Jennifer Hudson to Play Nelson Mandela's Ex Wife in Winnie

Posted on November 17, 2009

Variety reports that Jennifer Hudson will star in Winnie a film about the ex-wife of Nelson Mandela.

Hudson will play Winnie Mandela in a film that begins production May 30 in the South African locations of Johannesburg, Capt Town, and the Transkei and Robben Island where the future president spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.
Winnie will be directed by Darrell J. Roodt, the veteran South African filmmaker whose 2006 film Yesterday was Africa's Best Foreign Film nominee, and who also directed Cry, The Beloved Country, and Sarafina!

The film is based on the biography by Marie du Preez Bezdrob called Winnie Mandela: A Life. The film will examine the heroic side of Winnie in which she was jailed for fighting for her husband's release and standing against apartheid, but it will also examine the dark side of her life. Winne was jailed for fraud and was associated with a bodyguard who murdered a 14-year old alleged informer. Jennifer says she is looking forward to playing such a complex woman.

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