Andra Day was not all-in from the start. The rising singer and actress of “Rise Up” doubted her ability to play the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in a biopic directed by Lee Daniels (Precious Empire) Much of his concern came from the fact that Holiday had already been portrayed so masterfully by Diana Ross (in the Oscar nominated film Lady Sings the Blues) and Audra McDonald (in Tony’s winning musical Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill)
“It was the fear of just not being good enough,” Day told Yahoo Entertainment during the promotion of his new film. United States x Billie Holiday. “Not even being good enough, not being an actress. That was huge, and I’m a huge Billie Holiday fan that my worst nightmare was, ‘Oh, we have Billie Holiday, amazing. We have Diana Ross, incredible. We have Audra McDonald on Broadway, incredible. And do you remember that time that Andra Day tried to be Billie too? As if that was the shit that was going through my head. “(It turns out that Day was good enough: she’s running for the Golden Globes this weekend for Best Actress, Drama and is attracting a lot of Oscar attention for her powerful performance.)
“And I didn’t want to redo Lady Sings the Blues, ”The day continues. “Because I’m like, ‘It’s perfect. Why would we approach this? ‘”
That, too, would not be a problem. While the two previous projects have more broadly addressed the illustrious, but tragic life and career of the iconic singer, Daniels’ film – as the title suggests – focused on the long-running pursuit of Holiday by the United States government. Although the FBI’s interest in Holiday, led by J. Edgar Hoover and executed by Harry J. Anslinger (played by Garrett Hedlund in the film) was publicly touted as a precursor to the drug war (Holiday had a well-documented heroin addiction ), it is clear that the government sought to silence the singer’s socially urgent music, most notably the song “Strange Fruit”, which drew attention to the lynching of blacks across America.
“He was a racist, Harry Anslinger was a racist,” said Daniels bluntly. “And I think he’s probably attracted to her in a very sick way. He couldn’t understand that this Beyoncé, Cardi B, Rihanna of that generation, that she had that kind of power over white America. And I think that power, combined with the song ‘Strange Fruit’, was like a Molotov cocktail. And that had to stop.
“He would do everything he could to stop her. They chased her until she died. They planted drugs on her, they paid her boyfriends to keep filling her with drugs when she was trying to get rid of the drugs. This is a woman who knew she was addicted, who knew she needed help and couldn’t find her anywhere. “
The film and its cast contrast the feds’ pursuit of Holiday with white celebrities like Judy Garland, the Wizard of Oz great who had a known battle against drug abuse. “White actresses and singers of the time, like Judy Garland [was] doing the same thing, if not more, and they closed their eyes, ”says Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who plays Holiday Roslyn’s hairdresser and confidant. “It then lets me know how powerful she was. She was really making an impact then, where Judy Garland, who the world equally loves and reveres, was not a threat. “
“We’ve seen the federal government find any reason to attack the black community as a whole,” said Tyler James Williams (Everyone hates Chris, dear whites), who plays the renowned saxophonist Lester Young. “We see this with many other artists at the time. [White jazz musician] Stan Getz had a drug problem as big as Lady, but not as much as a targeted attack. The federal government has a very bad history with loud and proud blacks. We can’t help looking at that. “
United States x Billie Holiday is currently broadcasting Hulu.
– Video produced by Jen Kucsak and John Santo
Watch Evan Ross talking about his family’s connection to the Billie Holiday story:
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