Women In Motion Talk: Viola Davis
Actor Viola Davis was honored with the Women in Motion Award, which honors iconic and inspirational figures from cinema. After the ceremony, hosted by the company Kering, Viola met with Variety’s Elizabeth Wagmeister to have an interview with the press. Kering, a French-based luxury goods corporation, has been throwing its Women In Motion dinner at the Cannes Film Festival since 2015. The program aims to shine a light on women’s contributions to the art of motion pictures. The program sponsors talks with female filmmakers, producers, and actors during the festival, hosted, in partnership, with Variety.
“Whenever you have an existential crisis, I always say ‘It is time to press a reset button’…That’s what I did. I went back to the beginning with my book of Viola as a little girl.”
Elizabeth begins the interview by asking what Viola’s writing process was when composing her latest memoir. Viola stated that the process was cathartic because she began writing her memoir during the pandemic. It was a time when Viola was having an existential crisis of meaning. The events that struck her the hardest were the Black Lives Matter movement, the LGBTQ+ community becoming more vocal in maintaining equal rights, and the contentious presidential election in the United States. Viola claimed that she began to look at her neighbors differently because of these moments. She reiterates that the feeling is neither positive nor negative, only becoming more woke.
“It made me a fighter and a survivor. Despite the trauma in my past and my childhood, despite the fact that at the end of the day, I grew up in a predominately white community…I didn’t feel adored, I didn’t feel pretty. But, despite all of those feelings, I still kept moving.”
Referencing Viola’s mentioning of her past, Elizabeth then asks Viola how her upbringing affected the woman Viola is today. Viola sees herself as a fighter and survivor of trauma. Despite feeling seen as lesser in a white community as a child, Viola never let it weigh her down and kept moving forward in her ambitions. She then quotes Anne Lamott, saying “all courage is fear said with prayers.” Viola understands that she has fear, anxiety, and self-doubt in her life, but those feelings don’t stop her progress. She believes that ambition and moving forward are not the absence of fear. Neither does she think a good life lacks failure and trauma. For Viola, pain and fear are part of life’s journey, and overcoming those struggles gives life worth.
You hit the bottom, you get the heartbreak, and then you have a choice to just sort of wallow in it and stay there, or it gives you the clarity of what life is really about.”
When asked about where her confidence comes from, Viola flatly states that she doesn’t know. She has had confidence all her life. Viola believes that when experiencing heartbreak frequently in life, that person is able to appreciate life. Appreciating the things people take for granted is a core concept Viola follows. Following Viola’s mention of heartbreak, Elizabeth asks if there is an experience in Viola’s mind that sticks out as her being able to find the positive in such a situation. Rather than stating a moment in time, Viola explains that seing the positive of such occurrences takes time. She reasons that your work and family are the most important things in your life. It’s only painful when people reject those legacies. Viola then briefly discusses how rejections due to her appearance frustrate her the most since it’s based on race. She believes that someone with the same features as her would receive a different treatment if said person had a lighter shade of skin. Overall, the topic of racial differences angers Viola the most.
Continuing her discussion on her roles, Viola begins to speak about when she received an Oscar for her role in The Help. At the time, Viola wondered where to go from there because even after receiving the award, she kept receiving the same type of roles. Those roles are, in her words, “a dark-skinned, black woman who isn’t a model.” Despite the anger she felt, she reasoned that the key to reconciling her heated feelings was to find roles on her own. That moment was when she realized that there is value in anger because healthy, justified anger sparks a movement. That single burst of emotion represents a moment of change.
“In terms of storytelling that’s expansive, that is, as expansive as one’s imagination…that’s not happening yet.”
Elizabeth moves to inquire about the works produced at Viola's production company JuVee Productions. She asks Viola if she sees change and progress because of her work. To this, Viola states that she hopes that is happening. She claimed that to this day, she has not seen another dark-skinned Black woman become a lead role after her time on How to Get Away with Murder. However, Viola does admit that there seems to be more quantity for such an instance to occur due to the hundreds of shows available on streaming services. Despite this increased availability, Viola still believes that producers will have difficulty getting their stories out because viewers and people of the entertainment industry cannot reconcile the “Blackness” with spiritual awakening and sexuality.
Another hindrance for the increased space is, according to Viola, racial microaggressions. Early in her career, such instances occurred frequently, and she still sees them today. To provide an example, Viola recounts a time when she was about age thirty. For some reason, a director she had known for over ten years called her Louise suddenly. Her confusion becomes indignation when she finds out that Louise is the name of the director’s Black maid who he confused for Viola. Viola feels that people of color are limited in material and resources for acting due to the attitudes behind these racial microaggressions. Despite this, Viola always tells young Black women that they have worth, even when they screw up. She believes that being seen and valued is the “birthplace of
“When you step into a role, you want to humanize them. And human beings aren’t just all one thing. They’re not all angry; there’s softness.”
The interview soon reached the point where questions were taken from the audience. The first audience question regarded Viola’s acting. The viewer wanted to know if Viola made a conscious decision to switch the narrative from an “angry Black woman” to a strong, independent Black woman. Viola reasons that it wasn’t a conscious decision so much as unconscious thought actors have while playing roles. Actors want depth to their characters, and as such, Viola wanted vulnerability alongside anger. She wished for viewers to see the character’s sexuality, not sexiness. Viola believes this is the more natural approach. She blames social media for bogarting the definition of what it means to be an actor. Viola reveals that actors are at the mercy of their perceived roles; action stars only do action films; comedians only do comedies.
“I just want people to feel less alone.”
The second audience question asks Viola how she wishes to be remembered. Viola states that she only wants people to feel less alone in life. She then begins talking about mental health and how the issues surrounding it have been exposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Viola shares how she can relate with those who feel alone and isolated, that it’s hard to connect with yourself, let alone other people. She wishes to show people that there’s nothing wrong with mistakes or thoughts of failure. They are proof that a person is alive. Viola feels touched whenever she reads testimonies about individuals who claimed to have been moved by her work.
The last question is from social media, and it asks Viola what advice she would give to little girls who are watching her. Viola references back to her discussion about feeling worth in yourself. She believes that someone doesn’t have to do anything to become worthy. Viola advises all who are watching not to let the world label you; never forget the child in you who once had unending dreams. Be overly confident and remember that it’s okay to disappoint others, but don’t disappoint yourself.