Viola Davis
is charismatic and inspiring
, aware of her role in women's empowerment and social integration of the black community in Hollywood as a
Black Live Matters
activist .
Her very presence, physicality, her communicative nature make her a special woman.
56-year-old Oscar winner in 2017 (Best Supporting Actress for "Barriere" (
Fences)
alongside Denzel Washington), three other nominations, including the recent one for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", dozens of awards in a long career, including Emmy, Golden Globe and two Tony Awards, Viola Davis looks straight at the interlocutor and admits "I am a survivor, a survivor of the many no's I received as a black, but I have always fought, I always struggle. There is value in anger. There is value in a well placed" fuck ", says Viola Davis, apologizing for the word.
"Of course now I can afford it, the actors at the beginning have no choice, but this anger has always moved me."
In Cannes she receives the 2022 Women In Motion award established by the Kering Group with the festival to promote the creative contribution of women in the arts and change.
And he tells various anecdotes to explain how against Hollywood's racism, sexism and 'colorism' things have changed but not enough yet.
“We need to start encouraging storytelling of people on the periphery of the system. Streaming services have opened a door for communities long excluded from Hollywood,” she said, “but more imagination is needed for black roles.
She currently plays Michelle Obama in the television series "
The First Lady"
, "but I still don't see many dark-skinned women in major roles on TV, not even on streaming services."
One of the episodes told gives the dimension, you said, of reality.
"A director I had known for a long time once called me Louise repeatedly on set. Do you know why? It was the name of his waitress."
Speaking of roles, of the industry's limited imagination, he said: "If I'm to play a mother, my son is a gang member who died in a car shooting. But if I'm to play a woman who makes a new life, he sleeps with different men, then they won't call Viola Davis. Combining spiritual awakening and sexuality is still too much for a black woman. For this we have to really fight for different stories, "added the actress who founded a company.
JuVee,
to combat the discrimination she herself suffers despite her decades of success in Hollywood.
"She Hurts when people reject you," she said.
"When people said I wasn't nice enough for a role, it really gets on the damn nerve, breaks my heart and pisses me off. With my company I can do exactly what I want to do. That's my answer to it all. my story of waste ".