ddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson have already snagged a Golden Globe for their supporting roles in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, Dreamgirls. Now this veteran actor and talented newcomer are both vying for an Oscar. Eddie Murphy Everyone has been saying you took a risk to play James "Thunder" Early. What do you think? Well, I think it's risky because you know, I'm known for comedies. Jamie's known for singing and acting, Beyonc�'s known for singing and I'm the only one

that's coming from a big long stretch from Daddy Day Care to this. I guess I'd look at it as being risky. But I've sang my whole life, I've been singing for years and years. What kind of a singer are you? I wouldn't say that I'm a singer or I'm an actor or even a comedian. I'm an artist and I just do a bunch of different stuff. They had been hyping this movie for almost a full year before it opened. Do you ignore that type of stuff? Actually, I kind of watch the hype. I like seeing the studios get behind the movie and kind of feel like if there's anticipation, people will want to see the movie. I kind of monitor what kind of heat the movie has on. It never makes me nervous though, unless you don't see anything at all. Did you see the Broadway version? I saw the original play five times. Did you forget that performance and create your own, or did you play this role differently? Yeah, you kind of bring what you know. You approach it new because the play is totally different from a movie. I wasn't trying to borrow from what I had seen. Are we going to see more projects like this from you? We'll see how much more stuff they have like that. There's not a lot of Dreamgirls stuff floating around so you'll just have to settle for Pluto Nash 2 (laughs). Just kidding folks! Jennifer Hudson It's so hard to believe after watching this performance that you haven't done any acting before. How nervous were you? At first, while we were reading the script, I was thinking "OK everybody here is experienced." Keith (Robinson) is experienced, Anika (Noni Rose) is experienced and we know Jamie (Foxx), and Beyonc� and Eddie Murphy are. So I was thinking "goodness, are they going to say you're out of your league?" you know, "can we get somebody that's on our level?" But it wasn't like that at all. Having Jamie Foxx and Beyonc� in the film with you must be amazing. Did you feel you were competing with them or learning from them? I was learning from them. I can't compete with them. Let me just step back and learn and then maybe the next time around I'll try to give them a little competition (laughs). Now the song in the movie, the big song "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going", were you really singing or lip-synching? Everything was pre-recorded but I was really singing right along with it, every single note with the same level of energy. What about when it's over? How do you decompress? It does take a minute to wind down. It took a while for me to get myself together. At times when we were shooting that scene I got a little too emotional and they had to stop it and let me get myself together. Who did you call when you found out you landed the role? At first I was like "who do I call, who do I call?" I called my mama first, of course. And she used to be the one to tell me "you know, you could act, I think you should act." And I'm like "are you serious mom?" I've been singing forever. How could she think of me acting? Where do you see that? Where does that come from? But she put it in my head and made me consider it so of course I called her first. So what was it like to see yourself on the big screen? Originally I did not want to see it until the premiere, but my director, Bill Condon, was like "I want you to see it now." I thought I was going to see Jennifer on the screen but instantly I lost sight of me and I was Effie and I got lost in the character. - Chuck Thomas