Jennifer Hudson had just put an Oscar on her mantle when the opportunity for more gold came knocking. Unfortunately, its companion, massive weight gain, made sure the chance didn't get in the door.

Following her win for Best Supporting Actress for the 2006 film "Dreamgirls," the American Idol winner says that she asked by director Lee Daniels to read for the title part in the film "Precious." The role, an abused and overweight daughter, was appealing, but the physical strain it present was not.

"I had done that with Effie... and as much as I was moved by this film," Hudson writes in her new book, "I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down" (via Uptown Magazine). "I wanted to try a role that had nothing whatsoever to do with my weight."
As Daniels told it in 2009, that helped put him in a bind.

"We were weeks away from the shoot but I still hadn't found Precious," he told The Guardian. "Do you know how difficult it is to find a 300lb black girl to be great in a movie? They don't exist in Hollywood."

As it turned out, Gabby Sidibe, New Yorker and college student, cut class to audition at an open casting call. The rest -- including an Oscar nomination for Sibide -- is history. That includes one side effect for Sibide that would not have plagued Hudson.