Jennifer Hudson boards Winnie Mandela biopic

The current vogue for South African-focused cinema continues apace. With Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman applying A-list Hollywood polish to the figure of former president Nelson Mandela, Jennifer Hudson is now set to do the same for his ex-wife.

Rumors about this have been circling for some time, but yesterday Variety confirmed that Hudson has signed on for “Winnie,” a full-scale biopic of the controversial politician, most notorious for her alleged (ahem) involvement in the murder of a 14 year-old activist in 1989.

South African director Darrell James Roodt (an Oscar nominee for 2004’s “Yesterday”) is at the helm. He also co-wrote the screenplay, based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob’s 2003 biography “Winnie Mandela: A Life.” (Emma Gilbey’s superb “The Lady” would be a better starting point, in my opinion.)

I’ve always said that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s life would make for a more interesting film than that of her far more noble ex-husband, but the filmmakers have to be prepared to dig into the darker depths of her story. The Variety piece claims they “will tell the whole story, good and bad.” However, the presence of Roodt, whose 1990s filmizations of “Cry, the Beloved Country” and “Sarafina!” slipped into sentimentality, gives me pause.

It is, however, quite a coup for Hudson, who has struggled somewhat to find a suitable role to build on her Oscar-winning debut in “Dreamgirls.” We’ve yet to see whether she has the range and technique for such a vast dramatic role, though she’s certainly an apt physical match for the young Winnie.

So the 28 year-old singer-turned-thesp has a lot to prove here: if she pulls it off, it’s difficult to imagine she won’t be in the Oscar conversation once more. Hudson says:

I was compelled and moved when I read the script … 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.
Interestingly, this news comes as British TV biopic “Mrs. Mandela,” starring British actress Sophie Okonedo in the lead, is shortly due to screen. It’ll be interesting to see which actress masters the character more authentically.