Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Andra Day

Episode Date: April 4, 2021

Andra Day is a Grammy-nominated musician best known for her powerful anthem “Rise Up.” Recently, though, she has stunned Hollywood in her first ever movie after reluctantly accepting the lead role in The United States Vs. Billie Holiday. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist gets together with the star to talk about playing the jazz icon, a performance which has already earned her a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I am very excited to bring you my guest this week. Her name is Andra Day. She's the recent Golden Globe winner for Best Actress in a Drama and the Academy Award nominee for Best Actress for her role in the United States versus Billy Holiday. A film directed by Lee Daniels in which Andra plays the lead character.

Some things to know about her. First of all, most importantly, this is Andra's first ever acting job. First ever. She wins the Golden Globe for Best Actress, gets an Academy Award nomination, her first time out. Not an easy role playing Billy Holiday,

the icon, the legend. She had to get the singing voice right, the speaking voice right. But as you'll hear, Andrea went through a lot for this part. She dropped 40 pounds. Billy Holiday will face challenges of drugs and alcohol and physical abuse from men in her life.

She had to put her body through this, did Andradey, to make the role convincing. And my goodness, did she ever pull it off. She started as a singer, as many of you know. She's got the hit song Rise Up off her 2015 album. Rise Up has since become an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement. Her stage name, Andrade, comes from Billy Holiday, who was known as Lady Day, because as a young girl, Andrew was introduced to the music of Billy Holiday by a teacher named Mr. Doyle. Keep that name in the back of your mind because he pays us a little visit in the middle of this interview.

But she fell in love with Billy Holiday. She fell in love with her music, studied her, knew everything about her, took on her name as a stage name for herself, became a music star. And then the first acting role that's put down in front of her is Billy Holiday. You'll see why she was worried about taking the role, why she turned it down a couple of times, why she said she tried to pray it away. She thought it was too big of a job and too big of a responsibility. But when she stepped into it, she absolutely crushed it, as anyone who's seen this film knows. So let's get right now to our conversation with Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee,

Andrea Day, right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Andrew, it's so nice to meet you. Thank you for doing this. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Congratulations on all this success, the Golden Globe, the Oscar nomination. I love catching somebody in the middle of a moment. I mean, it feels to me like your professional life is at this crazy inflection point right now. What does it feel like to be in the middle of it? You know, it feels, well, first of all, the thing that I feel sort of overwhelming every day is gratitude. Well, actually, actually sleepiness, but gratitude. You can have both. The thing I like that I feel every day is no, definitely gratitude. And alignment is something I'm also saying as well too.

But it's a little confusing, you know, it's just it's a little disorienting in the best way. But, you know, because all of it is pretty unexpected, you know, so even the movie still alone doing the movie still feels very unexpected and like something different. So it's, you know, I feel a little bit. like I'm playing kind of catch up, you know, every day. But it's in the best way. I'm so, to me, these are very much God moments. And I think that when that movement is happening, then I'm happy to be catching up, you know,

and sort of running behind. Well, you could see that it's genuinely unexpected. And your humility came through, even in that Globes moment, because there you were up on a screen with some of your heroes, and there's Viola and Francis McDormann, and they call your name. What did that feel like? You know, it's so funny.

The thought in my head, in that moment. And I don't know why I had enough time to think this, maybe because everything slowed down. But I just remember them saying, you know, and it goes to or however they said before. And then I heard a, and I was like, I don't think anybody else in this category has a hard A

at the top of their name like that. And so I actually, Ned, don't even remember hearing my entire name, Andrea Day. So I feel like I could have just jumped up on anybody. Like, and it's somebody. You know what I mean? But I heard that ad. And I was like, wait a minute.

So it was just, it was so surreal. It was just like, I think it was, you know, and I'm not just saying this because I'm like, oh, it's so humble. It just really feels like it's so out of left field, just the movie and everything, you know. So it's like being even nominated and kind of looking at all these amazing women in this category, you know. So when they called my name, that was like, what? Yeah, it was definitely one of those moments. The Golden Globe is huge and it's life changing. And then there's this other step where you hear that you're getting nominated for.

for an Oscar. What does that feel like? Because again, this is the first time you've ever done this and you step right into a best actress nomination. I think, you know, first of all, it's just amazing. You know what I mean? I am honored, you know, and it's a blessing, really. But it's something very key for me about alignment, you know,

because I do, like you said, it is my first time acting and it's, you know, like really actually acting other than play and, you know, middle school and high school. But, you know, so I think it's just one of those things that sort of reminds me. I don't know. For me, I am a person of faith or a spiritual person. I like to believe that and think that.

And I think when that sort of faith and hard work combination come together, you know, I think it can be a potent thing, you know. It's not to say that this idea that I don't like this idea. Anybody can, you know, well, they can if they're willing. to kind of put the time and the work in. And it was, you know, so it was a faith walk for me, but it was also a lot of hard work and a gargantuan team effort.

Like, leading everything, is that just, I mean, every little detail, top down, my cast, you know, that whole team. It just, I don't know, I just feel grateful. This feels like our time, you know what I mean? And our thing, a little bit, you know? Yeah, I was telling you before we started, I'm watching this incredible performance.

And I actually couldn't believe that it was your first time. acting. So I'm going through website. She must have been in something before. I couldn't find anything. This is legitimately the first time you've acted. And it's not like, like I said, you didn't jump in to play the friend in a romantic comedy to see what acting was like. You dove into the deep end here with a character who is not only an icon, but who had a brutal, complicated life. And you have some connection to her. I mean, you've been a fan and you've studied her life and her work since you were in middle school, I think. Yeah, since I was in middle school is when I was first introduced to her.

And, you know, my connection is actually really deep with her because she sort of helped me. Well, first of all, she, when I first heard her voice, I heard a song called, the two songs I heard from Billy Holiday first were one called Sugar. And the other one, it was strange fruit. And, you know, sugar was really confusing for me because I just remember being like, I'm looking for singers to study. She doesn't sound anything like Gladys Knight or Whitney or Aretha. or Patty or Shaka, you know. And so, but it just changed. She really, really, I was so enamored with the sound of her voice,

with how she phrased things, where she would place things, her tone. And she changed my idea of what a great singer is and what a great singer could be. And it's sort of emboldened me and myself to say, okay, because I really, I hated the sound of my own voice. And I still struggle a bit in that, you know? So I'm like, I don't necessarily still like it. When I hear her back, you know, yeah, oh my goodness. Oh, you should check it out, Andrea.

You're very good. I should listen to it sometimes. I think that's probably why I never listened to anything back. But, you know, and so she actually helped me to really accept my musical identity. That's why the day in my name is an homage to Billy Holiday to Lady Day, you know. And then hearing strange fruit just really prostrated me and stopped me and grounded me and made me realize that, you know, even if I'm just making a song that's just a love song or just, fun or whatever, I still wanted to give people pause a little bit. You know, the way she did me with strange fruit was more than a little bit. But, you know, so she, she really helped to

form, kind of inform in a really great way, my musical identity or my creative contribution, rather. So in many ways, it feels like this, if you were going to become an actress, this was meant to be. This was someone you loved and you'd studied and looked up to. But this is a big lift for your first job. So what were those first conversations like for you to, it's one thing to be a fan to now take on that role and to honor her legacy? Well, interestingly enough, I think because I'm such a big fan, that's why I initially said no when my manager brought it up to me. My manager brought up to me a couple times. And I said no, you know, a few times because first of all, I was like, this is a terrible idea. I am a, not an actor. So let's just start right there. You know, and then the other thing is I'm a,

I love Diana Ross's portrayal and Lady Sings the Blues and I was like why would we touch that? For me it's like singing a Whitney song like just leave it alone. You know, I was like I don't want to you know, I just thought she was phenomenal and the fact that they made that movie at the time was amazing.

And the other part was I am a Billie Holiday fan so I was aware that you know that maybe Lady Sing's the Blues was not the full picture of the government going after her because you know the people that pursued Billy Holiday They were still alive at the time, you know, and still in power and influential. And so, you know, and they didn't want that story told.

So I didn't have a desire to tell more of a story that did not highlight her heroism, you know. And so obviously meeting with Lee, I was, he showed me that they would be vindicating her legacy. And I was like, wow. And I could see this sort of chip on his shoulder about that the government was able to successfully keep this narrative about her singing strange fruit, her integrating audiences, her really fighting for her people on a solo mission at the time, really, virtually a solo mission. And so that intrigued me to say, okay, I'll audition for the role, you know.

And then what made me say yes completely to the role was there was a scripture actually that I read. I would say I was trying to pray away the role. I was like, God, why would I agree to audition? Why am I here? This is terrible. And so a friend of mine was like, You know, I felt like in my spirit, you should be praying about us. Okay. So I did devotion that night. And I wasn't looking. It was just the next thing in devotion.

And it was a scripture about walking on water being caused to do an act of great faith. And I was like, oh, crap. So I was like, okay, I guess the storm will not be going away. I'll be walking through this. And I have to trust in, you know, God, trust in myself. I know, trust Lee, you know, completely. And we did. And he was just as scared to hire me. So it was really a mutual sort of jumping off a cliff or taking a leap in faith for both of us, you know, and I'm so, oh my God, so grateful I did, even if it was just for his friendship alone, you know.

So it's really, yeah, it's been a blessing. I'm glad at least in that case, God rejected your prayer. He said, no, we're going to do this. What it felt like. I was like, what you mean? No. That's what it felt like. And boy, I mean, Andrew, you had to go through a lot to get ready for this role.

I mean, I think he lost 40 pounds. She smoked, she drinks, she did drugs, suffered abuse. I mean, it's a hard role. It's a tough life and a difficult character to play. And to get the voice right as a whole other aspect of this, nothing was easy here. So how did you approach? Where did you begin? I think the way I approached it, first of all, it was just, I mean, when I tell you,

just daily conversations with Lee, it was actually really, really fun, the research, you know, because I actually enjoy her. And I think anybody who researches Billy Holiday would find themselves in a hole or like in a well for a couple hours because she really is fascinating. Just how much her, even her face changes from one photo to the next, you know. And so it's she's definitely a bit of a chameleon. And so Lee and I would just have very deep conversations about, you know, how he wanted her portrayed. He was very clear that he did not want her to be a victim, which I thought was beautiful. And so it started really the way I would have enjoyed her, right,

which is listening to her music first. And so I know, you know, basically every song. So listening to all of her music, then watching all of her live performances, and then watching every single interview, then listening to every single studio session, which can get really, really long, the recording process. But it's nice because you have little tidbits in there of when she breaks, because she's unhappy with how she's performed something.

And depending on her mood or how either inebriated or not, she responds in sort of different ways. But even when she's mad and frustrated, it still has this beautiful air of like sweetness and care. You know, and so then listening to every interview that she's done and what her professional, I'm in an interview, Billy Holiday Boy sounds like, and then listening to her just regular rehearsals where she's just talking, with her band and she's either happy or she's mad or.

And then there's audio clip of her playing with her, um, Godson, you know, and just so every audio and video I could find all the pictures, every book, you know, of course reading her biography.

There's a great book called With Billy, which is very insightful because it's people's experiences with her. And so you see all these different facets of her, but you do see this through line of just, she doesn't judge anyone. She receives people the way they are. And then it was practicing the voice, not just her singing, but her speaking voice was what I really wanted to get. Tom Jones and Tom Jones was my dialect coach.

Tasha Smith was my acting coach. So she had to also, while we're doing all this research, had to teach me how to act. Oh, that. Yeah. Fortunately, she's really amazing at that, you know. So it was like Lee's direction. And then the research that I was doing, Tasha teaching me how to act, my dialect coach. We were just, you know, honing sort of the muscle, you know, muscle control where she speaks from, which is a different place for me.

She's much more in her head behind her ears. I mean, deep in my chest. And then the gravel. How do we get that gravel? How do I break that up on a day when my voice feels healthy, you know, on those days? And then, yes, I did start smoking cigarettes and I don't drink. I did start drinking a lot of gin. And just generally stop taking care of my vocal course.

and my health in general and then lost a lot of weight for the role. So, you know, it was, sorry, it's very long-winded, but it was a lot that went into it and a lot of research by the costume designer as well, Palo Niedu and, you know, of course, Lee and production staff and Tasha and Tom and my castmate. So it was, everybody was all hands on deck, you know. I can imagine for someone who's never been in a movie before, stepping on set those first couple of days, the nerves that must have been. inside you. And I was reading an interview where you're talking about one of the first days of

shooting, you're on a stage as Billy Holiday, one of your heroes, and they're a bunch of strangers staring back at you. And you've got to do it. You've got to nail it. So when did you know, Andrew, that this was going to be okay? Like, this is going well. Was it talking to Lee over the course of it? Oh, I can act. I can pull this off. You know, definitely not while I was on set, probably, like, after everything ended, maybe. And they were like, I mean, together great in the edit because, you know, I mean, listen, there would be, it was difficult for me to, like, Lee would tell me while we were filming, you know, just hearing him from my castmates showed me that checking the gate is a good thing, you know what I mean? That means they feel like they have what they

need and they need to make sure there was no dust in it or stuff. I learned a lot. But, and, but then Lee would just tell me when he's like, oh, my God, it's so good or it's so great or, you know, and then he was very honest, too. So if he'd be like, oh, that's not it, and he'd be very clear so I could tell, you know, that he wasn't just, you know, flattering me, but it was difficult to get out of my own head about it. I would be like, oh, he's just telling me that because he can't get any better from me. And so now he needs to move on and I'm messing up the production. So honestly, most days were that feeling. Yeah, I'm sure. And just sort of living on adrenaline. But I think the real shift wasn't necessarily like, oh, wow, I'm doing so great, you know,

it was more so and that awareness of that I think really came from Lee and then came from my cast as well but acceptance of it never really came because anytime I would start to feel like comfortable I'd be like oh God

if I get too comfortable I'll be terrible you know what I mean but I think what it was for me it just was a shift from I'm so scared I want to leave I want to leave I just want to get through this I want to leave then by the time we got to the end I was just bawling like how could I possibly

leave this place. I don't know who I am outside of this place, you know. So that was really more so the shift, you know. One of the things you convey really well, your entire team in this film, I think people know the music of Billy Holiday and they made me know she was a tragic figure because she died when she was 44. But what you all convey is how brave she was and how important she was as really an early figure in the civil rights movement and how standing on that stage singing strange fruit was an act of courage every time she did it. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for saying that too, because again, like I said, that was really a big thing for Lee. He didn't want her to be portrayed as a victim. You know, and even the term, I have a complicated relationship, even with the term tragic figure, because I don't necessarily like her described in that way because there were tragic things that happened around her that happened to her.

The fact that this woman was able to fight through the illness of addiction, which is what it really is, and through the entire government putting their forces into her to go after her for singing this song, created an entire war on drugs, you know, to stop her from talking about lynching in America, to stop her from integrating audiences and, you know, uniting people. And, you know, you go, and then she was, she had nobody. She had nobody. She was, you know, raped at such a young age. She grew up in a brothel, was sent there by her mother, lost her father to Jim Crow and then lost her mother. And at the time, we forget at this early time, you know, drugs are, there's a whole other interview, but drugs are something that were poured sort of into our neighborhoods and then our bodies were criminalized for it, you know, and so. And the fact that she was standing up for us and standing up for equality, that's why I say she was. really one of the early godmothers of the reinvigorated civil rights movement because it was her singing this song in Defiance of the government, along with the death of Emmett Till, that

reinvigorated the Durgid Marshall in the movement. And so, you know, it's almost like, yeah, it's tragic because they went after her and were successfully able to, you know, suppress a lot of her her legacy. But it's actually very triumphant in the fact that, you know, Strange Fruit has survived and that she was able to emboldened a lot of the leaders that we know now. So, yeah, she's, and almost how could she have possibly done any of this without some sort of sort of assistance, you know? And so I think she's, to me, she's purely a hero, you know. And standing on that stage, looking at the federal agents, the uniform cops, taking a deep breath and still singing the song. And still singing the song.

And I always tell people, they're like, well, you know, you have sort of your own form of protest song with Rise Up. And I'm like, I appreciate that, but no, no, no. I don't know what it's like to get on stage and say, okay, I got to make a choice. If I sing Rise Up tonight, I'll probably be killed, you know. And that's what would happen. What you didn't see was that police would actually chase her, pursue her after she left the club,

and would actually shoot rain bullets into her car with the intent of killing her. That's what she faced, you know, and that is, so for her to sing that song, we have to understand that was really the first protest song. We're very familiar with them now. but that was not a thing at that time. So she was very brave in that way. You mentioned Rise Up. Has it been gratifying to you to see that it has been sort of adopted as a protest song

from what it became initially and that we heard it so much over the last year? Yeah, I think, yeah, gratifying is a great word. I'm especially definitely grateful for it. And I think, and again, the award alignment, because this was another thing that wasn't necessarily even supposed to be on my album. And I think, you know, just kind of emboldens me, you know, a little bit, like, because, you know, just reminds me that that's what we're here to do. No matter what realm we're in, you know, with what you do and myself and music.

And, you know, I believe that at our identity, we are here to serve. For me to serve God, I know not everybody believes is me. So for me to serve God and then also to serve each other, you know. So it feels like, you know, by purpose, you know, and intention. And yeah, it's amazing what the song has done on the macro and on the micro. You know, being adopted by the Black Lives Matter movement is the most important thing to me. It means everything to me. And then also on the micro, when people go, I was going to commit suicide and I didn't because I listened to Rise Up.

That's heavy. You know what I mean? You realize something else is going on. Yes. You've got new music coming. And there are a lot of people very excited about it, especially after all the success of the movie. So I guess my question for you is,

are we going to hear a little let Billy gravel in the new record or have you changed the way you perform at all? Yeah. I mean, I think it would have been different in general, right? My last album came out in 2015. So it's like nobody's the same. I'm not the same a year, two years, three, four, five years ago. But Billy did cause me to change a lot more and a lot faster

in a shorter period of time than I think I would have. So yes, we were making the album while I was prepping for the role. So you will hear, yeah, there's her DNA on there, not just sonically, but also in the way I approach the stories and how I say certain things

and the way I deliver certain lyrics, you know, it's a little less, you know, it's a little less patient. You know what I mean? So a little less, Yes, polite. But still, I think I would hope that what it did grab onto was also some of her magnetism. You know, her love for people, the way she just loved and celebrated people and did not judge them

and just accepted them, celebrated them for who they were and at the place they were at. Even people who offended her, you know what I mean? And who, then I hopefully, you'll hear some of that on the record as well, too. But yeah, it's definitely influenced by exactly my headspace of when I was creating. Cannot wait. Cannot wait to hear the new music. It's going to be great. You have, I don't know if people realize, you've been grinding for a long time going back to some of those jobs you've talked about, working with the kids' entertainment and all that.

And Stevie Wonder's wife spotting you at the strip mall and all these amazing things that have happened. You've worked really hard to get where you are. So do you have you allowed yourself in the middle of this chaos to stop? and say, wow, look where that little girl has come? Hmm. Have I done that? Maybe I should do that. I feel like I should go do that.

And then we do another interview and I tell you how it went. All right. We'll do that later. Let's wait. You're too deep in it right now. Yeah, maybe I'm still in it a little bit, you know. But yeah, I think, yeah, because, you know, you kind of head, nose to the ground, eyes to the ground and you just keep sort of grinding and you keep, you know.

And that comes from. both my mother and my father, you know, but yeah, maybe, maybe I should, should do that a little bit. We'll talk again later. We'll let you do that. Yeah, yeah. I am trying to be present, though. I definitely am trying to be present and enjoy, you know, the moments, the things that are happening as they come. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Andrade day right after the break. Welcome back to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Now more of my conversation with Andrade. As we talk about your early years, and we talk about the influence at 11 years old of hearing about Billy Holiday from one of your teachers, Mr. Doyle was his name. Yeah, Bill Doyle.

What did he mean to you? And what would you say to him right now about the success of this movie? Oh, what would I say to him about the success of this movie? I would say thank you, first of all. I would say thank you to him and to his husband Mark. I would say also I would yeah, I would say thank you for introducing me to Billy Holiday because I don't even know if he really maybe remembers or even, you know, because it was such a like he just lived in this world and he just loved great, you know, female vocalists and was super like experimental and progressive with us. us when it came to the material because we did musical theater at the school I went to that we

worked on and I love I mean we did some amazing shows there and one of them I'll never forget that we did with him was one called the quilt you know it's a really really powerful play and it's a heavy thing to for young kids you know to to kind of take on but uh I realized at this school I went to SCPA with Bill Doyle with um Donald Robinson um with gail McKinney um did Sandra Foster King you know like Ms. Morales, you know, I realize we, we had such a great group of diverse teachers that that really allowed us to just stretch, you know what I mean, and to sort of spread our wings and to experiment. And I think at the time, I don't think I realized how amazing that really was. You know, the school was not just focused on taking tests or, you know, they really wanted their kids to

excel, especially in the arts. And so I would say thank you to him. And I would say, you know, maybe he doesn't realize how influential he is or they are. And they've been, yeah, but there's a lot of people. I have a great friend of my Ashandra Prophet who went on to Broadway to play Sarabi and Nala in the Lion King. So she reached the sort of apex, you know, of what we at this school prepared for. And another friend Jeremy McQueen who owns a ballet company. And so it's, you know, they put, put time elbow grease into us. Sure. Well, I think Mr. Doyle does remember.

I think he is proud, but don't take my word for it. I think we have somebody joining us on the call right now. Mr. Doyle, are you there, sir? My gosh. You look good. I love the hair, first of all. It's my COVID due. Right.

I was going to say he wasn't doing all of this in high school, y'all. I was sleek and it was do-da-da-da-da. Oh, my gosh. How are you? you. I'm so good. This is, Mr. Doyle, this is crazy. All of this is crazy. What is happening? You've been kind of busy since I saw you last. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. I'm so, oh, thank you all for doing this. I'm so happy to see you. How are you? How's family? Everything's good. Mark's sitting right over there. Hi, Mark. I was just talking about him.

Could you hear what Andrew was saying, Mr. Dahl? We out back. All is good. What does it mean, Mr. Doyle, to hear Andrew say those things about you? Oh, I mean, you put a lifetime into working, and you have hundreds of kids that move through that you're incredibly proud of. But then there's one that becomes kind of a starlight to it all. And it's awesome. It's, oh, my God.

Do you remember the quilt? Do you remember doing the quilt? Yes. Yeah, oh, my God. I still love that show. I think, I was just telling him, I said, I think back to those times, you know, even like doing the quilt and we also did, what's the other one? What's the other one?

Sure, God. That's old school. That's a real, I know, that's a real old school classic. The other one, too, I remember even at the school, I had played, that was in the grand theater. names for different theaters, the little theater and the grand theater, big theater. But even doing Gypsy, like, all of that stuff, even, like, even though I was not in Sweeney Todd or Sweet Charity, you know, I was like, God, I think back to that, I'm like, it was just amazing that we

were able to do these plays and these, it was, you know, I, I think that that was also a training ground, because it was a lot of meaty stuff in these plays and these roles that you probably typically wouldn't see kids doing, but I think they really trusted us and grew us and stretched us in such an incredible way. Oh, my. gosh. I just, yeah, I'm so grateful to you, Mr. Doyle, honestly. I know I still say Mr. Doyle. Oh, I'll hear Bill one of these days, I know. Or just Doyle. Just Doyle. That's the other thing we also would just call him Doyle. Doyle, okay. Then I'm going to go with Doyle. What is it like, Doyle, if I may, to watch Andra win the Golden Globe or to be nominated for an Oscar. You

probably knew she could sing because she's become famous for that. But what is it like for you as someone who helped sort of create this actress somewhere along the way? Well, the night she won was running around streaming like school girls, you know. Be honest, the biggest thrill was watching the work. I mean, when I watched the movie and the fearless attack that came off. the screen. It made me speechless that if you know me, I'm a fairly verbal guy.

It's not the easiest thing in the world. I was so unbelievably proud of what she'd accomplished and how I literally had to watch the movie again right after I watched it because all of the scenes that had dialogue in the background of her singing,

I had no idea what went on. I was so honed in on every found in the virtuosity of what she was doing to make her instrument sound like that. And I'm a Billy aficionado. I mean, I know her sound and to hear that coming from you was, it was magical. Oh my gosh. That makes me so happy to hear too. And he is absolutely a Billy officianado because he's who put me on to Billy Holiday. I'm so interested in that. What made you think that Billy Holiday would be a good fit way back then for Andra. Well, it wasn't only Billy.

I think there was some other artists. I said, listen to, here's one. Now, Janice Joplin as well. Yeah, you did say Janice. You put me on to Janice, too. Yeah. And it was, you know, it had to do with kind of a, she wasn't your normal musical theater high school girls.

You know, she came in and there was this sultry, sophisticated rawness in her voice. and she was kind of, she would sing and she would, musical theater always goes out to the audience. Cassandra would just, you know, sit back and sing a song and it was kind of like, well, if you want to come up here and listen to me, that's cool. But it's not, no big deal. Do you know what I mean?

There was always this energy about her. And because of it, you did want to go up. You wanted to go up and vicariously look at what she was creating. And both of those artists, I think, do that in their own way. You know, it's sort of like, I'm singing for me and maybe the cats that I'm making music with on stage. And if you all want to listen, that's fine. But if not, that's okay. She was cool, like Billy.

She was cool like Billy. It's actually funny hearing that because I'm like, I think maybe a part of that, first of all, thank you. You know what I mean? But you're right. Janice, too. That was actually perfect. But I think maybe a part of that. I guess coolness is probably actually just sheer fear.

I think that's why probably the energy is so in too, because I, as he knows, you know, I, it's real, I, it's terrifying for me every time. I think the, the thing is like, all right, I'm either going to sink or swim. And that's a part also of what like my dad, my father taught me as well to. You're either in or you're not, you know? And so it's like, I'll be terrified of something, but you kind of just, again, I got to swim, you know, because we're or the other option is sinking which i don't like so i think a part of that sort of is me receding into myself when i'm performing is what i think maybe comes off as coolness is

actually just terrified of projecting or you know so that's no that's really interesting definitely but he was actually really good at just pinpointing whatever anybody's strong suits were and you know kind of exploiting that in a beautiful way i i still like have memories of us just sitting in the, well, they were kind of like bleacher style seats, remember in the small room. Oh, yeah. And the warm-ups playing on the piano. I was actually thinking about that a couple weeks

ago being like, God, the simplicity of that and the rawness and the, you know, just wanting to be good for that day. You know what I mean? I think was something that he really actually helped to instill in me. I don't know, I was telling

him before we got in here, I said, whether he realizes or to not, he affected so many kids, you know, so I don't know if you even know how deep your impact was, you know, for each of us personally, but even just warm up time for me impacted me so much because it was just, just be good in this moment, be good in this day, you know, or do your best in this moment in this day. And I think I carried that with me even on set because everyone's like, did you imagine these awards would happen? I was like, hell no, I had to survive that day. I was like, right now it's a mixture of just, I was like,

In my body is alcohol and cigarettes and in my mind is heroin and cocaine. I just got to survive right now. You know what we? Yeah, it was, yeah. It definitely hugely influential. You were all in for that. That's for sure. So Mr. Doyle, I told Andrew, if you were here, what would she say about you?

And you were listening, I think. So now... No, I was in a waiting room. I didn't hear. Oh, you couldn't hear. Well, she... Not really. Glowing, glowing about your influence on her.

So what now that you have a chance? in this incredible moment for your former student, what would you like to say to her? Oh, I love you. I love you too. You know, it was always about, SCPA was always relationship first. And the things that came talent-wise or anything else were kind of secondary. It was very familial. And so I'm just, I'm just a proud papa, not taking anything away from the real papa.

But I, I, I, I, my dad also loves Doyle, so we're doing there. You are definitely a proud papa, and that is how we all look at you. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't trying to usurp any of his, you know, stuff, what I'm right down to it. Never know. I love the fact that you're, you're, I know you will use the new platform you have for things that are important. and it's a time and a place to use that platform. And, you know, you wave that flag in whatever direction

because you know what's right and you know what's wrong and let some other people know that as well. Okay, and it's because let's get, yeah, we need those voices to be a little louder. You know, about that. You know, we're going on. We definitely need those voices to be a little louder in this time. Well, Mr. Doyle, you're so nice to hop on this call. and give a little surprise to end this.

You and Mark, tell Mark I love him too so much. Absolutely. All my love, congratulations, and we'll keep our fingers crossed for the next awards. Yeah, I have to come down there. I got to come see you guys soon. I miss you. I would love that. Thanks for doing this, Doyle.

Thanks for having the opportunity. I'm doing it. Okay. Did you sense that coming? Did we telegraph it too much, Andrea? Well, no, no, you didn't at all. But I was told that there were. be like a surprise something and I was just hoping it wouldn't be like an X or something like that.

I was like, oh man, this could go rough, you know. You think I'd do that to you? Pop up an X. I think he's trying to. Oh. Oh, there he go. Okay. No.

No, yeah. So, no, I mean, it wouldn't have been anybody. I'm appreciative of anybody and everybody in my past. So, you know what I mean? But, yeah, no, it's amazing to see to see him, though, because, you know, like I said, he's just been doing it. I mean, he finally retired. He's been doing it for over 30 years.

And just the effect. I love him in the back. It's perfect. That's perfect. That's basically us performing. Well, just, just. Well, you've been incredibly generous with your time. I know you got a busy day and a busy life right now.

So thank you for sitting and spending this time with us. And just so happy for you. Like I said, so many people are rooting for you. So continued success. and congrats on this incredible film. Thank you very much. You are very much appreciated. Thank you so much for this moment today.

I am like on cloud nine right now. Oh, good, good. We had fun doing it. Thanks, Andrea. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Take care.

My big thanks again to Andrea for a great conversation. Congratulations on the Golden Globe and good luck at those Oscars. And our thanks to Mr. Doyle, or Doyle, as I like to call them, for popping in to say hello. You can watch Andra's powerful performance in the United States versus Billy Holiday, streaming now on Hulu. And my thanks, as always, to all of you for tuning in this week. If you want to hear more of these conversations with my guests every week, be sure to click subscribe so you never miss an episode. And of course, don't forget to tune in to Sunday today, every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist.

We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.