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player ready...“Respect” opens in theaters Aug. 13. Now that “Dreamgirls” Oscar winner and Chicago native Jennifer Hudson has realized her 15-year dream of playing soul giant Aretha Franklin, who’s next on her wish list of screen portrayals?
“Oprah!” Hudson said, after a pause of one-eighth of a second in a recent interview.
“That’s my newest dream. I would love to play Oprah! I’ll put it out into the universe, just like I did with Aretha.”
In an “OWN Spotlight” interview premiering last month, Winfrey conducted her latest sit-down and walk-around with Hudson. “On the special,” Hudson told me, smiling, “I was waiting for her to ask me who I wanted to play next. And I’d have been, like, ‘You!’ I would’ve loved to see her face. I think that’d be amazing. She’s another great legend in a whole new direction. I know one day we’re going to have ‘The Oprah Story,’ and I’m getting older (Hudson turns 40 on Sept. 12) and this time I don’t want to wait 15 years. So, c’mon now! Here we go!”
The Tribune spoke further with Hudson, with input from “Respect” director Liesl Tommy and playwright and first-time feature film screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson. That interview and a review of “Respect” will appear in A+E later this week.
Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
Twitter @phillipstribune
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