Look Who's Singing: Kate Hudson, Daniel Day Lewis
Nov. 19, 2009— -- In a trailer for the upcoming musical "Nine," a beautiful go-go dancing, Beyonce-swaying blonde shows off an impressive set of pipes and some decent moves.
No, it's not Fergie, but her suprise co-star Kate Hudson. Yep, Hudson can sing. And fellow "Nine" actors Daniel Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard don't do such a bad job either.
It's always a surprise for audiences when actors known more for their acting than their singing break out into song on the big screen. And some surprises are more pleasant than others. Last year Meryl Streep got cheers for her performance in "Mama Mia!" Her co-star Pierce Brosnan got jeers.
In 2002's big-screen version of the musical "Chicago," Catherine Zeta Jones won an Oscar for her singing role as Velma Kelly, but Richard Gere was widely panned for his singing as Billy Flynn.
The "Nine" ensemble are the latest actors to sing on the big screen. They talked about the challenge of performing in a musical on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Wednesday.
"I was very intimidated by it," two-time Oscar winner Lewis told Winfrey. "Rob has a way of making it seem like second nature."
That would be stage-turned-screen director Rob Marshall, who won an Academy Award for directing "Chicago."
"Just to sing in the audition" was an honor for Hudson. "I felt like I'd do Rob's craft (food) service," Hudson told Winfrey. "I grew up in a dancing family. For me working with Rob Marshall was like working with (famed choreographer and director) Bob Fosse. And then to work with everybody here, it was just truly a phenomenal experience."
"It was so fun, truly maybe the best experience to date on a film for sure," Hudson added.
Most may not realize that "Nine" is not Hudson's first on-screen singing performance. She took to the mic in the 2000 film "About Adam," in which she played a torch-singing waitress.
In real life, she's also been known to burst into song. A couple years ago, she surprised patrons at a piano bar on the Italian Riviera when she sang Carole King's classic "You've Got a Friend."
However, when it came time to film her big scene singing and dancing after two months of rehearsal, Hudson choked.
"The first time I got on a stage and had to be fully on, I just froze," she said.
Luckily, she had a big supporter on set that day: her mother, actress Goldie Hawn.
