“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” focuses on the life and legacy of jazz vocalist Billie Holiday

“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” follows the real life story of legendary jazz vocalist Billie Holiday as she was targeted by the FBI for singing songs that brought attention to the injustices that Black people endured during the 1940s. 

The FBI could not arrest Holiday because of her music, so they decided to exploit her drug abuse problem. Despite actions taken against her by the FBI, Holiday continued to use her talent to shed light on the racist injustices that white people carried out against Black people.

This film shows that Holiday was more than a jazz singer — she was a person who stood up for civil rights during a time where there was no movement to support her. 

Wednesday night, American Cinematheque livestreamed a prerecorded Q&A session with Andra Day, who plays Billie Holiday in the film, and Lee Daniels, the director. The focus of the conversation shifted between many topics ranging from production decisions to cookouts. 

When asked by moderator Jim Hemphill, a filmmaker, why he decided to make this film, Daniels said the story had to be told for two reasons. 

“When you think of civil rights leaders, you think of Martin Luther King, you think of Gandhi, you think of Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, but you don’t think of Billie Holiday,” Daniels said. “I think she kicked off the civil rights movement as we know it to be with the song ‘Strange Fruit.’ … And two, because I’ve been struggling with my own addictions, and as an artist, I understood Billie. As a Black person in this field that we do, I got it, and I felt that I had to do her justice.”

Justice is what Holiday fought for, although  it may be surprising  for some to find out that the U.S. government targeted her because of that. Day was not shocked to learn about the extent the U.S. government was willing to go to silence Holiday, but she was shocked by Holiday’s character. 

“When you’re aware of things like COINTELPRO and you’re aware of the Tuskegee experiments, it’s not shocking,” Day said. “What shocked me was her, and what shocked me was her resilience and her fight.” 

Day went on to explain that Holiday endured trauma, addiction and government persecution during a time where the civil rights movement did not exist, so she was alone in her plight. The fact that Holiday somehow found the strength to endure all of these difficulties on her own shocked Day. 

While Daniels could relate to Holiday because of their shared experience as Black artists and their  struggles with addiction, Day related to Holiday in a different way. Day could relate to Holiday on more levels because she shares an additional experience with Holiday: being a Black woman in the United States. 

“For me it wasn’t necessarily about [showing] up and [being] prepared just for this scene, it was like just [being] her,” Day said. “And not just be her, but be a very, very vulnerable, a very fractured you, in being her. When people talk about the parallels, I’m still a Black woman, and I’m a Black woman living in America so I know that loneliness, and I know that invisibility.”

Embodying the role of Holiday required much more than vulnerability for Day. It also required a lot of hard work. On top of doing extensive research through books, documentaries and internet searches, Day also used method acting techniques to better play her role. 

“I started smoking cigarettes and I don’t smoke, and drinking alcohol and I don’t drink, and cussing and I don’t cuss,” Day said. “You know everything that was necessary because she’s worth it.” 

Day had to be vulnerable and abandon her selfhood in order to become Holiday. She had to sing, dance and talk like Holiday which took a toll on her own identity. 

“The hardest thing for me, to date, it was leaving the character,” Day said. “It’s been three years, so I don’t really know who I am in this season of my life outside of Billie.” 

In order to get this level of involvement from his crew, Daniels always works to foster a friendly and collaborative environment on his sets. 

“He creates what he always says a ‘cookout’ barbecue feel on set,” Day said. “Everybody wanted everybody to win and that’s I think what netted us such a beautiful end result.” 

Daniels established that sort of environment by treating everyone on set as equals. He made sure that the background actors knew that they are just as important to him as Holiday. 

In a way, Daniel’s effort to make his set inclusive and equal reflects the struggle that Holiday undertook in the 1940s when segregation divided people upon racial lines. This film is about the story of Holiday, but it carries with it the spirit of her as well.
Day did not play a role, she became the role, and Daniels did not simply film a movie, he respected and promoted the values that Holiday fought for by ensuring  everyone on set felt like equals. 

The film will premiere exclusively on Hulu Feb. 26.