Hollywood's Brightest Stars, on Hollywood's Biggest Night

Feb. 22, 2007— -- The Academy Awards ceremonies mark the biggest night in show business, and some of the biggest names in this year's show sat down with Barbara Walters for the 26th edition of her annual Oscar special. This year, Walters features four stars who have taken enormous risks, and are reaping the rewards.

A decade ago, Ellen DeGeneres took a big risk when she told the world she was gay. Now the comedian finds herself hosting the biggest show in entertainment.

Watch the Barbara Walters Oscar Special Sunday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. ET, and immediately following the Academy Awards on the West Coast.

Just a few years ago, Jennifer Hudson risked auditioning for "American Idol" and lost. Now she's the front-runner in the best supporting actress category for her role in "Dreamgirls."

Helen Mirren risked her reputation to portray the icy and reserved Queen Elizabeth II, and she's now nominated for the best actress Oscar for "The Queen."

Eddie Murphy risked his leading man persona and paycheck to sing and dance, and take a supporting role in "Dreamgirls." For this risk, he was rewarded with the first Oscar nomination of his 26-year career.

The Host

Ellen DeGeneres told Walters that she discovered her career when she was a teenager, when she tried to cheer up her depressed mother after her parents' divorce.

"I think it was the first time I realized what kind of power humor has. You know, she's crying one minute, and then the next minute she's laughing hysterically, and I thought, that's amazing to be able to do that for people."

Like most comics of her era, an appearance on the Johnny Carson Show ultimately sealed the deal on her stardom. Her routine was based around a phone call to God, and she became the first female comedian invited to sit on the couch during a debut appearance.

"People talk about praying and talking to God all the time," recalled DeGeneres, "but I just thought it would be great if you could actually just reach God somehow, if you could just pick up the phone and call God."

By the time she was 36, DeGeneres had her own sitcom, "Ellen." Her character was straight, and while her show was a hit, it wasn't the real Ellen. DeGeneres might have continued on this track for a while had her movie career taken off. But her first big film, "Mr. Wrong," felt wrong to DeGeneres, and to audiences.

Many believe the film flopped because of rumors that Ellen was gay. Faced with a career crisis, Ellen made one of the most courageous decisions in television history: She came out in front of 36 million people.

"I would cry during rehearsal, because it was a huge thing to actually say," DeGeneres recalled. "And even after I came out, I was scared to death. … I still didn't want people to know, even though I'd said it. It really is about living your truth. That's all it is."

Ultimately, that decision would be the end for her show, but the beginning of a new chapter. Today audiences accept her as she is, whether she's hosting her television show or an award show like the Emmy's, or playing a fish, as the voice of Dory in the animated hit "Finding Nemo."

DeGeneres has had a couple of high-profile relationships, but at age 49, she has settled into happy domesticity with her girlfriend, 34-year-old actress Portia de Rossi.

DeGeneres likes to spend her free time in her house in Santa Barbara, but there is precious little of it these days. Every joke, every dance, has led her to hosting the Oscars: the biggest job of her career.

"I mean, I kind of am visualizing what it's going to feel like to walk out on that stage," she told Walters. "And there's going to be a big, big smile on my face."

The Dreamgirl

The song is called "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)," and the woman who sings it isn't going anywhere either. Jennifer Hudson has firmly cemented her place in Hollywood.

Hudson talked with Walters at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, where Hudson shot her very first scene in "Dreamgirls."

"[I] never knew that that would lead me to this. Can't believe I'm back here," she said.

Hudson was born in 1981 in Chicago's tough South Side. Her grandmother encouraged her to sing, and a performance in a regional theater production convinced her that she could actually make a living with her voice. One day her mother told her about some auditions for "American Idol" being held in Atlanta. Hudson made it to the final 12, but she didn't escape Simon Cowell's harsh criticism.

"I think you are out of your depth in this competition," he told her on the show. "I don't think you're capable of doing anything better, to have any chance at all of winning this competition."

Hudson says she felt "challenged" by the criticism.

"I said, 'You know what? [There's] something in store for me. God has something in store. I don't know what, don't know when, don't know where, don't know how, but it's something coming, and you will see me again.'"

Hudson wasn't the "American Idol," but Hollywood hadn't seen the last of her. She was one of 782 people auditioning for the role of Effie in "Dreamgirls," and she got the part.

When it comes to her personal life, Hudson has been dating her childhood sweetheart, James Payton, for seven years. Payton works as a maintenance engineer in Chicago, and Walters asked Hudson if she thought her newfound stardom would change their relationship.

"It hasn't," Hudson said." The difference is, why would I pick somebody new when [they] don't know me, [they] just see the Jennifer Hudson that's in "Dreamgirls," or the Jennifer Hudson from "American Idol." But he knows Jennifer Hudson from years ago, from when we were back in seventh, eighth grade."

Walters asked Hudson if she plans to thank Simon Cowell in her speech, should she win the Oscar.

"Will I thank Simon Cowell? You know, I'd probably thank 'American Idol' as a whole. Because had it not been for 'American Idol,' they never would have known of a Jennifer Hudson to call."

With a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe under her belt, the stage is set for the 25-year-old Hudson to possibly win an Oscar and certainly be the breakthrough star of the year.

The Queen

Helen Mirren is having a royal time of it this year. She is nominated for the best actress Academy Award for her role in "The Queen," the inside story of Britain's royal family in crisis after the untimely death of Princess Diana.

Mirren should be more famous than she is. After all, she has made more than 45 films, had a hit TV series, "Prime Suspect," had a well-known romance with actor Liam Neeson, and has taken her clothes off on camera frequently. That would put most actresses on the map, but there is something about her that defies stardom.

Mirren comes from London's working class. The family watched no television or movies, so Mirren's foray into acting was considered fanciful and frivolous.

Mirren told Walters, "Just two years ago, I finally kinda sat back and thought, 'You know what? You have done great. You have done great. And you have had an incredibly successful career."

In "The Queen," Mirren breathes life into Queen Elizabeth II -- a woman known for being strong, stoic and dutiful. Mirren said that before taking the role in "The Queen," she didn't have any strong feelings about her subject.

"I was brought up in a very anti-monarchist household," she explained to Walters. "I don't know what my parents would have thought of me playing the queen, let alone sympathetically, ultimately."

And after taking the role, Mirren told Walters that her feelings changed.

"I like her a lot. I would say I love her, actually," Mirren said. "I kind of fell in love with her as I researched her and started playing her."

Speaking of love, Mirren is married to director Taylor Hackford. Two years ago, Mirren was seen on Hackford's arm at award show after award show when he was being honored for directing "Ray." This year, it's her turn.

"The most fantastic thing for me is, Helen is finally getting, in this country, the recognition that I think she's deserved for a long time," said Hackford.

As for her chances on Oscar night, Mirren said, "It's quite relaxing to kind of know that you are probably not going to win. … This time, I am not relaxed. Let's put it that way."

When asked if she thinks the best is yet to come, Mirren said, "I think that this is probably the best. You know, you have to allow life to play itself out, don't you? And one thing you learn is that it doesn't stop. It moves on. And I am happy about that. I like that. I like the adventure of life, and to see what's coming next. I cannot wait to see what happens next."

The 'Thunder'

In "Dreamgirls," Murphy plays James "Thunder" Early -- an amalgamation of some of soul's biggest male stars. And Murphy is a revelation as a shooting star burning up fast, afraid he may just be faking his way to the top.

Murphy has never had to fake anything. He was a natural comedian -- a middle-class Brooklyn kid from a broken home who was a household name by the time he was 19, as a cast member of "Saturday Night Live."

Thirty-one movies later, he is still a box-office champ. But no one -- least of all Murphy -- ever thought it would all lead to an Oscar nomination. He told Walters in a 1987 interview that "[Everyone] would like to win an award, but that's not in the cards for me."

Murphy says that it wasn't his parents' divorce that drove him to be a comic.

"I've heard a lot of comedians have, like, these tragic upbringings. I have, you know, really fond memories of growing up. My mother remarried a wonderful man, with integrity, and he raised us up to be, you know, good, strong … honest young men, and, we grew up in a great household."

Walters asked Murphy about his reputation as a recluse. "It's funny, because the definition of a recluse is a person that withdraws from society. And I don't, I haven't withdrawn from society at al," said Murphy. "But, I kind of, I've withdrawn from the whole Hollywood scene. I never got into that whole scene."

When it comes to his role in "Dreamgirls," Eddie Murphy told Walters that "Dreamgirls" is like a crossroads picture for me. When something like this comes along, it's like, wow. It's just heaven sent."

Like Mirren, Murphy said that this is the "best time" of his life.

"Right now, I don't have a ripple in the ocean in my personal life, and my kids are wonderful, and I've got an Oscar nomination. And I probably should just go stand in the freezer, and just freeze this moment … that's what I want to do. Because … everything is perfect right now."