Jennifer Hudson & Samuel L. Jackson Dreaming of a BLACK Christmas

Written by Tara the Mom Thursday, 05 July 2012 07:24

Jennifer Hudson, gospel musical Jennifer Hudson (The Three Stooges), Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers) and Angela Bassett (This Means War) will co-star in Black Nativity, about an African-American teen who is sent to visit the grandparents he's never met at their home in Harlem for Christmas. While his granddad is delivering a Christmas Eve sermon, he envisions a stylized, dreamlike version of the Nativity story and learns the importance of family and faith. The teen has yet to be cast. Hudson, who is 30, is in talks to play the boy's mother...she seems a little young for that to be possible but that may be the point of her character, who had a falling out with her father (Jackson) when she became pregnant and hasn't spoken to him since. Bassett will play Hudson's mother. Jackson is expected to play several characters in the Nativity portion of the story.

Jennifer Hudson, gospel musical The film is based on the Broadway gospel musical so it appears Jackson will be singing. Hudson, an American Idol alum, is a singer and won an Oscar for her performance in the musical Dreamgirls (also a Broadway adaptation). Bassett came to fame (and was also nominated for an Oscar) playing music icon Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It so singing is already part of her world, too.

Who would you like to see play the teen boy? Tell us on Twitter @KidsPickFlicks

Source: Variety

Ty-Simpkins: Meet IRON MAN 3's 11-year Old Star

alt by Miranda R., Age 15

At 11 years old, Ty Simpkins already has quite a few credits on his resume. Simpkins has been in movies since he was barely 3 months old, and has roles in flicks such as Insidious, The Next Three Days, and Little Children. Maybe even more interesting is how many times he's been cast in films with his real life sister Ryan Simpkins - they play siblings in Revolutionary Road, Pride and Glory and Arcadia, among others.

alt But for Iron Man 3, Ty's first action movie, he goes it alone. Ty plays Harley Keener, an intelligent kid who has a run-in with Iron Man and actually helps him save the day.

Ty's favorite part of working on Iron Man 3 was being able to spend time with its star Robert Downey Jr. "Robert's really fun to work with. He's a really nice guy."

Like many kids his age, Ty is a huge Iron Man fan. "My favorite superhero is Iron Man and I'm not just saying that because I worked on the Iron Man movie. It actually is Iron Man," he says very emphatically....

To read more about Ty Simpkins, click HERE.