Actress/singer Jennifer Hudson contemplated dropping out of her new Winnie Mandela biopic, because she feared the role was too much to handle.

The Oscar-winning Dreamgirls star plays the wife of iconic South African civil rights activist Nelson Mandela in the upcoming film Winnie Mandela, and she was hesitant about signing on at first because Mandela is so beloved all over the world.

She says, "I was very intimidated because she's such an iconic figure."

And her fears multiplied as soon as she arrived on set: "Once I got to Africa, I was like, 'Wow, she's a (national) treasure... I have to take this seriously.'

"And (I thought), 'If I'm not going to hop in at 100 per cent, maybe I should go home'. I actually had that moment where I was contemplating, 'Can I handle this?' and if I'm going to do it: 'Jennifer you have to be all in'."