Mary J Blige’s Most Memorable roles: From Guest Appearances to an Oscar Nomination

Mary J Blige has been a music icon for many years now. With 13 studio albums and many awards, she has made her name known across the globe. Today, however, her portfolio includes not only music-related accolades. The R&B queen is making significant strides in the television and film industry. One of the biggest of them was her 2018 Oscar nomination for supporting actress for her role in Netflix’s Mudbound. And this is just the beginning!

Here are Blige’s most memorable television and movie roles thus far.

I Can Do All Bad By Myself (2009)

Tyler Perry gave Blige her first feature film role. She played an inspiring singing bartender at the nightclub. Before this, the singer/songwriter only had cameos on television. I Can Do All Bad By Myself also starred Taraji P. Henson.

Rock of Ages (2012)

Blige played a strip club owner named Justice in Rock of Ages. In the Broadway adaptation, her character offers the country girl Sherrie (played by Julianne Hough) a job after her career path spirals downwards. The musical also starred heavyweights Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin.

Betty and Coretta (2013)

In 2013 Mary J. Blige starred in the T.V. movie Betty and Coretta opposite Angela Bassett. The R&B singer played Malcolm X’s widow Dr. Betty Shabazz and Bassett starred as Coretta Scott King. Blige told The Hollywood Reporter that she “used the intimidation of acting alongside Bassett to burn and grow from watching her.”

Black Nativity (2013)

As Betty and Coretta was released, Mary J Blige jumped on another project, a Christmas movie titled Black Nativity, where she played an angel named Platinum Fro. The cinematic adaptation of Langston Hughes gospel musical followed a street-wise teen (played by Jacob Lattimore) from Baltimore, raised by a single mother(played by Jennifer Hudson) who travels to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives. The all-star cast also included Forest Whitaker, Nas, Angela Bassett, and Tyrese.

Empire (2015)

In 2015 Blige reunited with Henson once again. The Grammy award winner guest-starred in one of the television’s top drama series, Empire. Angie, Blige’s character, was Lucious Lyon’s ex, whom he dated after Cookie went to prison.

Blige was invited to guest star on the show by co-creator Lee Daniels himself. “I saw him at a hotel here in L.A. about six months ago or so, and he was raving about ‘Empire’ and how I had to be on the show,” she told EurWeb. “And then my girlfriend Taraji, who plays Cookie, was even telling me about it, and she invited me as well. But Lee Daniels officially invited me.”

Mudbound (2017)

The Netflix original movie Mudbound would become one of the brightest highlights of Blige’s acting career to date. In it, she played Florence Jackson, the matriarch of a black family living in the Mississippi Delta during World War II. After years of cameos and guest appearances, this role has earned Blige an Oscar nomination.

The Umbrella Academy (2019)

In Netflix’s hit series The Umbrella Academy, Blige played a time-traveling assassin named Cha-Cha. Her character is a highly dangerous hitman whose mission is to eliminate people who “mess with the timeline.” Season 3 will return sometime in 2022.

Body Cam (2020)

Body Cam marks Blige’s first role in a thriller genre. The police procedural drama follows veteran Renee Lomito (Blige) as she investigates the murder of a fellow officer and encounters a mysterious figure in the body cam footage. Haunted by visions of the event, she suspects something supernatural is targeting the cops in her unit. 

Respect (2021)

Blige played singer Dinah Washington in the Aretha Franklin highly anticipated biographical drama Respect, with Jennifer Hudson in the titular role.

Washington rose to fame in the 1950s and ’60s and was one of the most popular singers of her generation. She performed in several genres, including blues, jazz, and R&B.

Power Book II: Ghost (2020-present)

Blige’s latest gig might be her biggest television role yet. The Oscar-nominated actress stars as matriarch Monét Tejada in the hit Starz drama sequel series, Power Book II: Ghost. Monet does not just take care of her three young adult children and an adoptive nephew; she is also the head of a crime empire that she inherited from her incarcerated husband, Lorenzo. The drama series is currently in its second season.