Jennifer Hudson under attack over Winnie Mandela role
News
oi-Staff
Washington
(ANI):
American
actress
Jennifer
Hudson
has
come
under
attack
from
a
South
African
actors" union
after
she
was
cast
as
Winnie
Mandela
in
a
new
biopic.
Hudson,
28,
is
set
to
play
the
ex-wife
of
the
country"s
former
president
Nelson
Mandela
in
South
African
filmmaker
Darrell
J.
Roodt"s
new
project
'Winnie".
But
her
appointment
has
caused
uproar
among
the
members
of
the
Creative
Workers
Union
of
South
Africa,
who
insist
a
local
actress
should
have
been
cast
as
the
title
character
in
a
movie
so
important
to
the
country"s
history.
The
Union"s
secretary
general,
Oupa
Lebogo,
even
goes
as
far
as
threatening
to
boycott
the
picture
if
Hudson"s
casting
is
not
reconsidered.
“This
decision
must
be
reversed,
it
must
be
stopped
now.
If
the
matter
doesn"t
come
up
for
a
discussion,
we
will
push
for
a
moratorium
to
be
placed
on
the
film," Contactmusic
quoted
Lebogo
as
saying.
Protesters
also
argue
Hudson"s
inclusion
in
the
film
project
will
hinder
the
country"s
development
of
its
movie
industry.
“It
can"t
happen
that
we
want
to
develop
our
own
Hollywood
and
yet
bring
in
imports," union
president
Mabutho
Sithole
told
the
Citizen
newspaper.