Sex in this city: Chicago's own Jennifer Hudson cast in flick

Jennifer Hudson never aspired to become an actress, which is rather remarkable, considering the 26-year-old is an Oscar winner.

Growing up in Chicago, Hudson sang gospel music in a local church choir. The big girl with a booming voice yearned to follow in the footsteps of Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston.

She was a finalist on the third season of "American Idol" but was eventually voted off. That might have spelled the end of her music career, but Hudson's luck held, and she landed the coveted role of Effie in "Dreamgirls." Her performance as the cast-aside star of a '60s girl group earned numerous accolades, including an Academy Award.

Since her big night, Hudson has pursued acting and singing with equal zeal.

She is working on her first solo album, due Sept. 30. Her first single, "Spotlight," arrives this month.

Hudson has completed three more films, the first of which is a supporting role in the long-awaited screen version of the hit HBO series, "Sex and the City." She plays Louise, a newly arrived transplant from St. Louis, who finds employment as the personal assistant to Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw.

Though new to the Big Apple, the young Midwesterner has an innate sense of style and an uncanny ability to help her boss get her life back in order after a devastating break-up.

Hudson says she never imagined she would be joining the "Sex and the City" gang.

"I wasn't that familiar with the show, to be honest," she says in a soft, lilting voice. "My sister was a big fan but I never watched it."

Writer-director Michael Patrick King says he wanted from the outset to include a twentysomething character in the film to contrast with the older, established female characters fans already know. Not just any young lady would do, either.

"I always felt the one color that was missing was an African-American woman or a minority character," says King, a director and executive producer on the long running series. "Then I thought, who can play her? And Jennifer Hudson said yes."

Working with co-star Parker, with whom she shares most of her screen time, was a dream.

"It was just amazing to work with her," Hudson gushes. "She's a lot of fun."

Though she didn't get a chance to work with the other three main actresses (Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon), Hudson figures there's probably time for that later.

"If there's a two and three (as in sequels), hopefully I'll get to work with them," she says.