Andra Day Says She Dealt With Porn & Sex Addiction While Filming ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’

May 12, 2021 by Twila-Amoure McDaniel in Film with 0 Comments

Andra Day, Billie Holiday

Andra Day Says She Dealt With Porn & Sex Addiction While Filming ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’

Andra Day’s acting debut in ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’ was definitely a hit and well received by the film industry. Her portrayal of Billie Holiday landed her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama.

Andra Day recently shared that while she was portraying Billie Holiday, and the struggles the jazz singer faced on screen, she was dealing with her own battles off camera. During an interview with InStyle, the 36-year-old entertainer revealed that she struggled with porn and sex addictions while filming the biopic. And because of that, she wanted the film to be more about Billie Holiday’s music and less about the hyper-sexualization she dealt with during her career. She said,

“I didn’t want any element of sexualization. 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.”

Andra Day continued and said that she’s in a much better place now.

“I feel now, after playing Billie, that I’m honoring her, and the strength that is femininity. 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.”

As previously reported, Andra Day took her part as Billie Holiday very seriously and lost 40 lbs for the role. When speaking on her body transformation she shared that she liked her figure being ‘juicy.’

“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Do you feel prettier now that you’ve lost weight?’ I was like, ‘Hell, no! I liked being juicy! I was cool.’ But I do like the way [the weight loss] feels on my body, I like the way it feels on my joints. You do notice a difference. Besides, to me, there is no such thing as a classic beauty. Beauty takes on so many different forms, in different times and depending on the nation. It’s just about being confident, loving yourself, and understanding your value.”

She added that playing Billie Holiday has helped with her confidence and feeling beautiful.

“It has to do with Billie. It was almost like she said, ‘Sis, we’re going to have to close this, because I have to survive.’ She opened me up to value myself in a way that I hadn’t fully before.”