Andra Day made herself a household name with her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday. But, she struggled with her own personal demons while taking on this complicated character.
While talking to InStyle, she explained that she wanted to rid Holiday of her hypersexualized persona because she had suffered from an addiction-related to this concept.
“I didn’t want any element of sexualization,” she said. “I had come out of something in my own life — dealing with porn addiction, sex addiction. … I’m being very, very candid with you because I’m not the only one. But I knew I wanted all of that very much gone.”
Despite her reservations, the complete story of Billie Holiday couldn’t be told without embracing her sexual nature/life. Day now understands that doing this helped show Holiday as a complete person and not just an object of entertainment.
“I feel now, after playing Billie, that I’m honoring her and the strength that is femininity,” she continued. “I’m definitely in a healthier place to enjoy that because I’m outside of the addiction if you will. So, yeah, it’s been really fun, because it’s been very new for me.”
She went on to say that learning more about Holiday helped her view herself in a more positive light, explaining that it opened her to “valuing myself in a way that I hadn’t fully before.”
