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Lee Daniels has made a career in producing and directing art that pushes audiences to embrace the often raw parts of humanity. He’s a storyteller whose directorial journey began when he walked into a library at the age of seven.
“I headed over to the theater section and pulled out a book called Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? “ Daniels said. “How about me reading this book and having everyone on my poles reading Martha and George and the other couple?” I didn’t know it was realization then.
After looking at the years 1972 Lady sings the blues, Daniels knew what he wanted to do. “I started running theater,” says Daniels. “I didn’t understand that it was even possible for black people to lead, that’s how old I look.”
This choice would change the trajectory of his life. While running the theater, Daniels found a handful of actors who were trying to find work. He decided to manage their career, which provided an invaluable education in the inner workings of Hollywood. “I didn’t go to film school. It was all learned on an actor set,” Daniels told Yahoo Entertainment. “I’m an artist, but I come from a family of drug dealers and, you know, they’re survivors because that’s all we had on the streets, we knew how to survive. So when I got there in Hollywood I had $ 7 in my pocket and I was determined to do something with myself. “
Monster ball would be a turning point in his career. Daniels produced the film and wanted to direct, but was unsure of where to start. So he studied.
“I watched brilliantly what Mark Forster did. I understood well. I was the first black man to be the sole producer of an Oscar nominated film. Halle Berry, you know, that was really important to me, that victory, “Daniels said of Berry’s Oscar-winning performance.
Daniels would get the chance to direct his first film with the release of Shadow boxer, an experience he calls “trial and error”.
“I don’t watch my movies, but it’s a mess,” Daniels jokes. “But I also learned a lot from this film, how not to make a film.”
He found more success with his second attempt, Precious, where he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director. The film also received a nomination for Best Picture. It made Daniels a household name, and he continued with box office success. Lee Daniels’ Butler in 2013.
Two years later, Daniels made the leap to the small screen, co-creating, producing and directing Empire, one of the most watched shows on Fox. Yet Daniels found obstacles when it came to securing money for new projects, and had to independently fund all of his films – including his most recent, The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
“The studios never understood me. Even after the success of Empire and The butler, I still had to find the money independently [The United States vs. Billie Holiday] because they didn’t want to finance this movie because they didn’t want to finance The butler, because they did not want to finance Precious,” he says.
The new film, which premieres on Hulu on February 26, follows Billie Holiday after the release of her song “Strange Fruit,” which many believe kicked off the civil rights movement. By taking a political stance with her music, she became a target of the FBI, who began to monitor her.
“Once I found out the government hounded her for this song, I had to tell the story,” Daniels says. “Someone told me they even do it to rappers now. They hunt them down until they find something. The cops. It’s fascinating.”
One of the ways the government has harassed Holiday has been to focus on his heroin addiction. Like many artists of the time, she had a difficult childhood. But while the drug addiction of celebrities like Judy Garland was seen as a health problem, Holliday’s addiction was criminalized.
“It’s no different from opioids right now. Right now, now that white people are on opioids, it’s a disease. But back with Billie, no, it was a crime,” Daniels says. “Systemic racism. It’s an aerosol. We can’t see it. You know, it’s just in the air. I love this new generation because what’s going on now is you have put what’s going on at the forefront and it’s undeniable. “
Keeping pushing for more representation in Hollywood has always been something Daniels naturally personifies. He regularly casts black actors who are new and untested – Andra Day makes her acting debut as Billie Holiday. Behind the scenes, he revealed he lobbied for more black crew members on sets in Monster ball and The lumberjack. Yet creating more inclusive environments often comes with the rejection of studios, which reject new hires who lack experience, who aren’t part of a union, or have a reputation that precedes them.
“I had to fight for John Singleton to direct an episode of EmpireDaniels told Yahoo Entertainment. What happens is they call you difficult, and sometimes that seeps into our own community. “
This resistance does not deter Daniels, who has seen his art change the conversation. He believes in the success of Empire, showed studio heads that black narratives are in demand – paving the way for the Black Renaissance that brought us successes like Black Panther and Unsafe.
Daniels says pushing for more black leadership behind the scenes will be the ultimate sign of racial progress in Hollywood.
“Until we have black studio heads who are at the CEO level saying, ‘OK, this hot sauce goes on collard greens,’” Daniels says. “Until you understand that the hot sauce goes on collard greens, you will never be able to understand Lee Daniels, or you will never be able to understand the importance of Spike Lee or Ava DuVernay.
– Produced by Jen Kucsak and edited by John Santo
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