In a new magazine interview, the 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' actress talks about her early career in the late 1990s and how Hollywood failed to 'dig deep' into her culture.
- November 12, 2022
AceShowbiz - Viola Davis' career was restricted by her skin colour in the early days. Starting out in the industry in the late 1990s, the 57-year-old actress explains that there is a "deficit" of stories about black women and often found herself playing supporting characters because Hollywood has failed to "dig deep" into her culture.
"There is a deficit of stories that women of colour are able to access in Hollywood. When I started off as an actor, the scope of what I wanted to do was infinite. It was definitely a big blow to see the limitations put on me in my career," she said.
"You're just there to give the white lead advice, to be the sage, to be the nurturer. There is a lack of really digging deep into who we are."
Meanwhile, the Academy Award-winning star received the Icon award at the Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards 2022 on Thursday, November 10 and explained that the honour has become "embedded in [her] spirit" and she will use it to help progression in showbusiness.
She told Britain's Harpers' Bazaar magazine, "When I'm at home I don't feel like an icon. I'm always looking at little Viola who wet the bed and was just trying to find a meal every day and thinking, 'OK, now I'm an icon?' I don't take the honour and run off the stage with it. It's embedded in my spirit and I use it as warrior fuel to shift the industry so that I'm not the only one anymore."
The December/January issue of Harper's Bazaar UK is on sale from 11 November. Visit www.harpersbazaar.com for more.
