Ola Mae — Mary J. Blige's Very First Acting Role on The Jamie Foxx Show (1998)

Ola Mae — Mary J. Blige's Very First Acting Role on The Jamie Foxx Show (1998)

Show: The Jamie Foxx Show | Episode: Papa Don't Preach | Season 2, Episode 14 |  Aired: January 18, 1998

Let me take y'all back to January 18, 1998. Mary J. Blige is already one of the biggest names in R&B. Share My World has gone to number one on the Billboard 200. She is a superstar. And she walks onto the set of The Jamie Foxx Show and becomes Ola Mae. Just like that, an acting career is born.

Before Everything Else — There Was Ola Mae

I think about this a lot. Before Monet Tejada. Before Florence Jackson. Before the Oscar nominations and the Emmy buzz and four seasons of Power Book II: Ghost. There was a 26-year-old Mary J. Blige on a sitcom, playing a preacher's daughter named Ola Mae who wanted to sing something other than gospel music.

That is where it started. Right there. And I find that so beautiful.

Who Is Ola Mae?

Ola Mae is the daughter of a devout preacher, played by Ronald Isley of the legendary Isley Brothers. She has come to visit Uncle Junior King and she is a gifted gospel singer who longs to perform something more than what her father approves of. When Jamie invites her to perform with his band she jumps at the chance. Her father disapproves. The episode is about that tension between family expectations and your own artistic voice.

Sound familiar? Mary has been fighting that same tension her entire career. She took gospel music and hip hop and R&B and soul and mixed them together into something nobody had ever heard before. Ola Mae was more personal than anyone watching in 1998 probably realized.

The Performance

The highlight of the episode is Ola Mae performing Share My World alongside Jamie Foxx. And here is the thing — Mary is not acting when she sings. She is just being herself. But that is actually what makes it so special. She was finding her footing as an actress by using the one thing she already knew how to do completely: sing from her heart.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/8bd59c_ecc7290f207c4b269e096e333da52a1b/240p/mp4/file.mp4

The naturalness she brings to this role, the ease with which she inhabits Ola Mae, is a preview of everything that came after. The instincts were always there. This episode just let them out for the first time.

Why This Episode Matters to Me

I run this site because I believe Mary's acting career deserves more recognition. And every time I think about where it started, this little sitcom appearance in 1998, I am reminded that greatness does not always announce itself. Sometimes it just shows up on a Friday night in January and sings a song and changes everything.

Have you seen this role? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe for more on Mary's acting career!