Da’Vinchi And Ajiona Alexus Mirror Their Roles In Mary J. Blige’s ‘Strength Of A Woman’
Lifetime continued its celebration of Black Music Month last weekend with Mary J. Blige’s Strength of A Woman film. The second installment, which follows Blige’s Real Love, continues the love story of characters Ben and Kendra, this time as adults. Named after Mary J. Blige’s 2017 hit “Strength of a Woman,” the film also continues the theme of finding self-love and having your own best interest at heart.
Following the Lifetime flick’s premiere on June 17, stars Da’Vinchi and Ajiona Alexus discussed being cast in both films, relating to their roles, and building their chemistry ahead of their on-screen romance.
“I started at a very young age, say six and seven,” Alexus recalled of her decision to pursue acting at an early age. “I was so passionate and I was like, ‘This is what I want to do and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.’” As Alexus grew into a young woman, she still found herself making life-changing decisions about her future.
“Everyone was like, ‘Well, you need to go to college first,’ but I took a leap of faith and really was just like, ‘I’m going to bypass it, take a gap year, and go fully in with that moment,’” she said. “And that came with a lot of trust just within myself … a lot of just believing in myself and knowing if I do this, I need to take the time to work at it every single day, and that’s exactly what I did.”
After 10 years of believing in her craft and perfecting her skills, Alexus now basks in being a leading lady for the first time as Kendra. Da’Vinchi nè Abraham D. Juste, also shared an early memory of choosing himself at 17 years old. “I had just graduated high school. I started college and I knew what I wanted to pursue and I was like, “I’m just not going to let my family hold me back,” he shared.
“I come from a chaotic family and poverty is the mother of all crimes. So it was just hell the way I grew up and I was the baby, but I really had to lock in, focus on myself,” he shared about his upbringing. “I moved to The Bronx with my homies and I just started hustling and pursuing my dream and I started grinding and I’m here.”
“But I had to choose myself and I got a lot of hate for it,” he noted. “But now, all the mortgages are paid for, so they chilling now. But at first they gave me a lot of sh*t.”
Although the two may have had different upbringings from the characters they portray in Strength of a Woman, the former BMF co-stars bring Ben and Kendra’s saga to life.
“We had just come off BMF together right before we filmed this,” Alexus, who played Kato in the Starz show, revealed. “I think the foundation as far as the friendship and having that chemistry together was already there. And being love interests is what we built. I feel like it just gradually happened throughout the film.”
Da’Vinchi added that doing activities off-set like “chilling and going out to eat” also helped them learn more about each other. “When we got this movie together, we were like, ‘Oh, snap. This is just crazy. I know you. You know me. What?’ But we took it so seriously and we were able to really focus and deliver. But it was a lot of laughter that was happening behind those tears on set.”
Speaking to how Ben and Kendra’s characteristics related to them personally, Alexus compared her own choices to Kendra’s. “I think we’re similar in that way to where she chose photography,” she said. “If you say, ‘I want to be an actress and a singer,’ everybody’s like, ‘Everybody in the world wants to do that, so you need to have a plan B.’”
Mirroring her own life, the 27-year-old recalled a scene from the film that resonated with her. “It’s a scene in Strength of a Woman where she meets up with Ben again and he’s like, ‘I’m so proud of you. You did everything you said you were going to do,’” she recollected.
“And I think the part of finding your strength as a woman is believing in yourself, being a person of your word, standing on it and always pushing forward regardless of the circumstances,” she added.
As for Ben’s character, Da’Vinchi admitted to being a “lover boy” in real life. “I’m one of those dudes, I can’t really ‘play the streets.’ Ben was just so in love and that’d be me. So it was easy to kind of lock in. But I felt like he had a little suckerness to him. I’m a lover boy, but I’m not a sucker, and he was a sucker a little bit for Kendra. So it was kind of tough to play that part, just being honest.”
Viewers can watch how far Kendra and Ben’s love goes in Lifetime’s Strength of A Woman. Check your local listings for air times or watch it on MyLifetimes.com. Take a look at the trailer for the film below and watch the full interview with Mary J. Blige, Da’Vinchi, and Ajiona Alexus here.
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