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Mary J. Blige: ‘I Didn’t Realize How Vain I Was’ Until ‘Mudbound’ Role

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Actress Mary J. Blige attends the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala at Palm Springs Convention Center on January 2, 2018 in Palm Springs, California.
Actress Mary J. Blige attends the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala at Palm Springs Convention Center on January 2, 2018 in Palm Springs, California.

*Mary J. Blige had to step out of her personal comfort zone for her role as Florence Jackson in the critically-acclaimed Netflix film, “Mudbound,” and it has paid off in more ways than she could’ve imagined.

“Playing Florence was a heavy experience for me. But I’m so proud to have had the opportunity to walk through this strong woman’s shoes,” Blige said in her acceptance speech for Breakthrough Performance Award at the 29th Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala in California on Tuesday evening, according to People.com.

“It wasn’t easy at first to find this character because I didn’t realize how vain I was until I had to play a character like Florence,” she said at the event, which was sponsored by Cadillac. “Seriously I had to leave a lot of myself behind, a lot of Mary J. Blige behind. A lot of wigs, a lot of lashes, a lot of makeup, a lot of nails, you know the whole thing.”

Mary J. Blige Mudbound Credit: Steve Dietl/Netflix
Mary J. Blige
Mudbound

In the Dee Rees-directed film, Blige plays a long-suffering matriarch living in Mississippi Delta poverty before and after World War II.

“Playing Florence was so therapeutic for me and I poured a lot of my personal pain into her. And she healed me. She healed parts of me that I didn’t even realize were broken,” the star said at the film festival. “So connecting with her was a blessing for me personally. I know she was aside me the whole time because my whole family is Southern. And when were kids, my mom would send us to Georgia in the summers. My grandmother and my aunts are this woman, Florence.”

Adding, “They’re strong and they knew how to move their husbands without saying a word. She was in my DNA so I knew I walk like a Southern woman, speak like a Southern woman. I guess I am a Southern woman at heart.”

Blige wants fans and audiences to take away a specific message from her movie.

“I know being a part of ‘Mudbound’ changed my life and I think the story that it tells can change other lives. There’s a negativity in the world right now. So we need more films like this to remind us that we are all connected and that history is truly shared,” she concluded her speech.

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