Mary J. Blige to co-star in Netflix’s ‘The Umbrella Academy’
Mary J. Blige is teaming up with Netflix for a series called “The Umbrella Academy.”
The live action series from Universal Cable Prods is based on the graphic novels of the same name by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá.
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The graphic novels follow the Umbrella Academy, a dysfunctional superhero family, trying to solve the mystery of their father’s murder. Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Vanya (Ellen Page), Klaus (Robert Sheehan) and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) must all overcome their differences, and it doesn’t always work.
As for Blige, she has signed a one-year contract to be a series regular as Cha-Cha, a hitwoman who can travel through time to come after her targets.
According to Deadline, Cha-Cha considers herself a “pain artist” and loves not only the kill but the torture of her targets. She has a reputation for sadism and only cares about her partner, Hazel. Even her employers have her ire, because of their reliance on bureaucracy.
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Blige’s success with Netflix and ‘Mudbound’
This marks a reunion for Blige and Netflix after the success of Mudbound.
Blige is up for an Academy Award for her role, but she told New York Magazine in an interview that she was not exactly enthusiastic when she first took on a more natural look to play the part of Florence Jackson.
Blige, who described herself as “addicted to lashes” had to leave her wigs and makeup behind to be a sharecropper’s wife in Jim Crow Mississippi.
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“I’m Mary J. Blige. I mean, like, this is what I do. I wear wigs, I wear bob wigs, and I had to completely strip down to my own natural hair texture, which I’ve always been afraid of,” she said. “Dee [Rees] stripped me down all the way to what I truly am, and people were complimenting me. People were saying how beautiful I was. I didn’t know I was that beautiful for real. You understand what I’m saying? I didn’t know that.”
Blige has been highly praised for her vulnerability and emotion in that project, and it will be interesting to see her stretch her wings into the world of television now.
