Andra Day talks playing Billie Holiday in upcoming film: 'It made my love for her even deeper'
Andra Day considers starring in the Lee Daniels-directed Billie Holiday biopic "one of the most amazing experiences" of her life.
During an appearance on "Good Morning America" on Thursday, the Grammy-nominated singer and actress, 36, spoke about the significance of playing the iconic jazz musician in "The United States Vs. Billie Holiday" and her lifelong admiration of Holiday.
Day admitted that she took inspiration from the iconic singer when crafting part of her stage name earlier in her career.
"I love the relationship between Billie Holiday and Lester Young, and he gave her the name 'Lady Day' and she gave him the name 'The President' -- and then he gave her mother the name of 'The Duchess,'" Day explained. "Billie always called themselves the royal family, so I loved 'Lady Day.' I just loved how that sounded ... It was just very classy, very regal -- so it's where the Day came from."
She said that she has been a fan of Holiday for most of her life -- since she was around 11 or 12 years old -- so she knew "quite a bit" about the legendary artist before taking on the role .
"I did know about the government going after her for singing 'Strange Fruit' and for integrating audiences and I was aware that she really was sort of the early godmother of the civil rights movement," she said. "The degree to which they went after her, I think, was alarming for me."
"It made my love for her even deeper because they were very broad shoulders she was carrying the entire movement on," Day added.
The film follows Holiday's incredible influence through her music -- particularly the impact of her 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit" -- and her interactions with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The film's official synopsis reads, "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.'"
Daniels opened up on why sharing Holiday's story from this lens was so important to him during an appearance on "GMA" on Wednesday,
"She was really dogged by the government for singing 'Strange Fruit' and they really, really -- they came for her," he said. "So to me, she kicked off the civil rights movement as we know it to be, and I had to do it. I had to tell her story."
Daniels also discussed how Day landed the title role -- even though he was unsure about the casting at first.
"I didn't think she was right for the role until I met her and she had me -- she didn't think she was right for the role," he shared with a laugh, admitting that Day questioned if she could play Holiday.
"I found myself at the end of the meeting talking to an actor -- who I didn't want for the role -- into playing the role," he continued. "I could tell that she cared for Billie's legacy so much and wanted to tell it right and do it right that there was no way I could deny her the opportunity to audition. And when she auditioned it was over with -- it was a slam dunk."
"I have never worked with anyone like this before in my career," he added.
Day described the entire project as "paradigm shifting and one of the most amazing experiences of my life."
While appearing on "GMA," the singer also performed her original song from the film, "Tigress & Tweed." Check out the performance below:
"The United States vs. Billie Holiday" premieres Feb. 26 on Hulu.
