Andra Day lost almost £ £ to gain character as Billie Holiday for Hulu movie

Andra Day already deserves a buzz for her upcoming debut in The United vs Billie Holiday.

And the two-time Grammy nominee put a lot of effort into making her first leading performance an amazing achievement.

She lost nearly 40 pounds to gain her character as Billie Holiday for the Lee Daniels-directed Hulu biography, and set out her process to Leslie Odom Jr. during Variety’s Actors on Actors.

The 36-year-old said: ‘I basically abused my body for a long time. I’m not really kidding and joking. I got the role at the very top in 2018. Read everything I could get my hands on. Listen to every interview.

‘I apparently exhausted the internet from pictures of Billie Holiday. Apparently the internet will tell you that you have reached the end. ‘

She added: ‘I went through my family; I put myself through it. I went from 163 pounds to 124 pounds. I would talk like she did and not drink or smoke, but I started smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol.

‘Not that I recommend people to do it; I was just desperate because this is my first role. I just asked God to give me all the pain and trauma. I asked him to give her pain and give her trauma. ‘

Day also explained why it was important for her to change her voice in order to sing as the iconic jazz singer.

She said: ‘It was an early decision we immediately made to do the singing. Every time I sing a song, I’ll go, OK, Lee’s going to hear it and he’s going to fire me. But I would not have done it if they were ‘Do it in your voice’.

‘It would probably have been a no for me. There is a victory and there is pain in her voice. For me it was just like we had to get it, we had to get it, you know what I mean? That will have to be my interpretation of it, but it has to be there. ‘

The Cheers to the Fall artist presents a haunting performance when she personifies Holiday in the first trailer for The United States vs Billie Holiday, which premiered earlier this month.

She plays the lead music and the Civil Rights icon in the untold story of her song Strange Fruit from 1939, which demonstrated the lynchings of Black Americans, which made her a target of the FBI.

Day stars alongside Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund and Natasha Lyonne in the film, which will hit the streaming platform on February 26.

While the long-awaited story is tragic to behold, Day’s performance will certainly captivate the audience and honor Billie Holiday like few.

Day recently joined director Lee Daniels for her cover interview in V Magazine, in which she reveals why she is taking on the role: ‘The truth of everything mattered to me. Because, as Lee knows, and we’ve laughed about it a lot of times – I was scared to death at first. I was hesitant, and I was like, ‘I do not know if this is a good idea.’

She also attributed Diana Ross ‘performance as Billie in the 1972 biography:’ I loved Lady Sings the Blues. I love Diana’s actions. So that was part of why I did not want to do it. She killed the role. That’s pretty much what she did.

‘But Lee, I remember we sat down to dinner at Soho House, and the first thing I really liked was actually your energy. We have bound over good things and bound over bad. It was your character and your need for authenticity that I really enjoyed. ‘

Meanwhile, Daniels admits he initially did not want her for the role: “My managers, people who work with me, they were like ‘[Andra] is who you should rent. “And I was like, ‘F *** everyone.’ I was like, ‘Poor girl, she has no chance.’

‘But then we met and when I first looked at her, I saw her spirit. I got chills. She was not a desperate actress who just wanted to do it. I could see she was asking if she was good enough. To me, this is when you know you’re really dealing with a perfectionist. She wanted the role done right. That’s all you’re looking for as a director. ‘

Catch Andra Day in the United States against Billie Holiday, which will be presented on February 26 in Hulu.