Jennifer Hudson Sees 'Smash' As 'Perfect Opportunity' For Broadway

Jennifer Hudson has garnered a multi-episode role on the hit NBC drama "Smash." She's hoping it will do more for her than make her a television star, perhaps even catapult her to Broadway.

What more could Grammy-winning singer and Oscar-winning actress ask for? How about an Emmy Award? Or perhaps a Tony Award? That seems to be Jennifer Hudson's hope for the future as she prepares for her new role on NBC's "Smash," which, appropriately enough, is about the trials and tribulations of people involved in the making of a Broadway musical.

"It's just the perfect opportunity," Hudson, who also happens to be a fan of the show, said in a recent interview, according to the Associated Press. "It's gonna be challenging, and I'm a little bit intimidated to play this big Broadway star. But it's gonna be a great experience. I can't wait to get started."

The "big Broadway star" to which she refers is her role as the character of Veronica Moore, a living legend the other actresses admire.

Oddly enough, one of those actresses will be Karen Cartwright, the character played by Katharine McPhee, who, like Hudson, saw her career take off after appearing on the hit Fox singing competition "American Idol." McPhee was a runner-up in Season 5, while Hudson finished a surprising seventh in Season 3.

Hudson's character, Moore, is a Tony-winning star. The singer, who won her Academy Award for playing Effie White in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical "Dreamgirls," hopes that the "Smash" role will help land her a spot on Broadway.

That supporting role also garnered Hudson a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild, and a British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) trophy, as well as many others.

She won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album for her self-titled debut album in 2009. She was also nominated that year for Best R&B Vocal Performance ("Spotlight") and for Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group ("I'm His Only Woman"), which was recorded with fellow "American Idol" alum Fantasia Barrino, the singer that won Season 3 but who lost out in the "Dreamgirls" auditions (with hundreds of other talented women) to Hudson.

The song did, however, go on to win the 2009 NAACP Image Award.

Who knows? Hudson could be correct in that her "Smash" role could become a "perfect opportunity." Before all's said and done, Hudson might see an Emmy and a Tony on her mantle alongside all those other trophies. If that were to happen, she would join a very exclusive club of entertainers to have ever won an Emmmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award. To date, that list includes only 14 people, including Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, and Barbra Streisand.

And although Hudson said she can't wait to get started, it will be a little while before she starts filming, and even longer, of course, for her fans to see her as Veronica Moore. "Smash" won't return to NBC until Spring.

While she and her fans wait, though, she'll launch a new clothing line on QVC channel in September in celebration of her 80-pound weight loss as a member of Weight Watchers.

(photo credit: David Torcivia, Creative Commons)

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