The inspiring story of Helen Reddy’s rise to the top, and how she helped spark a revolution in the process, is the crux of the biopic I Am Woman, whose first trailer just premiered.
Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Hotel Mumbai) stars as the Australian single mom, who heads to New York with the belief that her voice can carry her to new heights.
She wasn’t wrong.
It’s 1966 and even though she has the vocal prowess to inspire the masses, she is never really given the chance by the male music industry gatekeepers. They don’t take her seriously.
Then, she befriends legendary music journalist Lillian Roxon (played by Danielle Macdonald), who becomes her BFF as well as her one-woman cheering squad. Reddy meets a talent manager in Jeff Wald (X-Men’s Evan Peters), who finally is someone in the business who believes she has something special and can turn any song into an anthem. The two fall in love, get married and before you know it, they move to California.
A string of hit singles ensue, but only after an enormous push by Helen towards her husband to secure her a record contract. Specifically, she had nine hit singles. None were more important than I Am Woman, which became a soundtrack call of the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 70s through today.
Fame brings challenges and pressures that the couple could never see coming, but with someone as fiercely strong as Reddy, something tells me her challenges will inspire.
Look for I Am Woman in theaters and on demand on September 11.