SAG Awards nominee profile: Jennifer Hudson (‘Respect’) hoping to win long-awaited bookend
Twenty years ago, Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball”) blazed a trail as the first Black woman to win a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actress. Viola Davis followed in her footsteps one decade later with a victory for “The Help” (2012) and went on to conquer the category again as the star of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2021). This year, Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”) joins these two and Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown,” 1998), Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious,” 2010), Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet,” 2020), and Lupita Nyong’o (“Us,” 2020) as the lead female category’s seventh Black nominee. Having already won for her supporting turn in “Dreamgirls” (2007), she could now succeed Davis as the second Black woman to achieve multiple individual film victories.
At the upcoming SAG Awards, Best Actress newcomer Hudson will face category veterans Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”), and Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”). None have ever won the award, but Chastain and the rest of the cast of “The Help” did score a Best Ensemble victory in 2012. Her first bid in this category came for “Zero Dark Thirty” (2013). Kidman has been recognized here twice in the past for “The Hours” (2003) and “Rabbit Hole” (2011), and Colman and Gaga are involved in a rematch after having been nominated against each other in 2019 for “The Favourite” and “A Star Is Born,” respectively.
Hudson stars in “Respect” as legendary recording artist Aretha Franklin, who was honorarily deemed the Queen of Soul early in her career and has been known as such for six decades. Having won the role prior to Franklin’s death in 2018, Hudson pays tribute to the singer-songwriter’s monumental legacy with an impassioned portrayal that includes performances of the title song and other hits like “Think” and “Chain of Fools.” In addition to highlighting Franklin’s successes, the film focuses on the attitude of perseverance she developed as a result of the struggles she faced during the first 30 years of her life.
Hudson is one of a pair of actresses to have earned a 2022 SAG nomination for playing Franklin. The other is Erivo, who is up for the Best TV Movie/Mini Actress award for her performance in the eight-part limited series “Genius: Aretha.” This marks the first instance of two performers simultaneously receiving bids for playing the same character in different productions that span different mediums.
Aside from her individual victory for “Dreamgirls,” Hudson was also recognized as a member of the film’s ensemble. She and her castmates lost that contest to the actors from “Little Miss Sunshine.” As one of the 32 women to earn at least one notice in every possible film category, she could now become the fifth actress to win both individual prizes, after Renée Zellweger (Best Actress, “Chicago,” 2003 and “Judy,” 2020; Best Supporting Actress, “Cold Mountain,” 2004), Helen Mirren (Best Supporting Actress, “Gosford Park,” 2002; Best Actress, “The Queen,” 2007), Blanchett (Best Supporting Actress, “The Aviator,” 2005; Best Actress, “Blue Jasmine,” 2014), and Davis (Best Actress, “The Help,” 2012 and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” 2021; Best Supporting Actress, “Fences,” 2017).
This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “SAG Awards nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2022 contenders in film and TV.
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