BET is rounding out the cast for its three-part miniseries New Edition: The Movie. La La La Anthony (Power), Yvette Nicole Brown (The Office; The New Odd Couple), Monica Calhoun (The Best Man), Lisa Nicole Carson (Ally McBeal) and Sandi McCree (The Wire) have signed on to play the mothers of the iconic 1980s R&B/ pop group.
Anthony will play
Flo DeVoe, mother of the young Ronnie DeVoe, Brown will play Michael Bivins’ mother Shirley Bivins, Calhoun is Ralph Tresvant’s mother Patricia Tresvant, Carson will play Ricky Bell’s mother Mae Bell and McCree is Bobby Brown’s mother Carole Brown. They join previously cast Bryshere Y. Gray, Elijah Kelley, Luke James, Keith Powers, and newcomers Algee Smith and Woody McClain.
Written by Abdul Williams (Lottery Ticket), the miniseries follows the group from their humble beginnings as kids in Boston to global megastardom – weathering the highs and lows of controversy, personnel changes, and the ultimate cost of fame.
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New Edition: The Movie is executive produced by Real Husband’s of Hollywood’s Jesse Collins for JCE Films, a division of Jesse Collins Entertainment; directed by Chris Robinson and co-produced by Brooke Payne, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant and Bobby Brown.
Anthony is repped by UTA and Untitled Entertainment.
this is why i don’t get mad when mainstream hollywood does some off beat eroneous casting like the zoe saldana/nina simone fiasco!!! because african americans have been, and will continue to due it to themselves. case in point La La anthony as the mother of devoe in this new edition lifetime movie. no matter how many african american basketball players she has dated or marries…SHE IS NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN!! and I know the casting director on this is a african american who felt this was ok…. it’s not!!!
Ronnie DeVoe is a Co-Producer, presumably he’s okay with the choice of the actress to play HIS MOM. So, why should you have an issue with it?
She is Afro-Puerto Rican. Caribbean people are black, too.
Exactly. She even discusses it here about how she can be a Latina & black, even if others don’t believe it. http://newsok.com/article/3816279