Working With André Holland Was on Andra Day’s Bucket List Before Filming ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’

After portraying a negligent, demon-possessed mom in The Deliverance, Andra Day will be back onscreen in a more protective motherly role in Exhibiting Forgiveness, the directorial debut from artist Titus Kaphar, set for theatrical release Oct. 18.

In the film, which draws from Kaphar’s lived experience, Day plays Aisha, a singer-songwriter and the wife of André Holland’s Tarrell Rodin, a revered painter and father who’s forced to face unhealed wounds. Then his estranged father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks), a recovering addict, unexpectedly reappears and attempts to repair their relationship at the urging of Rodin’s mother Joyce (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor).

At Thursday’s L.A. premiere for the film, which debuted at Sundance earlier this year, Day talked to The Hollywood Reporter about her “bucket list” experience working with Holland.

“I miss him so bad right now; I call him ‘bestie,’ that’s my best friend,” Day said of Holland — who didn’t make the red carpet for the event, which was held at Gagosian, where the works Kaphar painted for the movie were on display.

“I have to tell you, working with him was a bucket list [item] because he, I always tell people, he’s your favorite actor’s favorite actor. He’s like the Jazmine Sullivan of acting where everybody’s like, ‘So that’s actually the best singer.’ He’s actually the best actor,” Day continued. “He’s really incredible. Working with him was a great lesson in nuance and how to make something so loud while being subdued at the same time. He’s a genius to work with.”

Holland spent three months studying alongside Kaphar in his Connecticut studio, learning how to paint so that he’d be believable as an artist. It’s a fact that doesn’t surprise longtime friend and BMF star Russell Hornsby, who attended the premiere.

“André goes deep into his artistry,” Hornsby told THR. “He’s very committed, and it comes out in the work that he does. Oftentimes, we don’t get the opportunity to go as deep into that as actors and he understands the value of getting an opportunity, and really challenging himself and forcing himself to peel back a lot of those layers that he has underneath and show his true artistry.”

For Day’s part, she also spent six days post-shoot working with composer Jherek Bischoff on the score for the film and writing the featured track “Bricks.”

“The story of the song was that forgiveness is a hard-bought battle. And what I grabbed most from these characters was their ability to create a reality and create a future for themselves and their kids that they’ve not experienced,” said Day. “When you come from a history of abuse, for you to be able to create an environment of peace and of joy and of prosperity, that’s beautiful. That was where my mind was when it came to writing the lyrics.”

Kaphar admits he didn’t have an ideal cast in mind for his debut film, mostly because he didn’t set out planning to make a movie, but rather created a series of paintings based on memories from his childhood that he’d been writing down, which later led him to try his hand at writing a script. Describing the painting process as “cathartic” and “healing,” Kaphar said directing marked another step on that journey.

“It made me realize that I wasn’t done yet,” he told THR. “I thought that I had worked through my ish. But on set, watching André go through what I went through, there was a compassion that I could have for him that I couldn’t have for myself.

“When I saw him go through it, I just, I broke,” Kaphar added. “I started crying. I was sobbing. And I’m not that dude to be sitting around sobbing and crying. But in that moment what I realized is there’s a lot that I have to go through still. There’s a lot of healing to be done.”