Jennifer Holliday Interview USA Today 02/23/07

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:39am

Holliday not sing? No, no, no, no way!

By William Keck, USA TODAY

Watch out, Jennifer Hudson. There's another Dreamgirl with the name Jennifer H. headed to Sunday's Academy Awards. But unlike supporting-actress nominee Hudson, who has a seat reserved for the Kodak Theatre, this Dreamgirl will be looking down at Hudson's red-carpet arrival from across the street atop the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Jennifer Holliday — winner of a 1982 Tony Award and 1983 Grammy for playing Hudson's Dreamgirl role, Effie White, in the original Broadway production — has been invited to appear on E!'s pre-Oscar telecast to sing And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going) on the hotel's roof at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

And if it rains? "Well, then I'll be singing from a window," Holliday says with a chuckle.

Having slimmed down in the '90s with the help of gastric bypass surgery, Holliday is being fitted with a purple Carmen Marc Valvo gown, Jimmy Choo shoes and Neil Lane jewels.

"This all started out so negatively," Holliday says from her Harlem home. "But now I feel like Cinderella."

Much has been reported about Holliday's displeasure with the film version of the stage classic, but Holliday wants to wish Hudson, whom she has never met, good luck.

"I'm proud of what Jennifer represents; her Effie stands on its own," says Holliday, who will be watching the telecast from inside the Roosevelt. "If I say her performance wasn't good, then I'm not good, because they were the same. She's going to win an Oscar, and all three of us — Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holliday and Effie — will be up there when she wins."

But Holliday isn't exactly crying tears over Dreamgirls' omission from the best-picture race. She says: "All I like about the movie is that it was made. Over 20 years they've been trying to make this, and I think this movie lost the heart and soul of it."

Holliday denies widespread reports that she hoped to play Effie in the film.

"I wanted a cameo," she clarifies. "Out of respect, usually someone from the original has a spot in the remake unless they're, like, dead or something. Chita Rivera was in (the big-screen) Chicago and Ricki Lake is going to be in (the big-screen remake of) Hairspray. There were plenty of little parts all of us could have played. I would have liked to have been Deena's mother."

A Broadway Dreamgirl does appear on screen; it just isn't Holliday. Holliday's stage co-star Loretta Devine has a cameo as a jazz singer. Holliday says she wasn't even invited to any of the premieres. "I think (the filmmakers) thought to have success with this, they had to destroy my legacy," she says.

These days, Holliday, 46, performs at corporate concerts and benefits. But this summer — for "10 nights only, 10 nights only!" (July 20-29) — Holliday will reprise her Effie role in an Atlanta stage production of Dreamgirls as part of the National Black Arts Festival.

And be damned anyone who says Holliday is too old to pull it off.

"They can say whatever they want to say," Holliday says with a shrug.

"Somebody's truth is different from somebody else's truth. If I'm playing Effie for 10 shows, then that means I think I can play it."


USA Today

Updated On: 2/23/07 at 11:39 AM

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:45am

"If I say her performance wasn't good, then I'm not good, because they were the same."

"All I like about the movie is that it was made."

"I think (the filmmakers) thought to have success with this, they had to destroy my legacy."

I mean, just...wow. I think I'm speachless.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:51am

Ah...I loves me Jennifer Holliday. No matter how much she tries to be civil about all this, she's still saying the same thing she did a few months back when she went a cuckoo all over the media.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:53am

"This all started out so negatively," Holliday says from her Harlem home. "But now I feel like Cinderella."

You know, there's so much sadness and hypocrisy in that comment. Has she forgotten that SHE'S the one who started out negatively? And thanks to all of that ridiculous publicity, I guess E! is itching to put her freak-show-self on TV.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 11:59am

"If I say her performance wasn't good, then I'm not good, because they were the same. She's going to win an Oscar, and all three of us — Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holliday and Effie — will be up there when she wins."

Reading that made me gasp. What a nasty, sad woman she is.

*wrests Effie from her hands*

Let go! LET GO!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:01pm

Why, E!, why?????

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:06pm

There are several quotes in that article I don't even know how to respond to.

"If I say her performance wasn't good, then I'm not good, because they were the same." What does that even mean?

"She's going to win an Oscar, and all three of us — Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holliday and Effie — will be up there when she wins." She has a valid point here. Holliday did help create this role from the ground up, and without her contribution, Hudson wouldn't have this award-winning role in the first place. That being said, I think it's a little sad that Holliday feels the need to point this out over and over in the press.

If (when?) Hudson wins the Oscar on Sunday, I hope she takes a moment to thank Jennifer Holliday so the poor woman doesn't have a complete breakdown. At least someone is throwing her a bone by letting her sing at the Oscars. The vibe I'm getting, though, is "I'll show you who the REAL Effie White is."

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:08pm

Flo Ballard might just be up there with her, too, JHo.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:08pm

Exactly. The vibe and the message of her performance is just all wrong. As someone pointed out recently in another thread, what would have been the reaction if Patti LuPone had performed at a pre-Golden Globes ceremony the year of the Evita movie? It would have looked just as random and desperate as Holliday does...but without the viscious, conniving spite, of course.
Updated On: 2/23/07 at 12:08 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:13pm

Careful, Sueleen. You'll envoke the "Dreamgirls has nothing to do with The Supremes!" crazies when you talk like that.

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:15pm

I have been supporting Holliday for a long time now, but even I think this article is a little too much...even for me.

I just want to give her a hug and calm her down.

[camp_actor]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:20pm

To be honest - I really didn't think much of Jennifer Hudson in this film. She's got a great voice, but her acting is pretty boring and two-dimensional, mainly because I think she's just a little young and inexperienced to play this role. OK she's relatively convincing in the first part of the film, but I laughed out loud at the scene where she's struggling up the stairs because she's apparently "old".
I do think she's got a good future though - love her voice, just think it was a BIG undertaking for her when she's only really just starting out.

Jennifer Holliday is a great singer, and it's sad what has happened to her. She's obviously very unhappy and not in a good place at the moment. It's not nice to laugh at someone whose star is falling.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:20pm

Unless the hug generates unbridled publicity and crowns her the "Queen of All Things Effie," it won't work.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:28pm

Kringas, if you think THAT will bring out the crazies, what of the rumor that Diana Ross will be singint Listen at the Oscars?

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:28pm

I try to put myself in her shoes, and if, as she says, the producers of the film truly have slighted and ignored her throughout the whole process, then I can understand her disappointment. But for crying out loud, woman, take the high road and keep it to yourself. Venting all that bad energy to the press is only going to confirm for those same producers that they made the right choice in excluding her.

She doesn't seem to have a very realistic take on how Hollywood works. "Out of respect, usually someone from the original has a spot in the remake unless they're, like, dead or something." Did Carol Channing have a cameo in Hello, Dolly? Mary Martin in The Sound of Music? Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady or Camelot? Um...no. Just because two recent films happened to do it doesn't make it a "usual" practice.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:34pm

Kringas, if you think THAT will bring out the crazies, what of the rumor that Diana Ross will be singint Listen at the Oscars?

Oooh, would that that were true!

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 1:03pm

Hey, it's a paying gig. I'm sure E! is paying her well to do just what she loves. I think the whole idea is kind of silly though considering the fact that DREAMGIRLS isn't even nominated for Best Picture.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 1:35pm

BTW Jennifer hudson is hardly too young to play Effie. She's 25 going on 26. Effie's supposed to range from about 20-33/34.
I don't know why that line about her being old is in there. That's foolish.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 1:53pm

And be damned anyone who says Holliday is too old to pull it off.

"They can say whatever they want to say," Holliday says with a shrug.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 2:02pm

Kringas I was talking to camp actor

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 2:10pm

Ooops. Sorry, my mistake.

[javero]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 2:44pm

I'm fond of both JenH1 & JenH2 but think that the senior one needs to build a bridge and get over it. With any luck it will rain.

[JRybka]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 3:48pm

I still love my Jennifer Holliday and you ain't a good drag queen until you have done one of her songs but he has more issues then People Magazine and it may be time to cancel my subscription...

[mr. crawford]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 4:17pm

Bill Condon won't let Holliday steal the Dreamgirls thunder that easily. Nikki Finke is reporting this new twist...Anika, Jennifer and Beyonce will perform each others' songs

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/23/07 at 4:25pm

I just read the article...hmmm...wonder if it will be:

Rose - Love you I do
Beyonce' - Patience
Hudson - Listen