Jennifer Hudson Scores 'Entertainment Grand Slam' After 2022 Tony Awards

Jun 13, 2022, 2:24 PM

Jennifer Hudson with shocked facial expression in elaborate dress and nails at Tony Awards

twitter | @StrangeLoopBway

After her show A Strange Loop won big at the 2022 Tony Awards, Jennifer Hudson was able to walk away from the ceremony with the coveted EGOT status.

Although some celebrities were born with the connections any struggling actor would crave in their hunt for stardom, Hudson was certainly not one of them.

Not only did she get where she is thanks to her talent, hard work, and from jumping on the right opportunities as they came her way, but Hudson had to struggle through a major part of her life before she started seeing any rewards.

Yet it seems that when her accolades started coming in, they came fast and as a result, she's now achieved something that only a small number of people in the entertainment industry ever will.

On the night of June 12, Jennifer Hudson walked away from the 75th annual Tony Awards with her own golden statuette.

Jennifer Hudson shows off elaborate fingernails with hand on chest

instagram | @iamjhud

According to The Guardian, this honor was shared with Alan Cumming, Ilana Glazer, Mindy Kaling and the approximately 40 others who produced the autobiographical meta-musical A Strange Loop.

And now that she's achieved it, she's one of only 17 people to earn the entertainment industry's equivalent of a grand slam and the third youngest to do so at the age of 40.

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As for the play that pushed her over this finish line, it's a Pulitzer Prize-winning musical written by Michael R. Jackson, who just won his own Tony for Best Book of a Musical.

Jaquel Spivey singing in bellhop uniform in A Strange Loop

youtube | Playbill

A Strange Loop shows Jackson (as played here by Jaquel Spivey) document his experiences as a Black member of the LGBTQ+ community working through his struggles as a writer.

In a five-star review, Gloria Oladipo of The Guardian referred to the show as a "uproarious and crushing" journey into one man's search for himself.

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And now that Hudson has won a Tony for her role in producing it, she can now add it to her collection of awards that includes an Oscar, two Grammy awards, and a Daytime Emmy.

Jaquel Spivey sits at piano while surrounded by actors playing his family in A Strange Loop

youtube | Playbill

This makes her an EGOT and she started building up the pre-requisites for this elite status not long after her career began as she earned her Oscar in 2007 for her first on-screen role as Effie White in Dreamgirls.

Two years later, she would come out of the gate just as hot in music as she had in movies since her debut album earned her a Grammy in 2009.

She would win yet another Grammy in 2017 as part of the cast in a Broadway production of The Color Purple, which won Best Musical Theatre Album that year.

twitter | @StrangeLoopBway

And much like her Tony, her Daytime Emmy would come as a result of Hudson's production work. That time, it was for a short animation about the folk tale Baba Yaga.

Hudson had previously joked that her dogs seemed to be good luck charms for these awards, but it turned out she only needed two to complete the set.

In her words, "I got a dog and named it Oscar, and then I won my Oscar. And then I got a dog and named it Grammy, and then I won my Grammy. So I think I should get some dogs and name them Emmy and Tony — and it'll give me good luck, and I'll win."

Looks like she already had enough good luck to go around.

h/t: The Guardian