essential Effieness she hadn't quite captured.''

So Condon cut short Hudson's year-end vacation with her family in Chicago, her hometown. He summoned her back to L.A. and, starting the day after Christmas, convened an emergency weeklong Diva 101 class, just director and actress. ''Everybody else had like a week or two off,'' says Hudson, a guileless, wide-eyed young woman who, like Knowles, turned 25 this past September. ''I had 48 hours.'' Condon started drilling Hudson intensively, exploiting every free minute. ''He ordered me to come into the studio just being a bitch,'' Hudson remembers. ''I consider myself very professional. But Effie is unprofessional. He told me, 'Jennifer, you're too sweet. Stop saying thank you. Stop coming in on time. Get an attitude. Be a diva, it's okay. Be angry. Be rude. Be evil.'''

Judging from an early look at Dreamgirls, Condon's crash course worked spectacularly well. (DreamWorks and Paramount will officially open the film in a reserved-seat engagement in New York, L.A., and San Francisco on Dec. 15, with a wider release on Dec. 25.) Handicappers are talking Hudson's performance way up, with Murphy's strong musical and dramatic chops also generating award-nomination chatter. Looking back, Condon is especially glad now that he got all boot camp on Hudson at the last minute. ''We went through every moment of the movie,'' he says. ''And we would play those games. 'What would Effie say to that? What would Effie do?' And Jennifer did it. It started to happen. It was this final push into owning any room she walked into, and being the center of attention she deserved to be.''

Previous Page 2 of 6 Next