Marsha Stephanie Blake Channeled The Quietest Women In Her Life To Play A Crime Boss In I’m Your Woman
In a year short on new cinematic releases, the premise for Amazon Studios' upcoming film I'm Your Woman sounds mighty intriguing: a thriller set in the '70s in which powerful female characters join forces to take on crime bosses. Actress Marsha Stephanie Blake plays Teri, one of these badass women, who unwittingly finds herself on the run after being pulled back into a world she thought she'd successfully escaped. Here's what makes Blake feel powerful, including the real-life acts of courage she called on for her latest role:
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I feel most powerful when...
I'm playing a person whose power comes from extreme sacrifice, extreme love, extreme commitment. I guess in a nutshell I'm saying my power comes from my work. Even more so when I'm playing a real person, but not necessarily. It's something that's hard to evaluate. It is such an emotional thing, as hard to pinpoint as it is to quantify.
Power to me means..
Being so comfortable in your own skin that you don't feel like you need to fill silence — that, in fact, your silence speaks volumes.
What do you do when you feel powerless?
I usually get very chatty, trying to overcome any feeling of discomfort or inadequacy with words.
What's your power anthem?
"It's all gonna be okay" is what I repeat on most days because I do believe you can manifest positivity by speaking positively. But if we’re talking songs it’s probably “Ride Natty Ride” by Bob Marley.
Who is your power icon?
I'm a big believer that still waters run deep, so I have seen powerful acts of love and restraint and resilience from some of the most quiet women in my life. It's those women that I based the character Teri in I’m Your Woman on: my mom, my aunts. But if we mean someone famous, Ava Duvernay.
What do you wear when you want to feel powerful?
I'm super into gorgeous, rich fabrics. So sometimes it's not the style of clothes so much as what it's made out of. And I'm a sucker for good tailoring. But let's say I'm walking out the house to a meeting during which I want to feel like a badass — I'd probably rock a white pantsuit, high heels, eyelashes.
I'm Your Woman launches on Amazon Prime Video on December 11. Watch the official trailer below.
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