Viola Davis: I dont have Angelina Jolie/Reese Witherspoon power

This cover came out a few weeks ago, but I totally missed it until now. To be fair, I think most outlets missed it, which is too bad because Viola Davis is one amazing lady and I really want her to get more press. Viola is coming to television in a big way her

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This cover came out a few weeks ago, but I totally missed it until now. To be fair, I think most outlets missed it, which is too bad because Viola Davis is one amazing lady and I really want her to get more press. Viola is coming to television in a big way – her Shonda Rhimes show, How to Get Away with Murder, premieres on ABC on September 25th, a Thursday (yay). I really, really hope the show does well. So, Viola covers the September issue of More Magazine to promote the show, and as we’ve seen in previous Viola interviews, she doesn’t shy away from discussing real issues, like poverty, racism, hunger and sexism. She is awesome. Some highlights from the interview:

Her family’s move to Central Falls, Rhode Island when she was a child: The only African-American family in a white working-class factory town, the Davises took up residence in a condemned dwelling. “We lived in abject poverty,” says Davis, who had so little to eat that she wasn’t above stealing food or fishing it out of garbage cans. “It was a childhood filled with the best memories of my life and some of the worst memories. It was a town filled with great friendships that I still have to this day and people who bullied me to the point that it was damaging. But I’m not ashamed of it. I embrace it as a part of who I was. I feel like if I hide it and I fight it, I’m not releasing my blessings.”

Entering a skit contest & winning as a kid: “There was a lot of name calling and ‘N—–, n—–, n—–,’ and ‘You’re not going to win,’ so we had to be great. And here’s what motivated us: When you’re poor, it infects your mind, it infects your spirit, but we all wanted to be somebody.”

Being a black woman in Hollywood: “I don’t have Angelina Jolie/Reese Witherspoon power. I can’t walk into a room and go, ‘I want a movie where I play someone sexy, and I want to be the producer on it.’ I don’t have A-list Caucasian actress choices – that’s the bottom line.”

Working with Shonda Rhimes: “Shonda (Rhimes) changed the scope of how we see black women on TV and proved that people will actually tune in, relate to it and enjoy it. In the past, I feel like people thought we didn’t sell.”

Working with the Hunger Campaign: “I don’t care if it’s embarrassing. I’m 48. I understand the grand scheme of life and what’s really important. Me saying that I grew up without food, without electricity, without running water at times? It’s a small price to pay to help kids not go hungry.”

[From More Magazine & USA Today]

Viola is so fierce and amazing, she makes me want to cry. I love that she really talks about poverty, racism and hunger from a place of deep understanding, from a place of her personal history. She doesn’t shy away from it at all. And she’s right – she doesn’t have the choices that a Reese Witherspoon or Angelina Jolie have. It’s the same reason why we were worried (and still worry) about Lupita Nyong’o and her future in Hollywood – for many directors, writers and producers, there’s an inability to “see” women of color (specifically African-American women) in many roles.

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Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of More.

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