HBO released the official trailer for its stunning Bessie Smith biopic, Bessie, which will debut Saturday, May 16 at 8/7CT on the network.
Twenty-two years in the making, the project was first brought to a young Queen Latifah — then a successful singer and burgeoning actress — by producers Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck, who had optioned a script from To Kill a Mockingbird screenwriter Horton Foote and director Bruce Beresford.
Progress on the film ebbed and flowed until it landed in the hands of writer/director Dee Rees, who was gaining good notices for her coming-of-age story Pariah and leapt at the chance to present the “Empress of the Blues” as not simply a brassy, boozy good-time girl, but a complex symbol of her era and social issues that still fester today.
The result — starring the now 45-year-old Latifah (who co-executive produces) and packed with scrumptious visuals and musical performances — is an exhilarating survivor story rich with insight on race, human bonds and how women held and lost power during a volatile time in American history and the entertainment business.
Bessie also stars Oscar® winner Mo’Nique as Bessie’s mentor, blues legend Ma Rainey; Boardwalk Empire‘s Michael Kenneth Williams as Bessie’s protective husband, Jack Gee; Scandal‘s Khandi Alexander as her chilly older sister, Viola; Mike Epps (Survivor’s Remorse) as Richard, a bootlegger who loved the woman behind the star; Tika Sumpter (The Haves and the Have Nots) as Lucille, a dancer and Bessie’s longtime lover.
For an in-depth look at HBO’s Bessie, including exclusive interviews with Queen Latifah and Dee Rees, check out the May issue of Channel Guide Magazine.