Why Jennifer Hudson turned down 'Precious'

Actress Jennifer Hudson revealed that she turned down a role in the film Precious (2009).

Hudson made the revelation in her upcoming book I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down. She was offered the role of a pregnant girl who is abused by her mother, played by Mo’Nique, who won an Oscar for her performance in the film.

Hudson wrote that she turned down the role because she did not want to add the extra pound needed to play the character. Gabourey Sibide played the part and won an Oscar nomination for her work.

“I had done that with Effie… and as much as I was moved by this film,” Hudson writes in her book. “I wanted to try a role that had nothing whatsoever to do with my weight.”
Hudson, who won an Oscar for her role in Dreamgirls (2006), instead chose a part in the first Sex and the City movie, released in 2008. She played Louise, the assistant of Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker.

Her upcoming roles include playing a nun in The Three Stooges and a drug-addicted mother in Mister and Pete. Hudson has also become a spokesperson for Weight Watchers, through which she has lost 80 pounds.

Her book is due for release on Jan. 10.