Dreamgirls - Em Busca de um Sonho

[-felipe-]

 

Tom O'Neill' date=' um dos mais conhecidos "oscarwatchers", aponta Dreamgirls e Jennifer Hudson como favoritos ao Oscar de Filme e Atriz Coadjuvante, respectivamente:

 

The Envelope's Tom O'Neill got Dreamgirls costar Jennifer Hudson to tell him about the filming of the scene in which she sings "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" -- the classic tune that Jennifer Holliday

sang in the original B'way stage version that ran in the early '80s,

and which won more or less won her a Best Actress Tony Award.

 

For Hudson's performing of "the most anticipated scene in one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year, director Bill Condon

fretted so much over shooting it that he saved it up for last and shut

down the set so no one could spy on the scene," O'Neill writes. "All

early buzz indicates that Dreamgirls is about to transform Hudson into a superstar," he adds. "[And] she's already the frontrunner for the Supporting Actress Oscar."

 

O'Neill is correct about this -- Hudson is the one to beat right now. I saw the Dreamgirls

scenes Monday night at the Pacific Design Center and listened to Hudson

belt out three tunes like a champ. She's got the hot role in Dreamgirls -- the one with the most soul and punch and heartache.

 

I didn't think I'd be saying this, but the great Meryl Streep needs to put herself into the Best Actress category after all for her Devil Wears Prada performance. If she goes for Best Supporting Actress she'll almost certainly lose to Hudson.

 

 

[Administrator]

 

Meu Zeus! Estava precisando muito de boas fotos do filme

para montar as previsões do Oscar 2007, e nem sabia que tinham essas em widescreen e boa resolução.

 

 

 

Às vezes este fórum é útil, quem diria...

 

 

Gustavo²2006-8-21 15:32:10

[-felipe-]

 

Meu Zeus! Estava precisando muito de boas fotos do filme

para montar as previsões do Oscar 2007' date=' e nem sabia que tinham essas em widescreen e boa resolução.

 

 

 

Às vezes este fórum é útil, quem diria...

 

 

[/quote']

Pois é. Nunca subestime o C&C.

 

[-felipe-]

O titulo nacional vai ser Dreamgirls - Em Busca de um Sonho e a estréia por aqui está prevista pra 16 de fevereiro.

 

[Th@t@_patty]

Sou só eu que não está nem um pouco interessada nesse filme?

 

[Beckin]

Sou só eu que não está nem um pouco interessada nesse filme?

Eu também não. Não gostei muito do teaser, vai ver pela falta de interesse mesmo.

[-felipe-]

O poster do filme:

 

 

 

[texer]

Cara podiam ter chamado uma outra atriz negra(até a Halle Berry eu engolia!) talentosa,até mesmo q fosse um novo talento revelado,mas Beyoncée!Pelo amor de Deus!A entrada dessa muié no filme estragou qualquer expectativa q eu pudesse ter sobre um novo musical legal q superasse Moulin Rouge!...Falta de criatividade e medo de arriscar dessa galera,viu...Preferiu pisar em terreno conhecido chamando ela q já tem um público e q certamente chamará bilheteria ao filme...

 

Eu quero mais é q estreie na décima posição!

Pra completar,ainda tem Jamie Foxx e Eddie Murphy...Vou ficar na espera de Hairspray e Sweeney Todd pra 2007 q estão com um elenco bem mais interessante!

[Lucy in the Sky]

o poster é lindo, gostei da história e vou ver o filme, mas a presença de beyoncé knowles realmente desanima.

[-felipe-]

Os banners dos protagonistas:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lucy in the Sky]

Os banners dos protagonistas:

são muito inferiores ao poster.

[Yoh]

 

Sou só eu que não está nem um pouco interessada nesse filme?

 

Eu também não. Não gostei muito do teaser' date=' vai ver pela falta de interesse mesmo.

[/quote']

 

Também tenho zero de interesse. Só verei se receber uma quantidade monstruosa de elogios e aparentar ser uma obra prima. Ir ver um filme com Eddie Murphy para mim é quase um crime. Jamie Foxx eu gosto um pouco e eu não tenho problema com a Beyoncé.

 

[-felipe-]

"A new Beyonce song,

"Listen," leads the soundtrack to the film "Dreamgirls," due Dec. 5 via

Music World/Sony Urban, 16 days before the film opens in wide U.S.

theatrical release. The cut, which Beyonce co-wrote, is due to arrive this week at U.S. radio outlets; its video will premiere the week of Nov. 13.

Although

the full track list has yet to be announced, another song from the

album, "One Night Only" has been making the rounds as a dance mix.

"Dreamgirls" will also be available in a two-disc edition with extra

music from the movie."Dreamgirls" is loosely based on the rise and fall

of the Supremes and stars Beyonce as a member of an up-and-coming vocal

trio. Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Danny Glover also appear.

 

Beyonce will perform Nov. 21 at the American Music Awards, although it is unknown if she will play a track from her new album, "B-Day," or a song from "Dreamgirls." The cast of the film is expected to visit MTV's "TRL" in early December."

Source: Billboard.com

 

[-felipe-]

Saiu o trailer do filme:

 

http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/dreamgirls/trailer2/

 

[Garbage]

Uma melhor resolução dos banners.

 

[-felipe-]

O site oficial do filme já está no ar:

 

http://www.dreamgirlsmovie.com/

 

 

[-felipe-]

"Dreamgirls" Screened to Applause...Who Smells Oscar?

 

 

Posted

 

by RT-News

on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006, 02:26 AM

 

 

 

Jen Yamato

writes: "Like a Broadway musical, "Dreamgirls"

debuted last night in simultaneous "One Night Only" sneak screenings in

anticipation of its release next month. Will audiences flock to the Jamie Foxx-Beyonce Knowles

period musical? Is "Dreamgirls" still a contender for all those rumored

Oscar noms, now that people have actually seen the film?

 

 

Dreamgirls (2006)

 

 

• Posters

 

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• About

 

• Forum

 

 

The answers to both questions remain to be seen, but if the

San Francisco screening was any indication, DreamWorks and Paramount

can expect decent results commercially and critically (at least,

judging from the raucous applause from the audience).

 

 

 

Adapted from the stage musical of the same name, "Dreamgirls"

follows the Supremes-like rise and fall of the fictional girl group

through two decades. Led by the bold-voiced, sassy lead singer Effie (Jennifer Hudson, in her first role ever -- "American Idol" notwithstanding), the naïve Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose) and pretty, ambitious Deena (Beyonce Knowles) form The Dreamettes, a talented but struggling trio in 1960s Detroit.

 

When they team up with a determined manager, Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), the Dreamettes become the backing singers for R&B singer James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy)

and get their first taste of success. But as Curtis becomes more intent

on turning the girls into a commercially viable act, Effie finds

herself pushed out of the group as her old friends move on without her

in their quests for fame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The audience in attendance with me was mixed; a few press, lots of

women, some men, all doubtless fans of musicals -- 'cause let's face

it, only people who enjoy the cinema's most reviled (by non-fans) genre

would jump at the chance to watch the year’s biggest silver screen

song-and-dance.

 

 

 

That said, there was a whole lot of clapping going on, and not just

during the credits. Many times throughout the film's two hour and five

minutes, it was almost as if we were in a live theater where the

performer-audience interaction necessitates the artist-gratifying

phenomenon of spontaneous applause. Heartfelt ballad? Applause. Sassy

one-liner? Applause. Another heartfelt ballad? Applause.

 

 

 

[Actually, the thought did occur during one of the film’s many

shows-within-a-show that the theater surround sound made it hard to

discern between scripted in-movie applause and the applause of actual

people around me. Sneaky marketing trick? I wonder…]

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is no coincidence that first-time actor Jennifer Hudson

drew the majority of this applause; her performance is -- surprisingly,

soulfully, impressively -- deserving of early Oscar speculation that

she might make for a solid Supporting Actress candidate. Not so much

for rumors that "Dreamgirls" could make Best Picture. Short of writing

a full review (look for one to come), I'll leave it at that.

 

 

 

Over at the LA Times' Gold Derby, Tom O'Neill is gushing about the flick and the response it got at the Beverly Hills screening tonight: "We now, officially, have a best picture frontrunner and one that's going to be tough to beat."

 

 

 

O'Neill is also pegging J.Hud for an Oscar nomination -- not as Best

Supporting Actress, as the blogosphere has been ruminating, but as Best

Actress.

He's right; she simply nails the film's signature song, "And I Am

Telling You I'm Not Going," manages to outshine professional diva

Beyonce, and holds her own in non-singing scenes opposite the likes of Jamie Foxx and Danny Glover.

 

 

 

The official early release of "Dreamgirls" starts December 15, when the so-called "road show" opens in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.

During these exclusive engagements, theatergoers can peruse special

making-of displays showcasing the film's production design and costume

design, plus purchase exclusive "Dreamgirls" merchandise and the

soundtrack from lobby displays, and enjoy the luxury of assigned-seat

ticketing, much like going to live theater! And, just like live

theater, the tickets are pricier -- $25 a pop -- but you also get a

limited edition program, and the privilege of watching a potential

Oscar contender days before its nationwide release on Christmas Day.

 

 

 

"Dreamgirls" is adapted and directed by Bill Condon (Oscar-nominated for the screenplay of 2002's "Chicago") and stars Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose, and Danny Glover.

 

 

 

Watch the trailer here!"

 

[-felipe-]

Um artigo sobre o filme:

 

 

 

 

[-felipe-]

Dreamgirls Wakes Up

 

 

 

David

Geffen’s Long-Delayed Musical Roused to Life By Beyoncé, Foxx, Eddie

Murphy, Jennifer Hudson, And We Are Telling You They’re Going—to the

Oscars!

 

 

By Sara Vilkomerson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Grossman

 

 

Dreamgirls Deferred: But it's finally here! With Anika Noni Rose, Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“She killed it!” excitedly exclaimed a male audience

member, filing out of the Loews theater on 34th Street on Nov. 21,

after an early screening of Dreamgirls, the $70 million–plus joint release from Paramount/DreamWorks.

 

 

 

He

was referring to Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of the iconic Broadway

torch song “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” five mellifluous,

molto vibrato minutes that have suddenly catapulted Ms. Hudson, 25, an

erstwhile failed American Idol contestant and Disney cruise-ship

entertainer, into the position of front-runner for the Best Supporting

Actress Oscar. And that’s just the appetizer.

 

 

 

“It’s

theirs to lose,” declared a veteran industry insider, of a Best Picture

contest that is fast shaping up to be yet another battle between the

elites of Los Angeles and New York (like Crash versus Brokeback Mountain last year): big fistfuls of Dreamgirls stardust flung against the gangster grit of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed.

But even jaded New Yorkers, judging from the unabashed applause that

followed The Song last week, seem to be in a receptive mood for a

little old-school, feel-good Hollywood bada-bing. It is wartime, after all.

 

 

 

With that applause came a palpable exhalation of relief: This was not going to be another Rent or Phantom of the Opera train wreck. Dreamgirls, the movie, a quarter of a century in the making, the gay man’s Lord of the Rings, just might … yes! … live up to the hype.

 

 

 

Written by Henry Krieger (music) and Tom Eyen (lyrics), Dreamgirls opened

on Broadway in 1981. The story of a Motown-like label trying to

repackage itself to a mainstream audience—by taking away a big black

voice coming from a big black woman and replacing it with a honey-hued

beauty with a weaker voice—Dreamgirls won six Tony Awards and

played for 1,500-plus performances. The play was directed and

choreographed by the late Michael Bennett and produced by a young man

named David Geffen, who retained control of the film rights.

 

 

 

Throughout the years, numerous attempts have been made to bring Dreamgirls to the big screen. Whitney Houston was reportedly attached at one time, as was Lauryn Hill and—yeowch—Joel Schumacher. But nothing ever came of it, until 2002, when the razzle-dazzle film adaptation of Chicago, after its own torturous adaptation process, struck gold. Written by Gods and Monsters’ Bill

Condon and directed by Rob Marshall, it grossed $306 million nationwide

and took home six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. And

lo—musicals, which had gone the way of Starlight Express, were suddenly hot properties again in Hollywood.

 

 

 

Dreamgirls’ producer, Laurence Mark, who has worked on such films as Working Girl and As Good As It Gets, is a longtime friend of Mr. Condon. “At some point during the whole Chicago thing, Bill joked that he was being offered to write every unfilmed stage musical from Pippin to Got Tu Go Disco,”

said Mr. Mark. “I said, ‘Bill, is there any anything in that Broadway

trunk you’d want to do?’ He said there was one thing he’d love to do,

but that the rights were impossible to get, and I said, ‘Oh, you must

mean Dreamgirls.’”

 

 

 

Luckily, Mr. Mark

was also a friend of David Geffen and was able to directly plead Mr.

Condon’s case. “Once in a while, a Rolodex is helpful,” Mr. Mark

remarked dryly.

 

 

 

Mr. Geffen’s reluctance to have

the film made, Mr. Mark said, had to do with the fear of damaging the

reputation of the show or Mr. Bennett, who died of AIDS in 1987. “So

often, the movie version of a stage musical gets screwed up, and that

somehow tarnishes both the reputation of the musical itself and the

creator. David didn’t want to run that risk.”

 

 

 

Lunch

was arranged at Mr. Geffen’s house. “I met Bill at the Beverly Hills

Hotel a half-hour before the lunch to make sure we had our act

together,” Mr. Mark said. “Somewhere between the entrée and the

dessert, Bill got to give his six-minute here’s-my-approach. At the end

of it, David said, ‘Well, let’s give this a shot.’”

 

 

 

The first star to sign up was Beyoncé, in the role of the Diana

Ross–like Deena Jones, who replaces the more talented but less

physically appealing Effie White (Ms. Hudson) in a Supremes-like group,

the Dreams. Jamie Foxx, fresh off his Oscar win for Ray, was

cast as Curtis Taylor Jr. Tony Award–winning Anika Nomi Rose became the

third Dream, Lorrell Robinson. Eddie Murphy was convinced to play James

“Thunder” Early (a hybrid of James Brown and Little Richard). Even

Danny (“I’m too old for this shit”) Glover was brought on in a

supporting role as world-weary talent manager Marty Madison. “The

stars, in more ways than one, seemed to be in alignment,” Mr. Mark said.

 

 

 

But

it was the role of Effie, whose heartache and betrayal is the emotional

core of the production, that was always going to be the key bit of

casting. It is Effie, after all, who belts out the

reach-deep-into-the-spleen anthem made famous by Broadway’s Jennifer

Holliday. Cue Cinderella subplot! Freshly dissed by Simon Cowell, Ms.

Hudson, who had only known “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from an

episode on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air where Will Smith lip-syncs the words, beat 782 other girls for the part.

 

 

 

On the Nov. 20 Oprah,

Mr. Cowell ate what he called “humble pie” before a visibly overwhelmed

Ms. Hudson in a surprise taped message arranged by the show’s

producers, asking if she would thank him when she won her Oscar. The

audience at the telecast had seen a preview of the film the night

before; they predictably went wild for the sex-kittenish Beyoncé and

smooth-talking Mr. Foxx. But when Ms. Winfrey introduced Ms. Hudson,

adding that hearing her sing was like “a religious experience”—oh boy,

they went bananas.

 

 

 

“Let me tell you about this movie,” intoned Ms. Winfrey—who also, let’s not forget, anointed last year’s Best Picture winner, Crash—in her best Ten Commandments voice. “It has kept me up for days thinking about it …. It defines sensational.” She also called it an “extrava-gahn-za.”

 

 

 

“I had to remember to breathe before I walked out on the stage,” Ms. Rose told The Observer.

“I mean, Oprah is the most powerful woman … and to be on her show is

one hell of a milestone. I thought I needed one of those paddle things

to re-shock my heart into beating. I grew up watching this woman and

this show, and now she has you on there for a good thing … not, like,

because you have a shopping addiction or something.”

 

 

 

The

Oprah appearance was but the latest in a marketing campaign that has

been executed, with military precision, by the aptly named Terry Press,

head of worldwide marketing for DreamWorks Animation, who has guided

movies like Gladiator and American Beauty to statuette

success. “She’s brilliant,” said a former colleague. “I’d sit in

meetings with her, and I swear, after everything she said, all I could

say was ‘Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!”

 

 

 

On

March 1, over 200 journalists were bussed to Los Angeles’ Orpheum

Theater for a set visit that turned (seemingly) into an impromptu

cocktail party. Also in March, Ms. Hudson was fêted at ShoWest, the Las

Vegas industry convention, as the Female Star of Tomorrow. In May at

Cannes, a 20-minute sneak peek of Dreamgirls footage had the

surly frogs on their feet. “We knew the French could be critical, and

that they’d hiss if they didn’t like it,” Ms. Rose said. “But then they

were standing up and were yelling. They were screaming, ‘More, more,

more!’”

 

 

 

Dreamgirls seems destined to tippety-tap down the same yellow brick road as Chicago,

both at the box office and at the Shrine Auditorium come February; it

not only has that production’s star power, but more radio-friendly

tracks (one of the new ones, “Listen,” was included on Beyoncé’s last

album). But within studio walls, echoing Dreamgirls’ own themes, there were concerns about how to sell an all-black cast.

 

 

 

Indeed, the Cannes trip, Mr. Mark said, was “all about the fact

that a period African-American musical, at face value, doesn’t sound

like it has enormous foreign potential. We were just attempting to

speak to that concern. I know we got lovely buzz, and much more than we

ever anticipated, but the point of it at the time was to see if we

could get some foreign groundwork laid.”

 

 

 

The emergence of the fleshy Ms. Hudson, in A Star Is Born mode,

over the glitzier and in-real-life-better-packaged Beyoncé is something

many seem to be cheering for. In September, she was again trotted out

to sing a few numbers, this time in front of intimate groups of

entertainment editors in New York and L.A.

 

 

 

Ten

days before the movie officially opens on Christmas, audiences willing

to fork over 25 bucks will be able to see the movie at L.A.’s Cinerama

Dome, San Francisco’s Metreon and New York’s Ziegfeld theaters, along

with a corny-sounding “road show” of behind-the-scenes displays and, of

course, “exclusive” merchandise.

 

 

 

“It’s a doff

of the hat to the wonderful old era of movie musicals,” said Mr. Mark,

who, befitting the customs of his trade, demurred any award

speculation. “Who knows?” he said. “I’ve been around the block enough

times to know that at some point, there will be a nice bucket of cold

water that will come down.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

[-felipe-]

Alguns videos do filme:

 

Clip: Wigs

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

Clip: Here To Protect You

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

Clip: Teach Us The Song

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

Clip: Jimmy Don't Belong To No One

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

Clip: I Am A Woman Now

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

Clip: Deena's Singing Lead

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

Clip: Dreamgirls

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

Clip: Ease Up

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media

SM MD LG

Quicktime

SM MD LG

 

Clip: I Can't Play That Part

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media

SM MD LG

Quicktime

SM MD LG

 

Clip: Jimmy & Lorrell Backstage

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media

SM MD LG

Quicktime

SM MD LG

 

Clip: One Night Only

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

Clip: Listen

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

Clip: Effie I Need You

Windows Media Player SM MD LG

Real Media SM MD LG

Quicktime SM MD LG

 

[-felipe-]

Algumas fotos do road show:

 

 

 

[-felipe-]

Mais videos:

 

Clipe de Listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63eIk4jOw4Y&mode=related&search=

 

Clipe de One Night Only:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2ParhusO4c

 

Love You I Do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBM_9djK_Uk

 

Jennifer Hudson cantando One Night Only no Today Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQru5WaYE6w&mode=related&search=

 

 

 

-felipe-2007-01-04 20:01:21

[-felipe-]

 

Interview: Jennifer Hudson

 

"Dreamgirls"

Posted:   Saturday, December 23rd 2006 3:12AM

Author:   Garth Franklin

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Former "American Idol" contestant Jennifer Hudson makes an Oscar worthy

career debut with an already acclaimed performance in "Dreamgirls". T

he film adaptation of the Tony award-winning 1981 musical follows the

rise and fall of a Supremes-esque girl singing group in the 60's.

Despite Beyonce Knowles serving as the Diana Ross counterpart, the play

and film is really about Hudson's character Effie White - the 'heavier'

singer who looks less glamorous but is the one girl of the group with

real talent. Hudson talks about her work on the film and the exhaustive

audition process she underwent:

 

 

 

Question: Were any of the American Idol girls jealous?

 

 

 

Hudson: Why? [laughs]

I don't run into too many of them. I did see Latoya London, she's doing

a great job and has her own great career. I don't know what Frenchie is

doing, but she's great as well. And Fantasia - that's Fantasia, baby.

She's on her road as well. Everybody's extremely supportive. I recently

got a call from Jasmine from my season, and she left me a beautiful

message on my phone. Everybody is so supportive, they really are.

 

 

Question: Was this the first time Simon Cowell has apologized to anyone in his whole life?

 

 

 

Hudson: Probably. [laughs] To be honest! I don't know, but that was a moment in time for me, to see that.

 

 

 

Question: Jamie Foxx has said that whole experience, where Simon criticized you so harshly in front of America, prepared you for this.

 

 

 

Hudson: Definitely. I give that experience

credit, and I feel everything prepares you for the next. It helped make

Effie and my stories parallel. I definitely see similarities in it.

 

 

Question: You knew you could sing. But did you know you could be the emotional anchor of a film?

 

 

 

Hudson: I did not know that! I was learning it

as I went along. I didn't even realize that was what I was doing. I

just felt like I needed to be that voice for Florence Ballard, who

Effie is based on. That was part of my motivation.

 

Question: You said that when you watched old clips of The Supremes, you would see how Florence would be aloof from the others...

 

 

 

Hudson: Yeah. I mean, just her disposition,

and the way she would separate herself from the rest of The Supremes.

The look on her face of not being happy with being there - but knowing

from the research and the background... you can only imagine what she

was feeling. I felt like that's what "And I Am Telling You" is about,

and what Effie storming out is about. It's how her fans felt she should

have reacted, because if you go look at a picture or even a clip of one

of their performances, you would say, 'What's wrong with her?' without

knowing the story. And that, I think, is Effie screaming out.

 

 

Question: "And I Am Telling You" in the film

is an incredibly powerful moment. When you're doing a show, you'll sing

a song like that once a night on stage. When you're making a movie,

you're probably singing that song again and again all day. What kind of

emotional place do you get to?

 

 

Hudson: You get to a desperate emotional

place! I actually ended up doing "And I Am Telling You," "I'm Changing"

and "One Night Only" all in one week. Like I say, it was a bit of

everything... and of course "And I Am Telling You" is all led by

emotion, and that's what I sing by - it's what I'm trained to sing by.

I need to understand it and know what I'm saying and know what I'm

trying to get across, and I just found the emotion for that.

 

 

Question: Who called you with the good news that you got the role?

 

 

 

Hudson: Bill Condon. I knew that if he was

calling it was good news. I got so many different calls throughout the

process of auditioning, from 'You're by far the best' to 'You're not

being considered anymore, we're going in a different direction.' By the

time it was time for the call, I didn't know what to expect. But I knew

that if it was Bill calling it would be good news.

 

Question: How did you react?

 

 

 

Hudson: I jumped up and down and shouted

'Thank you, Jesus!' I fell to the ground and had Bill repeat it again

and again. 'Just say it again, Bill!' The first person I called was my

mother.

 

 

Question: Jamie also said that you're

country. He said you're nice country and that you had to get to a place

where you could be a little bit of a diva.

 

 

Hudson: Bill said I was just a little too

sweet and soft-spoken, and wanted me to be more aggressive. They wanted

me to be more demanding, like Effie - to take charge and be that diva

that she is. I had to go through Diva 101, rehearse having that

attitude, walking in when I felt like it, walking out when I felt like

it, saying what I wanted to say. Stuff like that.

 

 

Question: You went from a size 10/12 to a 14/16 for the part?

 

 

 

Hudson: Jennifer's a very healthy eater. I

only each chicken, fish and turkey, no fried foods. I don't even drink

soda. But for Effie I had to change it a little bit and eat cookies and

cakes and pies at all wee hours of the night, and I got away with it,

because I had to gain and maintain the weight. I found the biggest

challenge, moreso than gaining or losing weight, was to maintain the

weight. Anytime I lost an inch, [wardrobe] was like, 'Nope, you gotta

go back up.' It was hard because of all the choreography and the busy

schedule.

 

Question: Whose decision was it for how big Effie should be?

 

 

 

Hudson: You just needed to be able to perceive

the difference between Effie's image and and the other girl's image. I

don't think it was so much about 'Effie needs to be a size 16/18 and

200 pounds' - it was just so you could show the difference.

 

Question: Was one of the biggest sacrifices for you in this film wearing the outfit in the "Heavy" number?

 

 

 

Hudson: Yes! That outfit was the worst thing

in my life. Oh my God, I don't know what they were thinking! It felt

like I was in a box, and then I had these fishnets on - and when your

legs are thick and rub together, fishnets don't feel so good! Then I

had these shoes that were custom made. Don't ever get no shoes that are

custom made to fit your feet! Honey, it took at least four people to

put the shoes on my foot. That's how uncomfortable... my feet still

don't look right. That was the most painful, and that was our longest

night of shooting.

 

Question: What was your favorite time period and look for Effie?

 

 

 

Hudson: I liked Effie when she went through

her trying times, because it was really real. Of course we love the

glamour and the glitz, but I loved the realness, getting stripped down

to the lowest of the low. That was one of my favorites. loved the

realness, getting stripped down to the lowest of the low. That was one

of my favorites.

 

Question: There's all this Oscar talk. Are you ready for that? You were just performing on cruise ships a couple of years ago.

 

 

 

Hudson: I'll never get used to it. Everytime

I'm like, 'Really? Are you serious?' All I wanted was the role...

although it would be the biggest honor. And I would get up there and

accept! But I haven't got used to hearing it yet. I have to cross that

bridge when I get to it.

 

 

Question: There's controversy about how

Paramount is pushing you for Best Supporting Actress, but that Effie is

really the center of the story. Do you feel that you should be pushed

as Best Actress?

 

 

Hudson: I don't know... I don't really count

the minutes and the seconds we're on the screen to determine who should

be lead. Again, I'm just grateful to be part of the project. It really

doesn't matter to me.

 

 

Question: Was this role a tribute to any of the big voiced women who came before you, like Aretha Franklin?

 

 

 

Hudson: In researching Effie, the first thing

that came to mind was Aretha Franklin. I feel like the idea for this

voice came from Aretha, and when Jennifer Holliday got a hold of it she

took it to a whole other place. But I patterned and dedicated each

songs to my favorite female artists. 'Move,' if you listen to it, is

Aretha style, has an Aretha feel. I used some of the licks she would

throw into a song. 'I'm Changing,' it's Jennifer Holliday. And 'One

Night Only' is my dedication to Whitney.

 

 

Question: Do you live in LA now?

 

 

 

Hudson: I live in Chicago. Actually, I live on airplanes. But Chicago is my home.

 

 

 

Question: Have the offers been coming in yet?

 

 

 

Hudson: Yes, the scripts have been coming in. But I'm taking my time to make the next move. I want to make the right decision.

 

 

 

Question: Is it movies for you next, or is it stage?

 

 

 

Hudson: Next for me is recording my album, and

then after that I want to do more movies. Later down the line I would

love to do theater.

 

 

Question: What kind of music is the album going to be?

 

 

 

Hudson: I don't know. I want to go mainstream

- I don't believe in limiting myself. We haven't had that creative

meeting yet to determine what direction I'm going to go in, but I

definitely want it to be something that everyone can like.

 

 

Question: You're making your big screen debut

against some very talented actors. What does someone like Danny Glover

or Jamie Foxx tell you - what hints or tips do they give?

 

 

Hudson: Eddie and Danny, I just pretty much

sat back and watched them, watched how they worked. I took from Danny

how to build a character. When we would read through the script, the

first time I read was with Jamie, and he was very calm. Then I read

with Beyonce, and she was just as calm. Then I read with Danny and he

was very intense and dramatic and beating the table and hopping around

the room, and I was like, 'Please tell me I don't have to do that!' And

then watching Eddie go in and out of character - to sit here and see

him just leave the room, Eddie leave the rumor and James 'Thunder'

Early come across stage.

 

 

 

The advice came more from Beyonce and Jamie. Beyonce told me to

make sure you be smart and make the right decisions and take your time

with things. Jamie told me to always make sure you give 100%. One time

the camera was over there [gestures far away] and I was like, 'Do I

really have to put it out?' and he said, 'You always give 100% -

whether the camera is across the room, across the street or in your

face. You always give it your all.'

 

 

[haziell]

Acho q esse filme tá sendo supervalorizado, não sei não...deve ser melçhor q Chicago, pelo menos.

 

E de onde q apareceram esses peitos na Beyoncé? ela não tava tão turbinada assim

 

 

[-felipe-]

 

Interview: Jamie Foxx

 

"Dreamgirls"

Posted:   Saturday, December 23rd 2006 3:09AM

Author:   Garth Franklin

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Jamie Foxx continues his run of critically acclaimed performances with

"Dreamgirls", the film adaptation of the Tony award-winning 1981

musical about the rise and fall of a Supremes-esque girl singing group

in the 60's. The film marks a slight departure for Foxx, relegating him

to the role of the girl's opportunistic and ultimately morally bankrupt

agent. Essentially serving as the villain of the piece, Foxx explains

what drew him to the project:

 

 

Question:

Curtis has this interesting thing where he's all about where art and

commerce meet. He overshoots it and goes right for the commerce. As an

artist, how do you balance that?

 

 

Foxx: It's tough, because you're always

looking at the big contracts and the people making twenty million

dollars, and you think, wow, I wish I could have that. Then you look at

the other side of it, the Oscars and stuff like that, which has a

little more weight to it. What you try to do is you try to marry them

as best you can. I know one thing, when you do shoot for the big money

it's high risk, high return. Most of the time with the big money

there's not a lot of substance there, but you cross your fingers and

you try to find those projects that can give you both. With Dreamgirls

you get both - it's a critical piece, while at the same time, people

who are fans of Eddie Murphy (which I have been for years) and people

who are fans of Beyonce are going to run out and see it and make it a

commercial success. That's when it's good.

 

 

Question: What was Beyonce like to work with?

 

 

 

Foxx: Incredible. I think Beyonce was

incredible in the sense that she took it serious. She took it serious

in the sense that she knew this was her opportunity to do something

special as far as her acting muscles were considered. When you think

about it, you know she can sing. You know the music is going to blow

you away. What she had to do was connect that drama, and I think her

turns that she did in the acting fuels the music. So when she's singing

you really feel it.

 

 

Question: It's funny that your character says to her, 'You can't really sing.'

 

 

 

Foxx: But you know what? Like I did my record

and the record executives will tell you something crazy just out they

ass so they get you messed up and not thinking about the project. Some

dude said to me, 'I don't give a damn if you sell one record or a

million records - my check is still the same.' I said, damn, how hard

is your record company? Is this a gang? And this was right after the

Oscars, so I was like, 'Do they know who I - well, maybe I ain't!' It's

like the ugly guy who landed the good-looking girl. You don't know why

he landed her, but if you heard the conversations at home: 'You know

you're really not that pretty, right?' That's where I got Curtis from.

I didn't get him from Berry Gordy, I got him from the executives I have

met over the past couple of years. That's what they do - they get the

artists thinking about something that has nothing to do with his art in

order to manipulate him.

 

 

Question: How about working with the novice Jennifer Hudson?

 

 

 

Foxx: Oh no, not even a novice. Jennifer

Hudson is fooling ya. Jennifer Hudson, I think, what she went through

on American Idol, prepared her for everything. To take that kind of

scrutiny in front of the whole world and to keep coming back, I think

that maybe she may have had butterflies in her stomach, but she knew

somewhere in her quiet place, 'If I get this one right, they'll speak

my name forever.' When you have people that have that kind of talent,

although it may be untapped yet, you know the minute they said action

and she didn't stumble and she looked me right in the face and said,

'Whatchoo gonna do, Mr. Jamie Foxx, Oscar winner? That's what I

thought?' And I was like, 'Awww, man,' because I was stuck. I was like,

'Have you seen my resume?' She didn't give a shit about none of that.

And when that song [And I Am Telling You...], man you better lock the

tear ducts down. She was singing it to me first, and they had the

camera on me first, and I'm supposed to be tough, and when she's

singing I'm like this [face starts quivering]. You know how your face

gets hot? And I'm leaning back, and the tear is coming, and my

throat... and I'm like, 'Man, if they don't yell cut!'

I knew she had something because she country. She country. When people

bring their country Southern black thing - and I'm from the country -

when people bring that... even Beyonce, she country. She's Houston.

She's got that country thing. That's why when you see those

performances, and especially Jennifer's performance, she steals the

movie. She rips it.

 

Question: I heard that Bill Condon had to

tell Jennifer to bring out that inner diva, to show up on set late and

leave when she wanted to. What was the most diva behavior you saw from

her?

 

 

Foxx: I know that he really did a great job

in bringing that out of her, because she's peaceful country. She's like

'Have a piece of pie' country. So what he was expressing to her was you

really need to bring that other side up. Sometimes I would tell her if

you don't reach in there and grab that what you hate, black sister

that's questioning everything, ain't nothing is good enough, you need

to reach in and tap into that - and I ain't saying I had anything to do

with that - but if she tapped into that, that's where the gold was. Tap

into your sister, girl.

 

Question: Would you say this is a valentine to the big black sassy diva?

 

 

 

Foxx: To the black girl diva? Interesting... I

know exactly what you mean, but there's so much in the air with the

Michael Richards thing, black folks is real sensitive. 'Black?! What do

you mean, black? Why not ebony? Watch your tongue!' But yeah, it is a

testimony to that, and I'll tell you what I mean by that. 500 years of

slavery taught us things and etched certain things in our minds. When

you see the hefty black woman, she was the woman who raised the kids in

our history. She raised the white kids, she was the woman with the

great advice, she was the woman on the porch, she was my grandmother.

Those images we cannot get out of our minds, those are true images.

When you see this, it's tailor-made for that sort of thing because when

Jennifer starts to sing, she is singing for that woman that has been

ostracized, whether she's black or white, because of her weight.

Because she don't fit the bill. Because her clothes aren't exactly

right. She's not the hourglass thing. So when she belts out 'I Am

Telling You,' she is doing that. This is what you feel and it's for

everybody. She's doing it first for herself, and then for anybody who

can plug into that energy.

 

 

Question: The movie is also a valentine to

the R&B of the 60s. It's saying that this music wasn't just good to

dance to, it was artistically important.

 

 

Foxx: It was the first time you saw an

explosion of the great artists. The Smokey Robinsons, the Marvin Gayes,

the Supremes. This is why Berry Gordy is not like Curtis - Berry Gordy

at that time had etiquette class. He said, 'If we're going to get this

black music into the white world, we're going to have to do it a

certain way. We're going to teach you how to dance, we're going to

teach you how to conduct an interview.' The reason those artists are

still performing now is because they came through that class. It wasn't

just a song that was going to usher it through, it was a person that

was going to usher it through, and that's what made it different.

Nowadays it's just a song, there's nothing attached to it, you don't

necessarily see a face when you hear it.

And what we were going through at that time as America: the war, 1968,

how could all this be happening? And then maybe they couldn't get on

television and speak about it politically, but they could put it into

music.

 

 

Question: I am curious how you approached

Curtis - at times I thought he could be the best villain of the year,

but at times he comes close to being redeemed, especially at the end.

Did you approach him as a flawed guy?

 

 

Foxx: I approached him as a bad guy who

thinks he's doing good. This is what's funny - my friend [at a

screening] says, 'Foxx, there's a girl here who says she's gonna slap

you when she sees you because what you did to Beyonce and Effie. She's

going to slap the hell out of you.' Then I walk out and see the

executives and they say, [honkey voice] 'Curtis was a great guy. I

don't get it - he provided an area for them to excel, and they turn

their backs on him Great job, Jamie. Great fucking job. I love it.

There should be more about Curtis. He should have had a song at the

end. He should have had a song and had wings and flew off the stage!

Jennifer Hudson was great. But Curtis!' That's what's interesting, to

be able to tap into that insanity. I'm thinking, 'What are you talking

about? Curtis is the devil!' This dude got married to this girl so he

can manipulate her. He went as far as having a kid so he can have more

power. That's strange. But some people will tell you if Curtis didn't

do it that way, if there weren't the Don Kings and these other factors

that we have, we would never be that way. We would never have Motown if

somebody didn't pay attention to the business. Me as an artist, I don't

pay attention - I'm going to fly off somewhere and be somewhere in the

Village on some hardwood floors and play the banjo and play the song

for like 40 minutes and smoke some weed and it's over. The business is

not going to get taken care of. So there is, in the weirdest way, there

is a need for a Curtis. And every time you win an award you thank those

Curtises.

 

Question: Is there more Michael Mann in the future for you?

 

 

 

Foxx: I don't know. Never say never.

 

 

 

Question: Can you talk about The Kingdom?

 

 

 

Foxx: The Kingdom is hot. Peter Berg is a

different type of director. He's on the cutting edge, I believe, and he

shot it that way. He made it a lot of fun and very interesting. It was

a lot to do, but he made it hot.