After winning a daytime Emmy award on Thursday (Sept. 9), Jennifer Hudson is one win away from the coveted EGOT. The latest accolade for the Respect star came for her role as executive producer on the VR animated film Baby Yaga, the Oculus Quest project that took home a win in the interactive media for daytime program category.
“Wow ! Thank you @televisionacad for this honor. And thanks to the incredible creative team at @baobabstudios for bringing the important story of Baba Yaga to life,” Hudson wrote in an Instagram post celebrating her win. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to lend my voice to a character and executive produce alongside this innovative team. You all inspired me doing what you do best. Receiving an Emmy for this special project is truly the icing on the cake!”
Hudson starred along with a voice cast that also included Kate Winslet, Glenn Close and Daisy Ridley and the win goes on the shelf next to her Oscar for best supporting actress in 2007 for Dreamgirls and a pair of Grammy awards — best R&B album (2009) and best musical theater album (2017). Though she could have secured the remaining award in the EGOT, a Tony, in 2016 when she starred in an acclaimed Broadway revival of The Color Purple, she was not nominated that year.
Don’t think she’s worried about locking in three out of four so far. On Thursday night she showed off her golden EGO ring on Instagram, writing, “Wow God wow !!!!!!! I’ve had this ring for quite some time! For me it always represented this day, the day I would say I have an EGO! Emmy , Grammy and Oscar ! What a early bday gift ! U can’t limit God !!!! It’s only a story God could write and heights only God can top ! U will always see me try ! And I hope u will too!”
Hudson, who could be in the Oscar race again this year for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in Respect, would join some elite company should she nail down a Tony. Among the dozen EGOT winners to date are: Rita Moreno, Sir John Gielgud, Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Alan Menken and John Legend.
