After the still-talked-about success of Dreamgirls, actress and singer Jennifer Hudson has found her next big role: Winnie.

Hudson is set to star in a film based on the life of activist Winnie Mandela, which will be depicted from the Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob biography Winnie Mandela: A Life.

"I was compelled and moved when I read the script," Hudson told Variety. "Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I'm honored to be the actress asked to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told."

Mandela's life is definitely full of complexities. The wife of South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela, Winnie is a paradoxical figure who supported a freedom fighter, and led her own activist movements, but was also convicted of fraud following a scandal involving the murder of a 14-year-old.

Winnie will be directed by Darrell J. Roodt, who's best known for his films Cry, The Beloved Country and Sarafina! --Linda Hobbs

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