Exclusive: Director Lee Daniels & Andra Day Talk 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday’
Now playing as a Hulu Original film on Hulu is Oscar nominated directorLee Daniels’ THE UNITED STATES vs. BILLIE HOLIDAY, introducing Grammy® nominated singer-songwriter Andra Day as Holiday.
The legendary Billie Holiday, one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, spent much of her career being adored by fans across the globe. Beginning in the 1940’s in New York City, the federal government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to escalate and racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial and heart-wrenching ballad, “Strange Fruit.”
THE UNITED STATES vs. BILLIE HOLIDAY unapologetically presents the icon’s complicated, irrepressible life. Screenplay Writer Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, pens this intimate tale of a fierce trailblazer whose defiance through music helped usher in the civil rights movement.
Also featured in the film are NAACP Image Award® Nominee Trevante Rhodes and Emmy® Nominee Natasha Lyonne co-star along with Garrett Hedlund, Miss Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Evan Ross, Tyler James Williams, Tone Bell, and Erik LaRay Harvey.
Making a big screen debut as an actress, Andra Day was trained by acting teacher and actress Tasha Smith. Her performance landed her two nominations at the Golden Globe Awards: Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Song. BlackFilmandTV.com’s Wilson Morales spoke to both Daniels and Day on the training and confidence it took to pull off a phenomenal performance.
