‘Power Book II: Ghost’: Mary J. Blige Drew From Her Personal Experiences to Portray Monet’s Grief
In Power Book II: Ghost Season 3, Monet Tejada (Mary J. Blige) is grieving the loss of her eldest son, Zeke Cross (Daniel Bellomy). Angry and despondent, Monet has barely been able to function since losing her son. With her family tip-toeing around her, it only seems like a manner of time before she combusts.
Blige says she drew from her personal experiences with divorce to portray Monet this season.
Mary J. Blige says Monet Tejada is heartless
Aside from the brief time she spent with her former lover, Mecca (Daniel Sunjanta), fans have never seen Monet content or carefree. Harden and angry, she rules, her children with an iron fist. Blige says her character demeanor is something she knows well.
“She’s a queenpin, drug dealer, boss, and she’s a mama bear; she’s protecting her children, but she’s also dark-hearted and ruthless,” Blige said during a press conference via Express. “If you don’t listen to her, anybody can get it, her kids, her husband, anybody could get it. “So she’s really a dark person with a heart – she’s a power seeker, so that’s it. If anybody gets in her way with their power, that’s it; they’re going down.”
Mary J. Blige drew from her experience with divorce to express Monet’s grief
During the season 2 finale of Ghost, Monet learned about Zeke’s death. The series’ third season opened three months later, and the queenpin has fallen into a deep depression. She sits all day in her home watching TV and screaming at her husband and children.
The only person she seems to trust at all is Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.). Blige says she drew from her own experiences with divorce to portray Monet at this phase in her life. Blige was married from 2003 to 2018, and her marriage ended in a very public and humiliating way.
“I always say I don’t wish divorce on my worst enemy because it’s like grief,” she told PopSugar. “It’s definitely like somebody died, because you’re going through so many emotions . . . So I drew all that stuff from there to give to Monet, because someone has to pay. Someone has to pay for all the alimony that Mary J. Blige had to put out, so I’m giving it to Monet.”
This is the most vulnerable fans have ever seen Monet, but from what is known about the character, that can only mean that vengeance is just around the corner.
In ‘Power’ Monet Tejada has one goal
Though her current focus is finding out who killed Zeke, when it boils down to it, Monet has always had one goal, getting out of the drug game. Though she ran things in her family organization for 10 years when Lorenzo was in prison, she had always hoped to follow Zeke into the NBA, giving her family freedom and financial stability that way.
Monet is really looking for a legit and a safe way to live and protect her children,” Blige told Entertainment Tonight. “She’s trying to figure a way out because she knows that if she stays in, it’s death or jail, and that’s not what she’s building this empire for. She’s building an empire so it can grow in a more legit way, like a safer way instead of the drug game.”
Now that Zeke is gone, Monet doesn’t see a way out, especially since Lorenzo seems so determined to stay in.
