Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson got the lion’s share of attention for their roles in the movie musical “Dreamgirls,” but fans of the film know that film would not have been the same without the third member of the fictional Dreamettes: Anika Noni Rose.
She had already won the Tony Award as the daughter in the Broadway musical “Caroline, or Change” when she was cast in “Dreamgirls,” the second-highest movie musical of all time. If you have the two-disc DVD of the movie and have watched the extras, you can see a video of Anika's "Dreamgirls" audition and you will see a performance so stunning that you knew she just had to be a part of the film.
She knocked it out. of. the. park.
Since the film's release, Anika has been getting more film work, sang at the Academy Awards, and is looking ahad to more opportunities.

Whatever “Dreamgirls” has done for me is not finished,” Anika told me recently. “People are just starting to realize who I am and it’s brought me to a lot of people’s attention.
She has been mighty busy making films in the past year including the hit TV miniseries “The Starter Wife” and the features “One Part Sugar” and “The No. Ladies Detective Agency” with Anthony Minghella.
“Anthony Minghella wouldn’t have known who I was \[before “Dreamgirls”\]. It’s the snowball effect. Work begets work and that’s where I am. I’m still auditioning, but people know who I am and they know the quality of my work.”
Anika may have played sweet Lorell in “Dreamgirls,” but off-screen, she is a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind about the state of the world.
While I'm quite aware of how talented Anika is, what I did not know about her is how passionate she is about what is going on in the world and how unafraid she is to speak her mind about it. When I saw her at last weekend's AIDS Walk, she had sung a rousing rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" but before that, she gave one helluva speech about our country and our leadership and how she believes it has its priorities in all the wrong places.
She expanded on it when we had a talk later that day.
“I feel like, honestly, there’s so much s*** going on, and we’re so busy pretending and throwing up pictures of random celebrities in rehab and having hit a curb. Who cares? There are things going on in life that we need to pay attention to. Pay attention to the fact that it’s fall and it’s 70 damned degrees in New York. So while we’re pretending global warming isn’t happening, our grandchildren are going to burn the hell up. I’m just tired of people covering things up and if I have a moment where I can say something, maybe somebody hears me. I may be preaching to the choir but so be it. I need to say what I feel, that I’m tired of people talking for us.”

You go!