Mary J. Blige To Play Nina Simone in Upcoming Biopic Movie
Mary J. Blige
Singer Mary J. Blige has signed to star as legendary jazz/soul artist Nina Simone in a biopic that the actress reportedly has been pursuing for several years.
According to MTV News, this will be the Grammy winner’s first leading role in a major project. She has previously appeared in “The Jamie Foxx Show,” and guest-starred in episodes of “The Ghost Whisperer” and “Strong Medicine.” Her films include “Prison Song” and “Angel: One More Road to Cross.”
The film is an MTV Films/ Paramount Pictures project. It will explore Simone’s relationship with manager Clifton Henderson in Paris and follow her wide-ranging career that encompassed jazz ballads and protest songs in the 1960s through the mid-’70s.
Producers are Jimmy Iovine, Interscope Records chairman, along with Lauren Lloyd, Gene Kirkwood and Paul Rosenberg, who manages Eminem. A director has not been named, but TV writer Cynthia Mort will pen the screenplay.
