Actress and singer Andra Day recently made an admission about her past struggles following her historic win at the 78th Golden Globe awards earlier this year.
During an interview for InStyle’s June cover, Day opened up about her porn and sex addiction. The 36-year-old revealed that when portraying Billie Holiday — a role for which she became the first Black actress to win a Golden Globe in the motion picture drama category since Whoopi Goldberg in 1986 — she said she did not want “any element of sexualization.”
Day claimed that Holiday, who performed in a male-dominated jazz scene, routinely dealt with objectification and hyper-sexualization — something the actress wanted to stay away from. “I had come out of something in my own life — dealing with porn addiction, sex addiction,” Day admitted. “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 once told People that her experience of portraying Holiday, who had her own bouts with drug addiction, affected her so much so that she thought she’d “retire” from acting following her first major film.
“I truly was definitely out of my depth the entire time,” the “Rise Up” songstress said at the time. “I started to smoke cigarettes. I picked up the habit and started drinking a lot of gin a lot.”
She also revealed that stepping out of the role of Holiday had been “a process” — a sentiment echoed by several stars, including LaKeith Stanfield. The “Judas and the Black Messiah” star said his role as FBI informant William O’Neal took a significant toll on his mental health. He added, “With that role, I definitely should’ve done some exercises — some meditation and some therapy — in order to prepare. And now, moving forward, I will.”
Still, Day said she learned a valuable lesson in playing the posthumous Grammy Hall of Famer, stating that her perception of beauty and sexuality was transformed. “I feel now, after playing Billie, that I’m honoring her and the strength that is femininity,” the songstress explained. “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.”
