Mary J. Blige’s phenomenal career: Hip-hop soul queen to the big screen
ANALYSIS | It’s actually not that surprising
Adapted from an analysis by Samantha West for The Washington Post.
On Sunday night, Mary J. Blige was nominated for best supporting actress at this weekend’s Golden Globes for her role in the Netflix drama “Mudbound.”
How did Blige transition from worldwide music icon with nine Grammy awards to a serious, Golden Globe-nominated actress? If we take a look at her background, we shouldn’t be surprised.
In an interview with Variety, Blige said her interest in acting dates back to performing in plays when she was 7 years old. Her first on-screen performance was the 2001 independent film, “Prison Song.”
“I hope people don’t go digging it up,” Blige told Variety.
“Prison Song” was followed by roles that used her musical talents.
She starred in Tyler Perry’s 2009 musical comedy-drama “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” the 2012 musical “Rock of Ages,” and 2013’s “Black Nativity.” Blige also produced a song, “The Living Proof,” for the 2012 critically acclaimed film “The Help,” which was the source of her first Golden Globe nomination — for best original song in a motion picture. Blige received her second song nomination this year for “Mighty River” from the “Mudbound” soundtrack.
Over the course of her more than 25-year career, she has sold over 50 million albums.
“Mudbound” marks a transition for Blige — but yet another example of why her fans love her in the first place.
About ‘Mudbound’
The drama is set in the American South in the 1940s, in a society dominated by Jim Crow segregation laws. The film follows two families — one white, one black — and how their lives intertwine on a farm just outside of a small Mississippi town. Blige portrays Florence Jackson, the mother of a World War II war hero who returns to his country to the same prejudices he left behind while overseas.
Among an ensemble cast of more seasoned actors including Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Clarke and Jason Mitchell, Blige fits right in — so well that some audiences could not believe it was her. Blige “disappears so thoroughly into her regal, inscrutable character that viewers may not recognize her until the final credits roll,” Washington Post chief movie critic Ann Hornaday noted in her four-star review of the film.
Her performance
Director Dee Rees said she knew from the start she wanted Blige for the role. In an interview with HuffPost, Rees said she “really wanted someone unexpected,” but that she knew what Blige was capable of.
“With Mary’s music, if you’ve been to her concerts, it’s literally like a therapy session for thousands of people,” Rees said. “She’s not just performing; she’s living it. Every verse, she’s reliving the heartbreak or she’s reliving the joy, and you feel it. I needed a character that can make people feel, and I knew she could bring it.”
Blige was inspired immediately.
“When I read the script, I was moved because it showed at the end of the day, when it all gets down to it, love has no color,” Blige told Variety, noting the film’s themes speak to “today’s times,” too.
Blige also told Variety that being “stripped down to the bare necessities” as Florence helped her own self-esteem and self-love. She said the performance was therapeutic to the pain she experienced in her ongoing divorce from husband Martin “Kendu” Isaacs.
“I just had all the heaviness of not feeling right, not feeling good,” she said. “I gave it to Florence.”
