Jennifer Hudson thinks living in Chicago keeps her grounded.
Jennifer Hudson
The 'Voice' coach - who has son David Jr., seven, with former fiancé David Otunga - believes it is important to keep her personal and professional lives separate but doesn't think living in Los Angeles would allow her the "breathing room" to do that.
She told Britain's Cosmopolitan magazine: "I can go incognito [in Chicago].
"I'm a thinker and sometimes in this business celebrities tend to lose it. A lot of that is down to putting all your eggs in one basket.
"So, if you live in LA, your whole life is there - your personal life and your work. Where is your breathing room? I like to separate the two.
"Going home to Chicago keeps me grounded, sane and balanced. LA is a bubble. There is another world outside that, so it's intentional."
The 36-year-old singer has a strong work ethic and thinks it's just as important to understand the business side of her profession as it is to perform.
She said: "All I do is my job. I am a businesswoman.
"In this industry you need to have just as much business sense as talent to be able to exist. Not everyone gets that.
"Fortunately I do. I'm so grateful for that, along with having the talent to be able to do it...
"I don't care if I sing for the pope or the local church, everything is just as precious.
"When I'm having my hair and make-up done for a job, people joke, 'She'as really studying her stuff - who does that?'
"But it's the nature of this business. Your work speaks for you and your next thing comes from your last thing."
And having found success as both a singer and an actress, the 'Dreamgirls' star doesn't take anything for granted.
She said: "It's rare to be able to have a music or acting career, never mind both.
"So, I don't take them lightly.
"Music is involved in everything I do.
"Even if I'm playing a character who has nothing to do with music, all of a sudden the character sings."
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