Oscar Winners Reunite: Forest Whitaker & Jennifer Hudson Talk Whitney & More

Listen, I've gotten to work with you, playing your daughter for... I feel like you're my Hollywood dad. Three times. Three times, y'all. We've been in three films together. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. You're always amazing. You're amazing. Yeah, it's been great. It is a dream to work with you. He's one of my dream guests, y'all. So, I'm so happy to finally have Forrest Hume. Do you have a favorite memory of us working together? Uh, you know... When I got the opportunity to, like, sing background to you. Oh, sing background to me. Yeah, in Black Nativity. Yeah, that, like, that blew me away. Because I was like, I can't believe I'm singing with you. Oh, my God. That's how I feel when I get to act with you. Because I think you're one of the greatest actors of, like, all time. Hands down. It's like a master class being able to work with you and watch you work. And did I mention we won our Oscars the same year? You... What was that night like for you? It was overwhelming, right? Yes. It's just all that energy, all that life, and all the people coming towards you. Yes, sir. Just feeling that energy from the universe coming into you. Oh, my goodness. It's beautiful. Where do you keep your Oscar? I keep it, um, like, just a shelf unit in my living room. I keep that and whatever other awards I've gotten. Oh, my goodness. It should be an award named after you, Forrest. That's what I think. Oh, wow. Yes. Now, I didn't... Okay, because, I mean, again, you're gifted. You directed one of Whitney Houston's music videos? Yeah, well, I had directed Waiting to Exhale. And when they were talking about the music and stuff, we worked really hard on the music with Kenny, with Babyface. Yes. What was that like, working with Whitney? Oh, I loved it. I mean, she really trusted me, like, to really... to work together as, you know, playing this major part in the role. Mm-hmm. And, uh, I think... What's funny was, when I first started shooting her, on the very first day of shooting, all I was shooting was Whitney Houston's eyes and her lips. Really? Because I was trying to, like, set up this thing called, you know, Chocolate Girl, where, like, she's the most beautiful thing in the world. Yes. And so I just kept focusing on everything, and the studio went crazy. It's like, do we need to come down and help you? Because, you know, you've lost your mind. But you had your own vision in mind, huh? I had mine, and it worked out. It worked out. Because that's what I was trying to do, You did just that. Yes. And like I said, working with you... Y'all, it's like a master class to be able to work with Forrest. And you do a lot of, like, research. You take your roles very seriously. I remember watching you when we were preparing for the film Respect, because he played my father in the film Respect that we did together as well. But you take your characters... You really dive into them. And I know one of your projects, you learned how to play the saxophone. Can you still play? Oh, no. I was playing... The movie was called Bird, and I was playing a jazz sax player, and I think I could have learned just one song that I could really play well. And if I tried it now, I'd just make a sound. So your characters don't stick with you, because sometimes they hold on. You know, like, they stick with me... Like, the longest I've had it was where something stuck with me for a year. Really? It was a play, The Schizophrenic, and it's my own love song. It's Renée Zellweger. And it, like, really was messing with my head for a long time. Because I had to pretend to... You know, when I was getting ready for it, I was trying to convince myself that I was seeing double people and... See, he goes deep. Really? But it was really tough to get rid of that character. But it was... You know, Last King was easier to get rid of because he, like, enjoyed life, too. Man, by the time you finished that project, I didn't even know you were American. When I saw... I was like... You dive so deep into your characters, it's like you legit become them. Yeah. Don't y'all agree? Yeah! Hot, man. And then you start in producing Godfather of Harlem. What can we expect from season four? Well... Bumpy Johnson's gonna be at war with the five families. And, uh... It's the loss of a friend, Malcolm X. He's, like, changed his point of view a little bit. And, uh... We watched some of the new players come in, like Rome. Yeah. Coming in to play Frank Lucas. Come on. And, uh... The... Women are, like, really taking on a strong role. Oh, okay. This season, we'll see them really doing a lot of the controlling of the environment. Nice. This season. And one of your daughters is a guest star on the show. Yeah. What's that? Right? That's not the baby, is it? That's the baby. That's the baby? Yeah, I remember when we, like, tried to sing to you. When I met her, she was a little girl. Look at her now. She's playing a whole grown woman and pregnant at that. Yeah, she played... She played a heroin-addicted, you know, prostitute who was pregnant. Wow. So, it was really when they wrote the character, when she was playing the character, I was like, really? Seriously? Yeah. So, she's surprising you, huh? I thought it was gonna be... Oh, she blows me away. She's about to get... She just got put on a new series called I Love L.A. Congratulations. Yeah, Warner Brothers. Yeah. That is amazing. So, she's following in your footsteps, huh? Yeah, she is. Do you give her any advice? I really don't give her a lot of advice. They've been... In my household, there was, like, persons that I would be able to work with my lines on and everything, but my kids. Oh, okay. Oh, so... So, like, they always help me, like, learn my lines, and she was always, like, helping me in the most. And it paid off, I guess. So, they help you prepare for your role. Yeah. Thank you.