Blige’s songs, with love and pain, guide two movies

For an actor, it can be imposing to step inside a Mary J. Blige production … and inside a Blige song.
“It reminds me of my mom,” Ajioba Alexus said. “Because we would dance to Mary J. Blige’s songs in the kitchen.” Now she stars in two Lifetime movies (shown here, with co-star Da’Vinchi), produced by Blige, that use titles of those songs
— “Real Love” was Blige’s first hit back in 1992 – four years before Alexus was born. It was No. 7 on Billboard’s overall chart and No. 1 on its rhythm & bluyes chart.
— “Strength of a Woman” came much later, in 2017. The album (with the same title) was No. 3 overall and No. 2 in R&B.
Both are part of a Blige blitz over the years. She’s only had three top-10 singles on the overall chart, but 21 in R&B, including five No. 1. She’s also been an actress (starring in the sequel to the “Ghost” crime saga on Starz) and has produced four Lifetime movies.
“We all grew up with Mary J. Blige’s music,” Hamza Fouad said. “She’s the hardest-working person in Hollywood, it seems.”
He co-stars in “Strength of a Woman,” which debuts Saturday (June 17), wrapping a two-film story. “Real Love” reruns at 8 p.m. and midnight Friday and at 6 p.m. Saturday. “Strength” is 8 p.m. and midnight Saturday and the same times June 23. Both run at 4 and 6 p.m. June 24, leading into “Keyshia Cole: This Is My Story,” wrapping up Lifetime’s month-long focus on Black women’s music.
Both Blige films have Alexus as Kendra, who has modest-income roots, a sweet soul and a great eye for photography. The first one, Alexus said, has “more of an uppity, vibrant vibe. (While making) the first movie, we were so giggly all the time.”
Despite its title, the “Real Love” song isn’t all roses. When Blige sings it, Alexus said, “it brings up a painful time in her life.”
As Cory Rooney, who wrote and produced the song with Mark Morales, once told an Ebony reporter: “Mary J. Bl.ige is the female from the ‘hood who sings the pain of all of the females from the ‘hood. At that point in her life, she was being taken advantage of by a lot of industry cats.”
The lyrics turn that into a romance about a guy she thought was good: “But it seems that I was wrong, if I stay strong, maybe I’ll find real love.”
In the same way, the movie gives Kendra a warm romance with Ben (played by Da’Vinchi, who also teamed with Alexus in the “BMF” series). Then it finds ways to insert tragedy.
“Strength of a Woman” jumps ahead 16 years. Kendra is married to a busy doctor (Fouad) … amid more obstacles. “In life, troubles never stop coming,” Alexus said.
Both movies have virtually an all-Black cast. “I’m from Vancouver, so I don’t see a lot of that,” said Princess Davis, who plays Kendra’s best friend in both films.
The first film is set in a historically Black college, fresh turf for the key people. Blige has described years of troubles – molested by a family friend, sexually harassed by peers, troubled by an alcoholic father who was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD – before dropping out of high school her junior year.
For Alexus, things were more comfortable. She was born in Tuskegee, but spent her teen years at the elite Alabama School of Fine Arts.
At 16, she was co-starring in “The Ricky Smiley Show,” a cable comedy. She went on to other shows, including “13 Reasons Why” and two roles involving large personas: She was the young Cookie in “Empire” flashbacks and now lives inside two Mary J. Blige films.