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ABC/Fred WatkinsMary J. Blige‘s latest role in in the much buzzed-about movie drama Mudbound was filmed during an even heavier time in her life — when her marriage to now-estranged husband Kendu Isaacs was falling apart.
She tells Variety, “I used a lot of my own heaviness from my own misery that I was living in that horrible marriage. I was just dying it in.”
Mary J continues, “I knew something was wrong. I just couldn’t prove it. I just had all the heaviness of not feeling right, not feeling good. I gave it to Florence.”
Florence [Jackson] is the name of the character Mary plays in Dee Rees‘ film.
Mary also says she was “petrified” during her scenes with on-screen husband, Hap Jackson, played by Rob Morgan, because she “never touched another man other than my husband.”
Even though she’s divorcing Kendu, Mary says she’s now “doing OK” and “living” — although it’s not exactly an amicable split.
The Grammy-winner explains, “I’m not happy about a lot of things. I thought someone loved me, right? Turns out, he was a con artist and he didn’t, and now he’s coming after me for all my money.”
She adds, “When you come out of something like that, you realize you were never the one. There was someone else that was his queen. I got played. I got suckered. I have to keep smiling and keep my spirits up because this is designed to kill me.”
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