Andra Day: The Reincarnation of Billie Holiday
By: Kasey Limón
Andra Day is still reacclimating to the role of being herself after spending so much time dedicated to incarnating Billie Holiday. In an interview with co-actress Natasha Lyonne, who played the role of Tallulah Bankhead. Day says:
“I’m still trying to figure out how much of Billie Holliday is going to stay with me forever.”
She summoned more than just the persona of Billie Holiday, by allowing Holiday to inhabit every aspect of her being she brought forth her voice. The voice heard around the world on Feb. 26, when the film was released, was a particularly difficult one to replicate. Holiday's spirit, seemingly conjured by Day, shines through the actress.
As for filling shoes that were troubled by addiction, Day did not want to just look like a convincing heroin addict, she wanted to understand why. To gain perspective, she sat with addicts and recovering addicts to draw inspiration from their experiences. She was also inspired by co-actress Lyonne, who had her own struggles with addiction.
In Oprah’s interview with the film’s cast and crew streaming on Hulu, Day describes the process she underwent to transform herself into the role. She lost 40 lbs., began drinking, and smoked for the first time in her preparation.
The script, written by Suzan Lori Parks, was based on Johann Hari’s book, "Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs" which exposes many hidden truths.
The book begins in 1930 when the former Prohibition Bureau was transformed into the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) led by commissioner Harry J. Anslinger. Anslinger believed that drugs, jazz music, and equality were corrupting the country. With the support of the bureau, he waged a war.
As an African American jazz musician who was known for her vices, Billie Holiday was already on Anslinger’s radar. When Holiday sang about lynching and refused to stop performing "Strange Fruit" the FBN zeroed in on her. Anslinger worked to destroy her life until she took her last breath.
In Oprah's interview, the Pulitzer Prize-winning screenwriter says that it is always the right time to tell the truth, though for so many, the truth can not be heard. She grew up listening to Billie Holiday and knew about the drugs and the abuse, but it was not until later that she understood why her mother used to say, ‘They got to her you know.’
Day says there is a reason that her story and the story of the early war on drugs are not well known. That they wanted to wipe her out of the history books, but she was too famous. She says,
"It was the death of Emmett Till, but it was also Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit", that reinvigorated the movement."
The first time Day realized that “Strange Fruit”, was not a beautiful song, was on set. Holiday did not want people to enjoy the song, she wanted no applause, she wanted people to get up and do something about what was happening.
The film opens with photographs of lynching followed by these words:
“In 1937 a bill to finally ban the lynching of African-Americans was considered by the senate. It did not pass.”
At the end of the film, just before the credits roll the screen reads:
“In Feb. 2020, the Emmett Till anti-lynching act was considered by the senate. It has yet to pass.”
The Final quote leaves viewers with the lingering notion that Billie Holiday's fight is one that remains to be won.