Tyler Perry is seen in the first official stills from the upcoming crime thriller “I, Alex Cross.” Based on the James Patterson novel series, Perry plays the title role of Alex Cross, a detective who searches for the person who murdered his wife. The role was originally played by veteran actor Morgan Freeman in the Patterson adaptations “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider.” The film also star Giancarlo Esposito and screen legend Cicely Tyson.

Perry’s non-drag movie credits include “Good Deeds,” “Star Trek,” and the “Why Did I Get Married” film series.

“I, Alex Cross” hits theaters on October 26.

(Photo credit: Summit Entertainment via Film Stage)

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Jason Merritt/Getty

Dorian Missick, who plays Regina King‘s partner in “Southland,” has officially joined the Syfy supernatural drama series “Haven” in a recurring role.

The series follows the shrewd and confident FBI agent Audrey Parker who has a lost past, and arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine on a routine case. Before long, her natural curiosity lands her in the epicenter of activity in this curious enclave, which turns out to be a longtime refuge for people that are affected by a range of supernatural afflictions.

Missick will play “Tommy Bowen, a street-smart Boston detective who comes to Haven investigating a suspected serial killer case. A shrewd, calculating policeman, he’s also a fish out of water,” reports The Hollywood Reporter.

The third season of “Haven” will premiere Friday, Sept 21 at 10/9c.

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WENN

Audra McDonald took home the top acting honor earlier today  at the 78th Annual Drama League Awards ceremony, where she was presented with the Distinguished Performance award for her role in The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

The actress beat out both male and female nominees, including Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, Blair Underwood, and co-star Norm Lewis for the coveted acting honor.

First awarded in 1922 and formalized in 1935, The Drama League Awards are the oldest theatrical honors in America. They are the only major theatregoer awards chosen by audience members — specifically, by the thousands of Drama League members nationwide who attend Broadway and Off-Broadway productions.

Some experts are predicting that McDonald is on track to take home her fifth Tony Award for her lead role as Bess.

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Alberto E. Rodriguez

Anthony Mackie is reportedly in negotiations to join Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck in an online gambling thriller titled Runner Runner.

The pic, directed by Brad Furman, will center on a college student (Timberlake) who is swindled out of his tuition money while playing an online poker game. When he tracks down the owner (Affleck), he becomes involved in the illegal operation.

Mackie will play “an FBI agent who has spent years trying to bring down Affleck’s character and sees Timberlake as the key to his investigation,” reports Variety.

The actor can be seen in a string of upcoming projects, including The Gangster Squad, Pain and Gain, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and Vipaka.
 
 
 

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In next week’s issue of JET magazine, ‘Single Ladies’ star LisaRaye McCoy sheds light on some of the real reasons behind former co-star Stacey Dash‘s shocking departure from the show after only one season.

On moving on without Dash…
“Believe me I wish things had worked out because I thought Stacey and I were great together. She was my age and we were working it. It was sex-symbol to sex-symbol. But she didn’t want to be there. I was disappointed about that. She had some issues. I’m not sure exactly what those issues were. In the end, she and VH1 made a decision.”

On that rumored backstage catfight…
“Yes, there was a disagreement over a scene. And it really wasn’t with me. It was with the director. I think it was about 2 or 3AM and we’d been shooting all damn day. Stacey tried to argue with the director about a line. And I’m like: “Girl, if you don’t say what the director wants you to say.” It wasn’t that serious at first, but it went there.

It’s a bunch of women on the set. We might all be on our damn period at any given point. I just wanted us to move forward. Then the argument took on a life of its own. The show decided to use it for publicity. They just ran with it.”

On dropping Duane Martin as a friend…
“I introduced him to my ex-husband [former Turks & Caicos Premier Michael Misick], he got buddy-buddy with him and then turned against me. Just recently, this fool Duane up and sold a building he and I bought awhile ago in Los Angeles, without asking…I don’t care if we’re not friends, just don’t try to f**k me in the interim.

When I heard about him in the middle of Will & Jada’s divorce rumors, I tweeted: sounds familiar. He really aint got enough business.”

The new issue of JET hits stands May 28th.

(Photo credit: Johnson Publications/TheYBF)

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The new trailer for the literary drama The Words has finally debuted online. Zoe Saldana stars as the love interest of a troubled writer (played by Bradley Cooper) who must pay the price after stealing another writer’s story.

The actors started dating shortly after working together on this project. So, it’s pretty safe to assume the chemistry between them in this film must be through the roof.

The Words hits theaters on September 21st.

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New first look images from the upcoming Jackie Robinson biopic 42 have emerged online from The Birmingham News via Shadow and Act. The film is currently shooting at Birmhingham’s Rickwood Field, and will chronicle the early years of Robinson’s groundbreaking journey as the first African-American to enter the Major League.

Chadwick Boseman, who played Floyd Little in “The Express,” stars as Robinson in the movie, and Nicole Beharie of “Shame” plays his wife. Andre Holland, who stars in the recently picked up NBC comedy ’1600 Penn,’ is also seen on set playing influential sportswriter Wendell Smith.

Nicole Beharie

Andre Holland

Background actor Avery Moore

Extras

(Photo credit: The Birmingham News/Joe Songer)

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Michael K Williams sat down with MTV to discuss his upcoming portrayal of late rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard (born Russell Tyrone Jones) in the new indie pic Dirty White Boy. When speaking of his preparation for the role, Williams had a lot to say. “I had the pleasure of meeting his beautiful mother, Ms. Cherry. We sat down for, like, three hours, and she told me the most amazing stuff about her son and a lot of things that the public didn’t know. I’ve been talking to people who know him well … people who knew him when the cameras weren’t rolling,” said Williams. The actor described ODB’s backstory by stating “I’ve got a lot of insight into who he was as a human being and as a man and, dare I say it, scholar. The dude was quite smart. You have to be able to recite mathematics and be 5 percent of god body — you can’t play with that. You have to know what you’re talking about. It’s a lot of studying, a lot of knowledge.”

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BET

Tia Mowry-Hardrict has announced on twitter that she will not return for season 6 of the hit BET series The Game. “Just wanted to let all my fans know that I will not be returning to The Game for season 6,” tweeted Mowry. “It was an incredible run and I had lots of fun.”

Meanwhile, co-star Pooch Hall, who recently joined the cast of Showtime’s Ray Donovan, has assured fans on twitter that his return to the show was “being worked out.” The actor tweeted that Showtime would still allow him to star on The Game.

Blackactors.net readers raised the question of Hall quitting the show when we reported his Donovan casting several months ago. Things aren’t looking too good for the series.

We say give Brandy Norwood and Coby Bell their own spin-off show. Their on-screen chemistry is captivating.

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ABC

The actress has been on an ABC primetime series for seven consecutive seasons, including her four year stint on Ugly Betty, and her starring role on Desperate Housewives.The actress returns to television as the creepy wife of a wealthy building owner in the new ABC supernatural drama series 666 Park Avenue. The official synopsis reads:

At the ominous address of 666 Park Avenue, anything you desire can be yours. Everyone has needs, desires and ambition. For the residents of The Drake, these will all be met, courtesy of the building’s mysterious owner, Gavin Doran (Terry O’Quinn). But every Faustian contract comes with a price. When Jane Van Veen (Rachael Taylor) and Henry Martin (Dave Annable), an idealistic young couple from the Midwest, are offered the opportunity to manage the historic building, they not only fall prey to the machinations of Doran and his mysterious wife, Olivia (Vanessa Williams), but unwittingly begin to experience the shadowy, supernatural forces within the building that imprison and endanger the lives of the residents inside. Sexy, seductive and inviting, The Drake maintains a dark hold over all of its residents, tempting them through their ambitions and desires, in this chilling new drama that’s home to an epic struggle of good versus evil.

(Photo credit: Andrew Eccles/ABC)

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Following our initial story on the upcoming independent comedy pilot Under One Roof, we take a closer look at the full cast of this promising endeavor. The sitcom, which is currently raising funds on Indiegogo, will be filmed at multiple locations in New Orleans starting on May 23rd.

The show will center on a divorced, recently unemployed single mom (Jaqueline Fleming) who moves herself and her musically gifted son (Daniel Francois) back in with her ex-husband (Lawrence LeJohn) after legal and money issues arise.

The pilot will co-star Nicoye Banks, Mikki Val, Clyde Jones (Coming To America‘s Soul Glo man), Ra’jel Nelson, Dominque DuVernay, Dominic ‘Taz’ Alexander, Sheryl Ned, and Glenn Winter.

Check out new character videos plus behind -the-scenes photos below, and then head over to Indiegogo to find out how you can support the project.

Jaqueline Fleming and Daniel Francois discuss the show

Mikki Val talks about her career and role on ‘Under One Roof’

Jaqueline Fleming and Daniel Francois discuss ‘Under One Roof’

A cast table reading

Daniel Francois screen test

Click here to learn more about how you can help get this project made.  

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Idris Elba

Idris Elba has confimed he will return for the follow up to Thor in an interview with Collider.

“I’m going to do Thor after I play Mandela [in Long Walk To Freedom],” Elba told Collider. The actor also revealed where he would like to see his character go in the upcoming film.

“I’d just like to get to know him a bit more,” said Elba. “Who is Heimdall? He guards the gate. Is there anything else? I don’t know what’s in the script because I haven’t read it yet, but the audience has responded to Asgard and wants to know more about who lives there and what it’s about. I’m sure, if they do that, Heimdall will be featured more.”

Elba can be seen next in Prometheus, opening June 8.

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Dominican actor Amaury Nolasco and Nigerian actress Megalyn Echikunwoke are set to appear alongside Bruce Willis in A Good Day To Die Hard, reports Variety. The film follows the legendary action hero John McClane as he travels to Russia to break his son out of prison. According to Cinema Blend, Echikuwoke’s role is being kept under wraps. However, Nolasco will have a small role in the movie, playing John McClane’s (Willis) friend at the beginning of the film.

Both television actors, Nolasco is known for his roles on hit shows like Prison Break and Southland. While Echikunwoke has guest starred on shows like CW’s 90210 and CSI: Miami.

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Jesse Williams is currently in talks for  a role in Lee Daniels‘ period drama The Butler. The film centers Eugene Allen (Forest Whitaker), a severant who started  working at the White House in 1952 and went on to serve eight presidents. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Allen was said to have ”a unique front-row seat as political and racial history were being made — from the civil rights movement and Vietnam War to the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.” Other familiar names attached to the project are Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, and John Cusack.

In addition to negotiating a role in Butler, fans of Williams have started a petition on change.org in an effort to get the actor cast as Finnick Odair in Catching Fire, the follow up to the highly successful Hunger Games film. According to Jezebel, the character is described as an extremely handsome man with “tan skin” (also referred to as “golden”), “bronze-colored hair” and “incredible” sea-green eyes. However, much like the racial controversy over the first film’s cast, some racist fans of the film and book series have responded negatively to a man of color (with green eyes and tan skin) being considered for the part.

Williams’ credits include The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, Brooklyn’s Finest and most recently, Cabin in the Woods. He can currently be seen as a regular on Grey’s Anatomy. The actor just wrapped the star-studded black western short They Die By Dawn.

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Infamous

Meagan Good plays a detective who returns undercover to the home of the wealthy family where she grew up to investigate the murder of a friend. Laz Alonso, who was recently killed off of Breakout Kings, will star oppositie Good as the detective who recruits her for the job.

Do No Harm

Kohl has a secret: He’s managed to keep his dangerous alter ego, Ian Price, in check. But when he develops immunity to medicine that had kept Ian under wraps, his evil side aims to destroy the good side’s career and personal life. Phylicia Rashad will play Dr. Vanessa Young, the Chief of Surgery and the boss to brilliant neurosurgeon Jeffrey Kohl.

Revolution

The show follows a group of characters who try to reunite with loved ones in a world where all forms of energy have mysteriously ceased to exist. Giancarlo Esposito plays a hard-as-steel military man…who may not always be what he seems.

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Tyler Perry returns as America’s favorite ghetto, gun-toting grandma in the official poster for Madea’s Witness Protection. The film centers on a white family who are sent to live with Madea in Atlanta after they enter into a witness protection program. Even though this film attempts to appeal to a different demographic, some of our favorite black sitcom actors have parts in this project. Co-starring John Amos, Marla Gibbs and Romeo Miller.

(Photo credit: Lionsgate)

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