Lifetime has finished their upcoming film Betty & Coretta just in time for black history month. Betty & Coretta stars Angela Bassett and Mary J. Blidge. Bassett, who is known for playing real life soft-hearted characters such as Rosa Parks, Tina Turner, Dr. Betty Shabazz and Voletta Wallace, will play Corretta King Scott, the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blidge, on the other hand, will play Dr. Betty Shabazz, the window of civil rights leader Malcolm X.
Betty & Coretta centers on the relationship between Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King. The story emphasizing how they carried on as single mothers united by a commitment to social justice and their struggle following the assassinations of their husbands.
“We’ve seen, a number of times, the story of their husbands — and rightly so,” Bassett explains in a recent interview. “They were tremendous influences on our culture and our times and moving America forward. But the women — and people usually say ‘behind these men,’ but I say ‘married to these men,’ because I think they were equally as significant in their own right — very strong. Very forceful. They had their own opinions. It was a different time when they were married, in terms of a woman’s perceived place, but they were towers of thought and activism — and we get to see that.”
Malik Yoba plays Martin Luther King Jr in the film, and Lindsay Owen Pierre is playing Malcolm X. Ruby Dee will appear onscreen as a historical witness to narrate the duo’s story as someone familiar with the events of both their lives.
Betty & Coretta premieres Feburary 2 at 9/7ET on Lifetime. Trailer below:
