[This story contains spoilers from The Deliverance.]
When Andra Day was considering the lead role of Ebony in Lee Daniels' latest film The liberationhe consulted two entities: God and his mother.
“At first, she [her mother] a kind of break,” Day says The Hollywood Reporteradmitting she was equally hesitant to venture into the satanic realm for the Netflix feature. “She was praying with me about it and through the process. And she was very clear with me, she said, 'I'm not going to watch the movie,' not because I don't think the message is great. My mom's like, 'Listen, if it's not Disney+, I'm leaving. I can see her keeping me up at night.' (laughter).”
The liberationwhich is now streaming on Netflix after a limited theatrical run, is based on the true story of LaToya Ammons, an Indiana woman who claimed in 2011 that she and her children were possessed by demons. The film marks Daniels’ first, and certainly last, foray into the horror genre, though the producer and director sees the project, which also stars Mo’Nique, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Caleb McLaughlin, as more of a story of faith than fear of the dark and supernatural. That’s what drew Day and her mother to come on board.
“She was really proud and excited about the film itself, but also the story that it told. That we were able to represent this woman as a fully realized black woman and also talk about and show what it means to struggle with your faith, with grief, with healing, and this idea that you have to have it all together and if you don’t, you’re bad,” Day continues.[Ebony’s] hurt. She's trying to figure out her life. I like that they show a very real story that's not a perfect story.”
Below, Day discusses her relationship with Mo'Nique and Close on set, praying during difficult scenes, and the message she hopes audiences take away: “Believe and listen to women, especially in this film, black women.”
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How did you come across this role and what made you say yes?
I actually first got to know the role on the set of The United States vs. Billie Holiday. One of the producers on the film, Tucker Tooley, who is an amazing producer, was talking to Lee about it and Lee was like, “I think she could be our LaToya” — back when the character was still called LaToya. So that was a huge factor. That was Lee. He's a visionary. He brings together incredible roles for black women, fully fleshed out characters, layers. And I love working with him; he's family. So, it was easy.
But because of the content of the film, I hesitated. I was one of those people who was like, “Well, I'm a believer, I'm a Christian, I don't think I should talk about demonic possession.” And it was funny because I had no peace about it, and it was praying about it that made me realize that you actually shouldn't be afraid of these things. You have authority over these things and people need to see that on camera, and that was Lee's goal as well, so it was beautiful. I loved that it was based on a true story and I thought it was important to honor this woman's legacy, because of everything she went through and also because for so long the system didn't believe her.
How did you get into the mindset of this woman who physically and emotionally abuses her children and who also struggles with abandonment by her mother?
Working closely with Lee, working closely with Patrick Smith, my acting coach. There were moments on set where I was like, I feel like Ebony is harder to play than even Billie Holiday because there were some aspects that were closer to home. I think the truth of the matter is that a lot of us women probably in some way, shape or form, maybe not to this extreme, deal with feeling unworthy, unloved, unlovable. So it was really about finding those similarities in myself and in my history. My thing was, what is the one thing I would die for? And that, for me, was my faith. That’s one thing I want to be the best at. I want to feel worthy. I want to be acceptable. I don’t want my past to dictate my future. So that was the common ground that I was able to find with Ebony.
And as far as the kids, I loved them a lot, and they loved me a lot. They allowed me to be who I was as Ebony on set. I was very honest with them about certain things. And I think they were able to see, also, playing her kids, that she loves us and supports us with everything she has, that she wasn’t really giving herself. I understand Ebony’s struggle to try to do the best she can with what she has, trying to create a better future when she wasn’t given the tools to do that.
What was it like playing the opposite of Glenn Close as your mother?
It was amazing. You see what she looked like in the movie? The transformation is crazy. It was such an honor and I told people I was ready to go on set and use it as an opportunity to watch this woman work, to learn from her, which I was able to do. But at the same time, she's also one of the loveliest people I've ever met in my life. She's so refreshingly youthful, she has such a playful, light energy, which I realized in that moment, I think that's what makes her so versatile. She's definitely serious about her work but she's also very giving. She's super funny, she wanted to make sure she did it right. It was amazing to watch this incredible veteran actress who could come on set and do anything, and we would be happy. But she came on set hungry every day like it was her first role and that's always a great lesson to learn, to stay in that perpetual student position. Same thing with Mo'Nique, same thing with Aunjanue Ellis, and with the guys, with Omar Epps. These people are legendary, but they arrived as if it were day one.
Mo'Nique plays the opposite of her award-winning character in Preciousas a social worker to a dysfunctional mother. What kind of conversations did you have on set?
Oh my God, we had mostly fun, loving conversations, and then we had some conversations that got really deep, and she poured herself into me in a way that I couldn't have asked for better. God has been so gracious to this group of people. I remember her saying these two things to me on set. She said “sweet baby,” because that's her name. [for people]”Sweet baby, don't let anyone tell you that you're talented; you're gifted. And that's special. And that's rare.” And she would also remind me when she saw me struggling during scenes and how much certain things hurt, “Make room to let go,” she would say. “Because your mind knows what you're doing, which is acting, but your body doesn't know the difference. Your body is still reading all this pain and trauma.” And then she would make a joke to remind us that we were just playing.
What were the most difficult scenes for you and how did you overcome them?
The scene where I am the demon and myself was definitely a duality that I thought: if I don't find common ground between this demon and Ebony, it's over, it's all over. It was a very, very difficult scene to play. And every scene where I am mean or emotionally or physically abusive to my children was painful. Shaking that off starts at the other end, which is doing everything with intention. I went into this movie with the peace of God because I shouldn't be afraid of these things, they are under my feet and during [filming] and even after that, it was just prayer. It sounds very simple, but prayer. I definitely go to therapy, but my relationship with God always reminds me that God is never there to hurt me: things can be difficult and challenging, but God loves me and I am here for a reason. Always having a why is very important.
What do you hope audiences will take away from this film?
A couple of things, because this is a very layered movie. The first thing I'll say is I'm a believer, so I hope they take away a relationship with God. And not with people telling you who you should be and who you shouldn't be, but letting God shower you with how loved you are. I want people to see that. I also want them to see healing. I want them to see transformation where we want it and healing generational trauma because that's what we're looking at. There's trauma with Ebony's character, there's trauma with her mother's character, there's trauma with these kids, there's trauma with Cynthia (Mo'Nique). And essentially all of these people are trying to help the kids, but they also end up suffering a lot of damage because of their own unhealed wounds.
The things that we don't heal and pay attention to and examine in our lives will definitely own our children and future generations. And the third thing is a very clear statement: believe and listen to women, especially with this film, Black women. We've talked a lot about believing in black women, but I want to go even deeper, which is listening to them. We are often not heard. Our struggles are not heard. Our pain is not heard. Our struggle is not heard. Our triumphs are not heard. We do so much and lose so much in silence because we are constantly supporting everyone else's struggle or agenda or whatever they need. I think as a community, if we came together and decided internally that we are going to choose to create a space to listen and hear and believe, I think the landscape would definitely change. We are already community builders, but we need that support.
The liberation is now available to stream on Netflix. Light DAYInterview by Lee Daniels.