Present day high priestess of soul Mary J. Blige has been cast to play the High Priestess of Soul Nina Simone in Nina, a film about the legendary singer’s relationship with a younger assistant. Despite the fact that Blige has almost no acting experience, her emotional range and well-documented familiarity with drama make us optimistic that she will absolutely kill it. At the very least, it will be the best channeling of Simone seen on film since Julie Delpy’s half-chat, half-scat in Before Sunset. [Variety]
