HBO debuts Bessie trailer [VIDEO]

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Queen Latifah as Bessie Shimth in HBO's ’Bessie.‘ photo: Frank Masi

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.

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Queen Latifah as blues legend Bessie Smith in HBO’s upcoming original film “Bessie,” which premieres May 16 at 8/7CT. Photo credit: Frank Masi/HBO.

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.

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Lori just hasn't been the same since "thirtysomething" and "Northern Exposure" went off the air.