Andra Day can currently be seen playing Aisha in the new drama Exhibiting Forgiveness, out now in theaters. A Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, activist and actress, Andra Day was initially best known for her 2016 Grammy-nominated behemoth “Rise Up,” which amassed over 1 billion streams and an RIAA triple-platinum certification. And she’s performed alongside everyone from Stevie Wonder and the Obamas to Nick Jonas and Alicia Keys. In 2021, her feature-acting debut in the Lee Daniels-directed biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday (in which she starred as Holiday) earned her a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and a nomination for Best Actress at the Oscars. She also won a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Visual Media and a BET Award for Best Actress. Her upcoming studio album, Cassandra, is a soulful and timeless body of work that captures the artist’s essence and inimitable vocals.
Three Great Things is Talkhouse’s series in which artists tell us about three things they absolutely love. To mark the October 18 release in theaters of the new drama Exhibiting Forgiveness, starring André Holland and Andra Day, the multi-talented, award-winning singer turned actress shared some of the things that give her life meaning. — N.D.
The Smells of the Beach
I grew up in San Diego, and my favorite thing to do ever was going to the beach. My father, because he was in the Navy and he came from Michigan, made it a point to make sure we saw the water all the time, so the smell of sunscreen triggers deep feelings of joy and peace for me. I also love the smell of burning wood, because it reminds me of bonfires at the beach and backyard barbecues. Any type of wood burning always immediately transports me.
We used to love going to Coronado Beach, which was voted one of the six best beaches in the world, by the way! Coronado was where we would have family bonfires and my dad would take us to pick up wood pallets at the junkyard in a junky, rusted-out van. I remember those bonfires being a really fun family time.
There was also Mission Beach, which was the party beach. The funny thing is, I would get dressed up as cute as I possibly could to go to the little carnival at Mission Beach … just to be sick all day eating funnel cake and riding the roller coaster. There were a lot of people that would go there, so I also used to try to sell my demo CDs. But nobody wanted to buy them, so I just gave them all away for free and said, “Fine, just listen to it!”
Going to the beach is one of my favorite things to do, period. When I’m there, I’ll do all the things: I’ll go swimming, I’ll sunbathe, I’ll run. I used to take my little dog Hazel there, and I loved that. I have not been to the beach in quite a long time now. Instead, I just tan in my backyard and traumatize my neighbors! I definitely am transported by the sunscreen smell, though; I slather it on and go lay out in the backyard and relax. Sometimes I go pray and meditate in the backyard too.
My Family
My family has had its issues and my parents are no longer together, but I absolutely love every member of my family. My big sister is my bestie and my mentor, and I am blessed to say that I am no more free with anyone, or in any aspect of my life, than when I’m with my family. They are one of my favorite things in the world. Everything I do is for them, because I ain’t got no kids and I ain’t got no man, so I just harass them! I love my siblings and their spouses and I’m fortunate to be close to all of them. My nieces and my nephew are basically like my kids. My brother and his wife gave birth to them, but they’re my children!
My family is super funny and I just love them. I get busy with work, and I’ve been traveling a lot, and it wasn’t until recent years that I realized I don’t see them as much as I want to, and I just didn’t like the feeling of that. But we have a family group chat, or a number of different group chats, and we get together for holidays. We’ll do one day with Mom and then another day with Dad. We figure it out. But I will say, sometimes holidays can be a little difficult, trying to arrange things and get everybody together and on the same accord. But you know, that’s OK. I still love every one of them – even if they hate each other! (Haha, I’m just kidding.)
God
I’m a very spiritual person and I’m a believer, so my relationship with God is really what dictates everything for me. I make it a point every morning to start my day with prayer, with reading scripture, with meditating on that scripture and just having gratitude. Because there’s a lot in our lives that can make us not feel grateful for all we have.
My faith is a huge part of my feeling gratitude, because it allows me to exhibit forgiveness for other people, and for myself, and just be hopeful. I think if we don’t have hope as people, then we kind of lose our life force. And I think our well of hope is always deeper than we think, even as bleak as things may seem. I don’t think I could survive without my faith. It makes me intentional about the things I do, because I always want to honor God in my actions and to do things that show God’s love. And that’s how I’ve come to know God – as love.
I gravitate toward things that are just very human. In a lot of church communities, there is this very flawed idea that you have to show up perfect, that you have to have it all together, that you can’t make mistakes, but when I read scripture, it’s full of flawed people either being hurt or hurting others. So what inspires me is to keep things very real, to keep things human and to show all of these different sides of people. Humans are a mess, and that’s OK. And I think it really helps people to see that messiness, because you don’t know what to grow from if you can’t actually see it. I want people to feel love, I want them to feel hopeful. I want to do things that, at some point in their lives, people will be able to use as a tool for healing.
