Stronger. Wiser. Smarter

- Lottie Lumsden

Picture this: it’s Sunday evening and you’re sitting in the front row of Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre wearing an Oscar de la Renta gown. Beyoncé Knowles and her father, Mathew, are a few seats along. So, too, are Cate Blanchett and Helen Mirren. On the way in here, thousands of waiting fans and photographers called your name on the red carpet. “Jennifer! Over here! Jennifer! Can we get a picture?” And right now, George Clooney is looking directly at you, clutching a gold envelope.

He is saying your name and beckoning you to come on stage with a huge smile plastered across his face. The audience turns to look your way. The film’s director, Bill Condon, embraces you. Your Dreamgirls co-star, Beyoncé, gets out of her seat to hug and kiss you on the cheek. Because you have won an Oscar. The third black actress ever to be awarded Best Actress In A Supporting Role. Yes, that’s you, Jennifer Hudson. The girl who once flipped burgers for a living, is now a bonafide Hollywood star. You have made it. Just like you told your first grade teacher you would, 19 years ago.

“I had never even watched the Oscars,” Jennifer tells me when I sit down with her in London in the middle of November. “Never mind been to the Oscars. All I wanted to do on set was get my lines right and keep the people who hired me satisfied. My life was flipped upside down.”

Of course, what makes Jennifer’s story all the more remarkable is that growing up, her aspirations to “be a famous singer” seemed highly unlikely.