Jennifer Hudson just landed what looks to be another plum movie role, as the lead in a Winnie Mandela bio-pic. via Variety:
Jennifer Hudson is set to star in ‘Winnie, ‘ a drama that casts her as the former wife of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.
Hudson will play Winnie Mandela in a film that begins production May 30 in the South African locations of Johannesburg, Capt Town, Transkei and Robben Island, where the future president spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.
‘Winnie’ will be directed by Darrell J. Roodt, the veteran South African filmmaker whose 2006 film ‘Yesterday’ was Africa’s Best Foreign Film nominee, and who also directed ‘Cry, The Beloved Country, ‘ and ‘Sarafina!’
Andre Pieterse, Roodt and Paul L. Johnson wrote a script based on the Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob biography ‘Winnie Mandela:A Life.’ Picture is being made with South African and Canadian money, with Pieterse producing with Michael Mosca of Canada’s Equinoxe Films.
‘I was compelled and moved when I read the script, ‘ Hudson said. ‘Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I’m honored to be the actress asked to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told.’
