South Africans Don't Want Jennifer Hudson In Mandela Film
Posted by Media Outrage on December 8th, 2009
South Africans don’t want Jennifer Hudson to portray Winnie Mandela in an upcoming film. Their reasons why after the jump
Via Yahoo:
South African actors want to stop Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson from playing Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in a new film on the ex-wife of the nation’s first black president, reports said Monday.
The Creative Workers Union of South Africa said using foreign actors to tell the country’s stories undermined efforts to develop the national film industry.
“It can’t happen that we want to develop our own Hollywood and yet bring in imports,” the union’s president Mabutho Sithole said in The Citizen newspaper.
“This decision must be reversed, it must be stopped now,” union secretary general Oupa Lebogo said in The Times. “If the matter doesn’t come up for discussion, we will push for a moratorium to be placed on the film.”
Hudson, who scooped a best supporting actress Oscar in 2007 for the musical “Dreamgirls”, landed the role of Madikizela-Mandela last month.
The film will be directed by South African film-maker Darrell J. Roodt, whose films include “Cry, The Beloved Country” and “Sarafina.”
The criticism comes just days before the opening of the Clint Eastwood film “Invictus”, a drama about Nelson Mandela and South Africa’s 1995 rugby World Cup victory which united the nation.
Morgan Freeman plays the president and Matt Damon is the rugby team captain.
Madikizela-Mandela campaigned tirelessly for her husband’s release during his 27-year imprisonment in the apartheid era.
However, her image was tarnished by a series of scandals including her links to the kidnap and murder of a young activist and a 2003 conviction for fraud.
She separated from Nelson Mandela in 1992, two years after his release.
Mediaoutrage- Any thoughts?
December 8th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I can see why South Africans want their own portrayed in the movie, but seriously who is funding this film? If U.S. executive producers are financing then they can pick Ms. Hudson or Ms. Whitney Houston..but seriously if they want their own actors in a movie then they can expect to sell less tickets than J Lo’s last cd!
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December 8th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I understand their point of view, but at the same time they must understand that if they want a lot of recognition for the film they must use actors that are known around the world, not just in South Africa.
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December 8th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I certainly empathize with the South Africans but I can understand the producers wanting to cast somebody with name recognition.
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December 8th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I think the producers should explore unknown great actors that may be from South Africa. Who better to tell their story than them. The money being financed will reap it’s reward if the movie is great not because JH is the star.
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December 8th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
what YISI said
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December 8th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Sarafina is a FANTASTIC movie & it had many S Afr stars.
I think JHud should sit this 1 out.
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December 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Jhud doing that movie is like a white person playing a slave in africa, very disrespectful and very unrealistic. Movies such as these are best spoken from the heart and who best to do it than someone who had a ‘direct’ connection with history of film. The best movies I’VE EVER WATCHED WERE DONE BY ‘UNKNOWN’… P.S. Jhud ain’t that great, i still see Jhud when she performs, NEVER the character so don’t just hand her roles because of the ‘pity oscar’ she got, damn even her grammy should’ve went to Jazmine Sullivan.
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December 8th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
J-Hud is a great actress…but they have the right to their opinion.
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December 8th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Agree with YISI.
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December 8th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
[...] all the hate Jennifer Hudson hate, South [...]
December 8th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
u guys are in deep denial if you think this movie will make it without A star.. But their opinions don’t really matter.. Someone outside of Africa is funding the movie anywayz. Last time I checked a director can pick whomever he wants and he did, if he wanted a local gal he would have chosen one. it’s as simple as that..
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December 9th, 2009 at 12:46 am
I understand them wanting their own but in this day and age, if you want a movie to do anything at the box office, you better put a well-known name and face in it.
And Sarafina was a GREAT movie but the only reason people even saw the film version is because Whoopi Goldberg was in it.
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December 9th, 2009 at 1:05 am
I dont think that the Creative Workers Union of South Africans give two shits about the money aspect of this issue. I think they are just doing the job that they are employed to do, thats something that more organizations should do, work for the cause and the people, not the dollar. As far as being unknown, everyone was unknown until they had a break out performance. Shit, if you put relative unknowns in a movie, they dont rate as much as Oscar winners, therefor cutting major costs in the production of the film. But I think that a good story and great writting will always make money, JMO
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December 9th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I don’t care because I’m not watching the movie no matter who’s in it.
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Media Outrage Reply:
December 9th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Lol
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