Whether black or white, male or female, gay or straight, everyone could identify with aspects of fictional cable news anchor Mary Jane Paul.
“I’m hoping all of us have a little bit of Mary Jane in them. This character is an amalgamation of people — and not just black women,” says creator and executive producer Mara Brock Akil of BET’s first original scripted drama, “Being Mary Jane,” which debuts at 10 p.m. Tuesday. “This is very much an American story, but I’m excited to show it through the lens of a black woman.”
The series chronicles Paul, a single, successful African American woman — played by Gabrielle Union — whose off-camera issues cloud her stable veneer. She has a hot car, a beautiful home and many fans. But she also juggles: an ex-boyfriend she still yearns for; an affair with a married man; and flawed family members who expect her to fix their significant problems.
The eight-episode first season is the offshoot of a 90-minute film that nabbed more than 4 million viewers when it aired on BET last July. Both the film and series are directed by Akil’s husband, Salim.
Mara Akil — whose career has included producing and writing shows including “Moesha,” “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Cougar Town” and BET’s “The Game” and “Girlfriends” — recently spoke about the project with The Post by phone from LA.
How does the show connect to your bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University?
“It is a bit of tipping the hat to that part of my history. I often attribute my screenwriting to journalism because they drill in the who, what, when, where and why — but we really need to land on that why. That’s what I’ve been exploring in my writing for many years and trying to get better at. Hopefully I’m getting better in the series.”
Did you consider taking the show to a network with a broader audience?
“She’s deliberately black; that’s a hard sell. I didn’t know what network would want it — having been out there pitching other series about black women, it gets disheartening. There is that school of, oh, she happens to be black — I won’t pitch like that. My characters live in their environments for a reason.”
Do you confront stereotypes?
“I’m not afraid of stereotypes. There are some truths to it — but the problem is that people keep sort of owning that one thing to be the truth. If you look at my work, I like entering through what you think you know about somebody.”
How do characters develop from there?
“I see them as onions. Sometimes if you cut ’em, they’re gonna make you cry, but at the end of the day there’s so many uses and needs for them. They’re onions and initially you think they’re just that — and you sort of keep peeling until we tell you everything we want you to know about them. You’ve got to stick around to see what they reveal.”
You inject humor, too. How does that drive your message?
“It’s deliberate and authentic because it’s part of African American culture. Think about our history in this country; there is nothing really to laugh at. We have used humor for our own survival. Otherwise, the story is far too bleak. I’m trying to talk about challenging subjects people might not like and trying to find relief as we discuss it.”
What do you most appreciate about Gabrielle Union’s portrayal?
“Her fearlessness. She does not judge Mary Jane. She’ll fall into the humanity of who she is, fearless in every aspect: to be right, to be wrong, to stay in the gray area. Her vulnerability is the thing she most wanted to express and I’m most excited to see because she’s giving that.”
There are few regular TV roles with black women; Kerry Washington from “Scandal” and Nicole Beharie from “Sleepy Hollow” stand out. Why is that?
“We still have a lot of work to do in American culture. More open-mindedness is happening — in some cases rapidly, in some, slowly. I was blown away by Nicole Beharie — she’s not window dressing to the series. Angela Bassett is over at ‘American Horror Story: Coven.’ And clearly what (‘Scandal’ creator) Shonda Rhimes and Kerry are doing has opened up a great deal. But more has to happen so that people will see the value. And there’s a numbers game. They’re starting to see that person will bring an audience, so we know that is happening as well.”