Mary J. Blige’s music has always been about potency and vulnerability.
Her 14 studio albums – including last year’s self-empowerment statement “Good Morning Gorgeous” – are anchored in the strife she’s endured and her resiliency.
So it makes sense that two of Blige’s lauded hits, the rousing R&B anthem “Real Love” from her 1992 debut (“What’s the 411?”) and the title track of 2017’s “Strength of a Woman” album inspired – and titled – a pair of Lifetime original movies.
Blige, through her Blue Butterfly production camp, executive produced the two films starring Ajiona Alexus (“Empire,” “13 Reasons Why”) and Da’Vinchi (“BMF,” “All American”) as Kendra and Ben, students at a North Carolina HBCU who fall in and out and back in love between college and professional adulthood.
“Mary J. Blige’s Real Love” premieres on Lifetime Saturday (8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT) and “Mary J. Blige’s “Strength of a Woman” follows the Kendra and Ben story at the same time June 17. They will also stream on the Lifetime app and mylifetime.com.
In addition to nurturing her production company, Blige, 52, has been in New York to film the third season of the Starz drama “Power Book II: Ghost” (she plays intense matriarch Monet Tejada) and is working on new music and a tour.
She and her films’ stars talked to USA TODAY about finding strength in surrendering and the sometimes-dark journeys faced in the two stories.
Question: Mary, what is the backstory about these two films being inspired by your music?
Mary J. Blige: It comes from the songs and just discovering that love and finding that love comes from me. I’m able to show people love in relationships and how important it is to the world and to life.
Ajiona and Da’Vinchi, did you feel any pressure knowing that these movies were so closely tied to Mary?
Ajiona Alexus: Not pressure because I get excited. I love being around people who love music and the arts as much as I do. We’re setting trends and opening new doors.
Da’Vinchi: I definitely felt a little pressure, but pressure to me is fuel. My whole life has been pressure. This was just like, kick in, lock in, get ready to make some history.
There is a 15-year gap between the two movies. Was it harder playing the younger or more current versions of your characters?
Da’Vinchi: The older version was more difficult because 15 years (after college) they were 35 and I don’t know what it’s like to be 35!
Alexus: For each time period, I went through the process of creating the character, where she would be mentally in college and then 15 years later. It was a lot of backstory I would think about in my hotel room.
At the end of “Real Love,” Ben and Kendra take a very ‘90s version of a selfie and then do it the old-fashioned way again in “Strength of a Woman.” You’re both 27. Do you remember taking selfies without a phone?
Da’Vinchi: (Laughs) Yeah, the first iPod Touch didn’t have a front camera, so you had to turn it.
Kendra goes through a traumatic sexual assault in “Real Love.” Tell me about partnering with the Take Back the Night foundation and the challenges of playing Kendra during those dark scenes.
Alexus: I definitely had to take it to a dark place. I’m so blessed to partner with Take Back the Night. I was able to talk to a lot of victims (through the organization) and a lot of people told me their stories. When I watch that moment in the film, I don’t think there will be a time that I don’t cry. But I’m happy the story shows Kendra overcoming (the assault) and following her dreams. I hope a lot of young women can look up to her.
Mary, why did you want that to be part of Kendra’s story?
Blige: It shows the journey and where a person comes from and where their strength comes from. I will always have real-life situations in my movies and songs because it’s relative to people. It keeps them locked in.
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There is a memorable line in “Strength of a Woman,” that “sometimes behind strong is about surrendering.” Do you feel that’s true?
Blige: It’s the biggest truth. In order to find yourself and that strength you have to be still and self-aware. In order to be self-aware you need to be non-biased enough to see the ugly truth about yourself, the good and the bad, so you can see what you need to fix. Being calm is surrender.
Alexus: Surrendering comes with honesty. It’s the harsh truth that you have to audit your life and surrender to the reality of what you’re living in.
Da’Vinchi: When you surrender, it allows you to hit rock bottom. And when you hit rock bottom, you found out who the rock is at the bottom and that is God. And then you get your strength and build from there and climb back up.
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