YBF folks are booked and busy, honey! Get deets on Erika Alexander and Janelle Monae's new gigs, plus find out who's joining Halle Berry & Lena Waithe's new BOOMERANG sequel inside...
Season 2 of Black Lightning just added some starpower.
Erika Alexander will be joining the cast in a recurring role and she's bringing some telepathic powers to throw in the mix. Shadow & Act serves up deets on her role:
In a recurring role on the DC Comics-based series on The CW, she'll play Perenna, “a therapist with telepathic abilities who is trying to help Jennifer (China Anne McClain) acclimate to her manifesting powers and the emotions that go along with them."
The "Living Single" alum is a huge sci-fi/superhero fan. The actress and her husband Tony Puryearcreated"Concrete Jungle," a sci-fi graphic novel, last year.
“First, I love sci-fi. My writing heroes are giants of sci-fi who happen to be African American like Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany,” she said. “The biggest geeks I know are Sam Jackson, Will Smith and Rosario Dawson. Secondly, and more importantly, you wanna tell me about the future? Blacks and other minorities in this country and poor people all over the world live in the future. Our past may be pain, our present, precarious, but the future? The future is free.”
Season 2 of "Black Lightning" premieres October 9th at 9pm EST on The CW.
By the way, the cast of "Living Single" reunited recently, but Erika (along with Queen Latifah) was missing. The other castmates said they would be down for a sequel, but only time will tell.
Another YBF chick getting jobs...
Janelle Monae WOWED us in Hidden Figures and Oscar favorite Moonlight.
Now, she's gearing up for TWO new roles.
The Dirty Computer singer will be joining Cynthia Erivo in the upcoming Focus Features movie, Harriet, a biopic that will chronicle the life of heroic abolitionist Harriet Tubman. No word yet on what role she will play.
Other YBFers who will star in the biopic include Leslie Odom Jr., Vanessa Bell Calloway, and Girls Trip actress Deborah Ayorinde.
Janelle Monae will also lend her voice in "UglyDolls," an animated family adventure based on the toy brand. Variety reports:
In the adorably different town of Uglyville, the free-spirited Moxy and her UglyDolls pals confront what it means to be different, struggle with their desire to be loved, and ultimately discover that you don’t have to be perfect to be worthy of love.
Come December, Janelle will be featured on the big screen in a dramedy titled, Welcome to Marwen. She's playing a character named GI Julie. Welcome To Marwen debuts in theaters December 21st.
Get those movie coins, sis!
On television...
We told you Halle Berry and Lena Waithe are working on a BOOMERANG sequel as executive producers. And now, the cast is rounding out with some fresh faces.
26 years after BOOMERANG hit theaters, a sequel of the 1992 classic is coming to BET in a 10-episode series. Tequan Richmond ("Everybody Hates Chris") and Tetona Jackson (All Night) have been cast as the lead stars. Leland B. Martin (A Cinderella Christmas) and Instagram star Lala Milan ("Claws") have joined the cast as series regulars.
Deadline reports:
Based on the 1992 American romantic comedy film, Boomerang will follow the lives of Jacqueline Boyer’s son (Richmond) and Marcus and Angela Graham’s daughter (Jackson) as they try to step out of their parents’ shadows and make a legacy of their own.
Richmond’s Bryson is resourceful, tough and charming. Raised by a single mother, he’s self-assured and doesn’t hide his vulnerability. Every bit as driven as Simone, Bryson wants to make his mark on this world.
Jackson’s Simone is privileged, beautiful, cool and driven to a fault. She has an easy confidence that she inherited from her father, but a down-to-earth, chill vibe, which she inherited from her mother. The shadow of both her parents looms large and she is eager to step out of it and make a name for herself.
Martin will play Ari, a digital producer with big dreams. He is handsome, charming, effortlessly confident, and has an edge and swagger that is completely disarming. Ari doesn’t believe in labels. He’s an equal opportunist when it comes to dating.
Milan is Tia, a misguided performance artist with high ambitions. She is a classically trained dancer who wants to topple the patriarchy. She’s charismatic and wildly unique. Tia is an activist at heart, but she doesn’t mind being a little ratchet every now and then.
Waithe ("The Chi") will co-write the pilot with Ben Cory Jones ("Insecure") and Dime Davis ("The Chi") will helm the pilot and will also be on board for future episodes. Jones will also serve as an executive producer and the showrunner.
We like the way this is shaping up. You here for it?
Photos: Getty
