Ajiona Alexus and Da’Vinchi star in the Lifetime movie Mary J Blige’s Real Love, which premiered Saturday, June 10. We at Survived The Shows had the great pleasure of chatting with Princess Davis, discuss her role in the movie and what can fans expect from it. Check out the full interview below!
What’s the main element in Terry’s character and the movie in general that fascinates you the most and drew you to join Real Love?
PRINCESS DAVIS: What really fascinates me about Terry is how extremely authentic she is – she’s not afraid to be herself. That was one of the qualities that really attracted me to her when I first auditioned. She’s pretty silly and she fully embraces it. She doesn’t take herself too seriously and I think there’s so much freedom in that – not only as a human but as an artist as well. The director of Real Love, Camrus Johnson, did such a great job in building a really steady dance floor for us for the actors to play. I felt really free and supported to play and be as authentic to Terry as I could be and that was a really exciting thing!
As we know quite well so far, Lifetime movies and shows always feature well-shaped and relatable characters – Where are you and Terry most similar or most different as human beings?
Terry was such a fun character to play because she’s extremely similar to me. I like being silly and I don’t take myself too seriously, so everyday on set was seriously so much fun because I got to draw from my personality and implement it into Terry. As I mentioned, she’s very authentic and that’s something I strive to be everyday. I think it’s really exciting to approach the world freely saying “Hey, this is me – this is who I am!” Terry does that daily. It’s liberating.
What’s been the biggest challenge for you in portraying Terry?
In the sequel, Strength of a Woman, there’s certain valleys that Terry finds herself in and it’s pretty heartbreaking. That was definitely a challenge because I wanted to do right by Terry and fully let a different side of her show. In Strength of a Woman we are 10 years into the future so there’s so much development in terms of growth as a character. We had 2 weeks to kind of make that switch of going 10 years into the future. I had to figure out how Terry would talk and how she would walk and create a whole new mature backstory for her. It was also so much fun to play a mother for the first time! It was something I had never done before and it was so exciting to do!
To all the fans looking forward to watching the movie, how would you describe Real Love in just 3 words?
Passionate, raw and complicated
What can you tease about Terry’s journey throughout the movie?
I think people can expect to see how much Terry loves her friends, in both Real Love and Strength of a Woman. In Strength of a Woman, Terry is 10 years older and she has her own business that she’s striving to start. I believe people will see how grounded and experienced Terry now is. She’s facing life in a much more mature way with a perspective that’s geared towards striving to be the best human and business woman that she can be. She has a maternal essence to her!
Talking about the environment on set, how would you describe your experience while filming Real Love and do you have any fun anecdotes to share?
There’s one scene during the end of the movie where Kendra (Ajiona Alexus) gets accepted into her dream school and when we were filming it Ajiona jumps on me and I kind of spin her around. On the day when she jumped, my makeup got all over her white shirt (laughs) so we only did one take…but thankfully it was a really really good take!!
If you could choose any other character from Real Love, apart from Terry, that you would have loved to play, which one would it be and why?
I would love to play Connie, she’s one of Ben’s (Da’ Vinchi) ex-girlfriend’s who kind of makes life hard for Ben and Kendra, but she looks like she would be so much fun to play. I love characters that are kind of villainous – however the actress who plays her did such a great job!
Did you take anything from set, any prop or piece of costume, to remember your experience as Terry?
On the last day of Strength of a Woman, I was actually gifted a romper that my character wears. It was such a nice surprise and it made me super happy to receive it since Terry is my favorite character that I’ve ever played!
Throwing back to the origins of your career, how did the passion for acting come about in your life?
Since I was little, I was always drawn to the feeling of magic. I remember being three years old and watching shows on Disney and thinking that TV was so magical. I thought it was all really special and I wanted to be a part of it. I kept telling my mom that I wanted to be magical just like the people I saw on the box…which I later learned was called a TV (laughs). So when I was four years old my mom put me into background acting where I learned how they made movies and I immediately fell deeper in love with acting.
My mom then enrolled me in acting classes, and I got my first agent and started auditioning.. As an actor, I get to be heroic, villainous, in love, silly and so many other things without the fear of reprisal. I love acting because it makes me a lighter human, I get to express different parts of myself that I can’t express daily out in the world. Actors get to express the fragility of life and I think it’s an incredible thing to spend my life doing.
Among all the roles you’ve had the chance to play throughout your career, is there any particular role you’re most fond of?
I filmed a movie called The Gift of Peace last year. I played a character named Regina and it was a really fulfilling character. In the movie, my character goes to a grief support group because she recently lost her mom. While I was filming this movie, I recently lost my stepfather, so being able to use my emotions and tell a character’s story while honoring my stepfather was very fulfilling. It felt like a celebration of life and I know that he would be very proud of me.
If you had to give some advice to people who want to pursue an acting career, which kind of advice would you give them?
I would say find what makes you individual and bring it into your work. I used to try to copy other people and try to exhibit what I thought they did successfully but it made me lose myself a bit. Being as authentic to yourself in the industry is really important and something to never forget. Just be genuine even when others aren’t, find what keeps you grounded and have a really great circle of people who help with that.
What can you share about your next projects?
Right now I’m about to work on a project that I can’t really talk about yet but it’s a really fun one. I’m also auditioning for projects that I’m really passionate about so it’s a really exciting time!
Mary J Blige’s Real Love, starring Ajiona Alexus and Da’Vinchi with Princess Davis, premiered Saturday, June 10 on Lifetime. Get a preview below!
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Chiara
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