Nearly two years afterCatshit theaters,Jennifer Hudsonis defending the polarizing movie.
Speaking withTotal FilmWednesday about her starring role in theAretha FranklinbiopicRespect, the 39-year-old actress gave her take on the 2019 live action adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit Broadway musical, which received mixed reviews.
“You know what? I think it was a bit overwhelming. It’s unfortunate that it was misunderstood,” Hudson told the outlet. “I think later down the line, people will see it differently. But it is something I am still very proud of and grateful to have been a part of. Yeah, I got to be Grizabella the Glamour Cat!”
“They are the best thing I’ve ever had,” she said of her pets. “I love them so much.”
Leon Bennett/WireImage
Webber, however, has previously said he wasn’t such a fan of the adaptation — which also starredJudi Dench,Taylor Swift,Rebel WilsonandJames Corden— as compared to his 1981 play.
“The problem with the film was that Tom Hooper decided that he didn’t want anybody involved in it who was involved in the original show,” the playwright, 73, told the U.K.‘sSunday Timesin August 2020. “The whole thing was ridiculous.”
Universal Pictures /Everett
Andrew Lloyd Webber.Noam Galai/Getty
“When I first read the screenplay — and the film is seen through Victoria’s eyes — the first thing I said was: ‘We have to have a song for Victoria. It’s an incredibly important central part of the whole film,'” he said at the time.
After the film’s first trailer dropped ahead of its December 2019 release, director Tom Hooper brushed off social media criticism of the teaser. The filmmaker, 48, called the feedback “entertaining” in an interview with U.K. magazineEmpire.
Tom Hooper.Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
“I was just so fascinated because I didn’t think it was controversial at all,“Hooper saidthat October, adding “Catswas apparently the number-one trending topic in the world, for a good few hours at least.”
The director then defended the visual effects that drew ire in the Universal Pictures film, suggesting the technology was still “at quite an early stage.”
“Possibly there were, in the extremity in some of the responses, some clues in how to keep evolving [the production],” he toldEmpire. “When you watch the finished film, you’ll see that some of the designs of the cats have moved on since then, and certainly, our understanding of how to use the technology to make them work has gone up, too.”
source: people.com
