Andra Day on Why She Tried Turning Down Playing Billie Holiday Multiple Times

Before Andra Day won the Best Actress Golden Globe for her fantastic work in Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday, I was able to conduct a wide-ranging conversation with the newly crowned star. During the interview, Day talked about why she was extremely hesitant to take on the role, how Billie Holiday doesn’t get enough credit for her work in the civil rights movement, how Daniels helped craft her performance, what she took home from set, if she asked to film certain things towards the end of the shoot, and more. In addition, she revealed what movies she’s seen the most and what TV series she’d love to guest star on. If you’re not familiar with The United States vs. Billie Holiday (which is now streaming on Hulu), inspired by Billie Holiday life story, the film pulls back the curtain on one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time and the way the Federal government targeted her over her efforts to sing “Strange Fruit,“ a song about lynchings in the South. The film also stars T