*Years after winning a best supporting actress Oscar for her work in “Precious,” Mo’Nique is returning to the big screen.
The actress will star along with Isaiah Washington in “Blackbird,” a new urban coming of age drama from Urban Movie Channel (UMC), an RLJ Entertainment brand. The Patrik-Ian Polk-directed project centers around 17-year-old Randy (Julian Walker), a devout Christian who tries very hard to be a good person, according to a press release.
Since his father (Washington) left, Randy takes care of his emotionally disturbed mother (Mo’Nique), sings lead in the church choir and is the kind of friend all of his classmates can depend on. As strong as he seems on the outside, Randy is hiding a secret inner struggle – a denial of his true self. It is not until he opens himself up to love that he discovers that becoming a man means accepting who you really are.
“I am very excited to bring ‘Blackbird’ to theaters and to UMC,” said UMC creator and BET founder Robert L. Johnson. “’Blackbird’ is in line with my vision for UMC to bring together the African American/urban production and talent community with a distribution channel dedicated to showcasing and supporting their creative works. I have had the pleasure of knowing Mo’Nique since early in her career as a comedian and her appearances on BET, and I know and admire Isaiah’s work as both an actor and a producer. I am certain that audiences will enjoy the inspirational storyline and powerful performances by this extraordinary cast. ‘Blackbird’ is the type of high value content UMC was designed to promote,” he concluded
In addition to Mo’Nique, Washington and Walker, “Blackbird” features Terrell Tilford (“Single Ladies,” “Guiding Light”), D. Woods (MTV’s Danity Kane), Gary L. Gray (“The Cosby Show,” “Bring It On: All Or Nothing”), Torrey Laamar, Kevin Allesee and Nikki Jane.
“Blackbird” is set to be released this spring.
