Her acclaimed performance as Billie Holiday earned her a Golden Globe win and made her an Oscar nominee, but behind the scenes, Andra Day was dealing with a bevy of issues related to her character. The actress revealed that she shed 40 pounds to portray the Jazz icon who gained fame during the 1930s until her controversial death in 1959 from alcohol and drug-related complications.
Day is sitting pretty as InStyle‘s latest cover star and discussed The United States vs. Billie Holiday, mentioning that she wanted to make sure that her portrayal of the singer wasn’t seeped in hypersexualization or sensual overtones because of what she’s overcome in her personal life.
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Holiday entered a Jazz scene that was male-dominated, but Day wanted to make sure Holiday’s talents and struggles with addiction were highlighted, not her sexuality. “I didn’t want any element of sexualization. I had come out of something in my own life — dealing with porn addiction, sex addiction,” said the actress. “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.”
“I feel now, after playing Billie, that I’m honoring her, and the strength that is femininity,” she added. “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.” Check out a few images from Andra Day’s InStyle feature below.
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