Andra Day Smoked, Drank, and Cursed to Become Billie Holiday

Before signing on to play Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, the musician and actress Andra Day felt all the emotions associated with imposter syndrome: she double-checked with director Lee Daniels to ensure he was absolutely sure she wanted to play the role, and eventually faced her fears by playing one of her idols. Along the way, she put her mind and body through rigorous physical and emotional training to truly become Holiday. "There was the drastic weight loss. It made me very weak on set and slowed me down in a way that helped me," Day tells Lynn Hirschberg in her Screen Tests interview. "Then I started smoking cigarettes. And I don't drink alcohol, but I drank a lot of gin and bourbon and all of that stuff. It makes me feel like her. I was desperate; I didn't want to be terrible."