Holmes' first experience with crack cocaine was when she smoked with her mother at the age of 12. She dropped out of school in the 10th grade. After leaving school, she moved to New York City to live with her boyfriend Ilya Leontyev. The two fell into heavy drug and alcohol abuse, with Holmes first trying heroin at the age of 17. She was largely homeless for the next three years.
In June 2015, it was announced that Holmes had been cast in Andrea Arnold's American Honey. She also appeared in 2307: Winters Dream, directed by Joey Curtis.
