Andra Day has previously revealed how she underwent drastic measures to portray jazz legend and activist Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. But she's now revealing she had some of her own demons to conquer before taking on the role. According to MadameNoire, Day told In Style Magazine that she didn't want her portrayal of Holiday to be hypersexualized because of Holiday's own experiences being objectified and disrespected in the overtly-male jazz world. Day also didn't want to portray any hypersexualization because of her own experiences with overcoming her sex and porn addiction. "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." Day said that after playing the iconic singer, she feels that she has honored her feminine strength. "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." To portray Holiday, Day has previously said that she underwent drinking and smoking, despite not being a drinker or a smoker prior, to get in Holiday's mindset. She also revealed that she lost almost 40 pounds, telling Variety, "I basically abused my body for a long time...I put my family through it; I put myself through it." "...I just asked God to give me all of the pain and trauma. I asked Him to give me her pain and give me her trauma," she continued. She also later revealed that she considered giving up acting after putting herself through so much to play the role. Day's hard work has earned her award nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and a historic Golden Globes win for her portrayal.

The United States of Billie Holiday