During her appearance at "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," Mary J. Blige talked about her acting career, and how much she wants to play Nina Simone in a biopic.
"I always wanted to play Nina Simone," the Queen of Hip Hop Soul said. "I want to learn how to play the piano. I love her songs. They are very dark and moody and I can always find a place for that. So yeah, I definitely want to play her."
Blige's interest in playing the iconic singer Simone had been one of the key people in molding the music industry, especially in R&B, pop, jazz, and other genres.
"I think it's been amazing because Hip Hop has given our culture a voice," Blige continued. "It's given everybody a voice and a place to speak their truth to. From JAY-Z to Nas to Biggie, they're all speaking their truth through music, from Rakim to KRS-One."
A Different Nina
According to reports, Blige was supposed to portray the "I Loves You, Prodigy" singer, but several delays and budget issues forced the biopic to get scrapped.
In 2016, new biopic about Simone, called "Nina," eventually came out, with Zoe Saldana portraying the singer.
Four years after its release, Saldana expressed her regret in starring in the biopic, noting that she was not the perfect fit for the role.
"I should have never played Nina. I should have done everything in my power, with the leverage that I had 10 years ago - which was a different leverage but it was leverage none the less - I should have tried everything in my power to cast a Black woman to play an exceptionally perfect Black woman," the actress said.
"It's painful," Saldana continued. "I thought back then that I had the permission because I was a Black woman, and I am, but it was Nina Simone and Nina had a life and she had a journey that should have been and should be honored to the most detail because she was a specifically detailed individual."
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Too Late?
There is no news on whether there will be another biopic about Simone, but if there is, then producers know who to call.
"Everybody is speaking what they've lived and what they've done through their music and it's given them some sort of therapy," Blige said. "And that's what Hip Hop has done and I hope it continues to do that and I hope it stays around for a long time because the new generations are doing the exact same thing."
The Grammy-Awarded singer expressed how much she enjoys acting as much as she loves rapping and singing. "I get to give anger, or I get to give sadness, or strength, or whatever I'm feeling or wherever I can grab it from - my past, from something bad that happened, from something good that happened - and give it to this character and let them live."
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