Tonight on Lifetime, Angela Bassett and Mary J. Blige star in the world premiere of a new movie called Betty & Coretta.
Synopsis:Â Focusing on the extraordinary women behind the two men who would change history, “Betty & Coretta” tells the similar true stories of Coretta Scott King (Angela Bassett), wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Malik Yoba), and Dr. Betty Shabazz (Mary J. Blige), wife of Malcolm X (Lindsay Owen Pierre). When their husbands were tragically assassinated, these two women not only inherited the mantle of the civil rights movement in America, each also found herself to be a single mother who had to find a way to raise and support her children with no husband or father, resulting in a relationship like no other that spanned more than three decades.
The Cast
Angela Bassett is Coretta Scott King
Ms. Bassett is one of the most fierce actresses currently working in Hollywood. She’s given powerful performances on the big screen in What’s Love Got to Do With It, Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and countless other films. On the small screen, she starred in the final season of NBC’s ER, a few episodes of Alias and played Rosa Parks — the Mother of the Civil Rights movement — Â in the TV movie The Rosa Parks Story.
Mary J. Blige is Dr. Betty Shabazz
Blige can also be described as fierce. She’s a powerhouse in the world of music having sold over 60 million albums and earned nine Grammy Awards. She contributed one of the best songs (“Not Gon’ Cry”) to the soundtrack of one of Bassett’s movies, Waiting to Exhale. As far as acting, Blige was recently in the big screen version of the Broadway hit musical, Rock of Ages. And she’s guest starred on several TV series including Entourage, Ghost Whisperer and Strong Medicine. But one of her most memorable performances has to be when she sang “No More Drama” at the 2002 Grammys Awards. People still talk about it and she received a standing ovation for her emotional effort.
Malik Yoba is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Love, love, love Malik Yoba. He first entered our radar on FOX’s sexy gritty cop drama New York Undercover. He starred in the films Why Did I Get Married? and its sequel Why Did I Get Married Too? Some of his TV credits include: the short-lived series Bull on TNT and ABC’s Defying Gravity; a recurring role on UPN’s Girlfriends; two episodes of Arrested Development playing Ice, a bounty hunter and professional caterer; and he did guest star turns on Person of Interest, Nikita and CSI: Miami. He was was also the powerful superhero Bill Harken on Syfy’s Alphas. After two seasons, Syfy recently cancelled the series. It was a heartbreaking move for fans considering 1. Season 2 gave us some seriously epic episodes. 2. The show unloaded a massive cliffhanger in the second season finale. Now we will never know what would have transpired next. Boo.
Betty & Coretta premieres tonight on Lifetime at 8/7c.
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