The 'Rise Up' hitmaker talks about playing the late 'Strange Fruit' star in Lee Daniels' critically-acclaimed movie 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday'.
- Feb 28, 2021
AceShowbiz - Andra Day is still recovering from her turn as Billie Holiday after taking a deep dive into the jazz and blues singer's life.
A huge fan of the "Strange Fruit" icon, Day won over director Lee Daniels at her audition with passion and landed her first acting role in the process, but she admits her film debut in "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" has taken its toll on her.
"There's still a lot that I am working out in me from playing Billie," Andra explains in an interview obtained by Just Jared. "She gets in, you know what I mean? She gets ahold."
"It was a commitment. I think it's one I'm recovering from still. I'd never smoked cigarettes before. Just starting out smoking, I was practising with my acting coach... I was like, 'I want some of your American Spirits.' That first day I was drinking vodka and smoking cigarettes, and I went home and threw up, like, five times!"
And that smoking habit has stuck with the singer, who explains, "I finished the last pick-up shots last year, but what I expected to be a four, five, or six-month habit ended up turning into about a year and a half."
Day also "drank a lot of gin and bourbon" to get into the spirit of Billie, who died of complications from cirrhosis caused by alcohol abuse.
"I hadn't drank in so long, and it was never really a big part of my life, even when I did when I was younger," she adds.
