Black Influence in Film Industry: Viola Davis

The upbringing of Viola Davis would later shape the prestigious acting

performances to create the actress’s name into a household name. Davis was born on

her grandmother’s farm on August 11, 1965 in South Carolina on a plantation (How).

The environment was described by the actress as a state of poverty and dysfunction. The education and mentorship given to Davis in her highschool years influenced her

decision in enrolling in a performing arts school specializing in theater. The first

performance was a classical Willaim Shakespeare comedy titled As You Like It in 1992.

The humor and mischievous role of Denis is not a major role, but it is an important

impression on the audience as loyal Denis is mistreated and sent out to do things by his

brother. Davis would later take part in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars in 1996, to be

casted as Vera who’s the ex-girlfriend of the main character. The main character left

Vera for another woman, but he comes back to reunite and persuade her to move to

Chicago. Vera does not turn him away completely, and slowly trusts him. The romantic

polar position of being left behind as a woman, but the hopefulness for change would be

continued to be seen in Davis’s other roles in her filmography. She received recognition,

and critical praise making that role her Broadway debut. In the same year, Davis

appears in The Substance of Fire playing as a nurse who passes the vial of blood.

Although the act seems minor, the action is an important part in the plot line.

Additionally, Davis began to be casted in television in NYPD Blue and New York

Undercover. These televisions were centered around the police, and enforcements for

society that would later be not only a reflection of Davis’s desire for all voices to be heard and treated equally, but her known roles later in life. Viola Davis held a role in the HBO military comedy film The Pentagon Wars, and a small role in Steven Soderbergh’s crime comedy film Out of Sight (1999), As mentioned for the first roles in the genres of

comedy and thriller, these small and secondary roles of being mistreated yet hopeful

gathered the attention of recognition in her rise into the actress’s continued roles

maintaining those praises and critics.

Viola Davis’s first Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a play was given in light for her starring in another August Wilson play titled King Hedley II (2001). The role received more critical attention. Davis then was casted in Lynn Nottage’s play Intimate Apparel (2004) which earned her the Drama Desk Award. A few more film debuts were another Soderbergh directed film titled Solaris (2002), and Syriana (2005), and the voice role in Ocean’s Eleven (2001). Davis’s professional relationships with the crew and performances would be continued to be memorable leading to more directors later on cast her in their other films. A few more appearances would be Kate & Leopold (2001), Antwone Fisher (2002), Traveler (2007), and recurring role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2007). In Traveler, Davis is seen to be playing the role of an agent once more. However, a new and significant point in her filmography career would be her casting in John Patrick Shanley’s film Doubt (2008). The 10-minutes of scene Davis is acting, the audience learns a lot about the sister and the son of Davis’s role of the mother. The clash of “race, class, and social mobility of black-working class Tilbury 3 families in 1964” are brought up in this film when the mother reveals her desire to keep the boy in the school despite the peer violence and unusual attention by the religious figure to the only black student (Doubt). The wish for the mobility and potential life change from this enrollment can be seen in this scene, and how important the working is not a part of their life, but the core and surviving foundation for the future of the family. The line by Sister Aloysius “What kind of mother are you?” opens up that barrier the Sister is unable to view. The momentarily change and improper relationship ending does not hold value to the struggle for a better life in general. The role by Davis led to the nominations for multiple awards such as Screen Actors Guild Award, and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Viola Davis was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on June 30, 2009, solidifying her status in the industry. The role in Doubt, and the history of the variety of roles primarily in tense moments would lead Davis to more prominent roles requiring the actress’s emotional and strong performances seen throughout her career.

The return to Broadway theater would be the pivotal point in the career for Viola

Davis. The role of Rose Maxson, a loyal wife hoping for a better and peaceful future for the tense family and cheating husband, would bring about more critical reviews. The acting led to her second Tony Award, and the second African-American woman to win this honor. In 2010, Davis began to be casted in romantic movies such as Knight and Day, Eat Pray Love, and It’s Kind of a Funny Story. The experience in romantic films would consolidate her status in diverse roles including the casting of a strong woman and mom in more significant castings such as The Help (2011). Davis acts as a housemaid and nanny for a white couple, and a mother-like figure for the children Tilbury 4 (Ebert). However, they grew up to be like their mothers leading to once more the position of a mistreated, but treats everyone with optimism seen in Doubt. Davis earns two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award nomination for her acting. Despite the overall praise, Davis decides to reword a question in a New York Times interview about a role she regrets passing up into the role of Doubt being a disappointment in its narration for the white characters and perspective of that time (Desta). The response to criticism about the racism and portrayal in the movie shows the actress’s attention to the audience, and accurate representation for her community. A few more important castings for Davis followed this casting in the 2010s. In fact, Davis was listed in 2012 on the Time’s most influential people list. She received numerous accolades, including Glamour’s Film Actress of the Year and Women in Film's Crystal Award” (Wikipedia). Victoria Davis starred as Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder (2014). The entrance of her character starts with characters rushing to their seats before she arrives. The main character is warned to sit down before she comes. When Ananalise Keating walks into the room, it is a very confident and dominating presence that’s not only from her position as a professor in the university, but her demeanor. The audience sees her repeating “It’s a simple question” in the class, and in the courtroom which shows her steady and all-aware character in the rooms. A student answers for the main character when the main character is unable to smoothly, and properly respond to the professor’s close interrogation. Davis’s dialogue to the student answering for the main character has an equal tone about the moment as a learning moment, and unravels the other student’s intentions. Additionally, the similar treatment to the other character shows Davis’s ability to maintain and adapt her character. Later in the career, Davis continues to take upon the tough demeanor role, Tilbury 5 not just star roles and the complex position of a leader treating all the same. The YouTube video of her closing argument in the courtroom in a much later episode about her potential murder in the case showcases her range of evoking emotions in the scene for a consistent dialogue, and body movement (ABC). The dramatic moment about her interactions in society, and her feelings to her behaviors for unlawful actions to win a case connects Davis’s experiences growing up from poverty to stardom, and the black community to fit in. She has been cited by New York Times her first attempts to join stardom was halted and commented by directors saying she was “too dark” and “not classically beautiful” for romantic leads (How). The reasoning to evade casting Davis is a reflection of the African American struggles in film, but society itself. The star role led to her first African-American to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Another film role was in Blackhat (2015), Lila & Eve (2015), and Suicide Squad (2016). Both movies Lila & Eve and Suicide Squad incorporates Davis as a justice serving character. In the first movie, Davis plays a grieving mother taking pills following her son’s death in which she passively seeks revenge with her co-star initiating and actively moving the plot line. The character is a passive personality once more, but it continues to dive into Davis's history of the star role. The movie is the first movie Viola Davis is the executive producer. In the former movie, Davis plays Amanda Waller who’s an agent responsible for the squad. Waller is willing to do anything to bring justice and goodness for society, and Davis brings out the determination. In another film titled Fences after the broadway play, Davis takes upon the same role of the mother and wife in 2016 with the same co-star in the play. The role earned her critical acclaim, and multiple award nominations including her third Academy Award Nominations. Viola Davis continues to dive into these critically Tilbury 6 acclaimed roles, and earns praise and criticism from society as her name turns into the household name representing the underrepresented characters of films, and emotional authenticity to the audience.

To start the period of continued worldwide success, Davis earns a star on Hollywood

Walk of Fame from co-star Merly Streep in 2017. Streep comments about Davis “carving a place for herself on Mount Rushmore of the 21st century” due to “her gifts as an artist are unassailable, undeniable, deep and rich and true” (Wikipedia). Viola Davis was the feature for a cover of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” and received the Artist of the Year Award from Harvard university. In 2018, Davis wrote the sequel to the classic children's book Corduroy and executive produced the documentary series Two-Sided, addressing police brutality. Also, Davis starred in the critically acclaimed heist thriller Widows (2018). Davis earned her second BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. In 2020, she executive produced and appeared in Giving Voice, highlighting students competing in the August Wilson monologue competition. The most acclaimed, and reviled film she starred in her career was the film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, receiving critical acclaim for her powerful performance. Davis earned her several nominations, making her the most-nominated Black actress in the history of the Academy Awards. The film sheds light on black artists and their music being stole in the 1920s, and the maintenance of authority and dignity by black musicians in a field dominated by white studios, managers, musicians, and more. Davis’s character of Ma Rainey can be easily summarized by two quotes “You better tell this man who I am,” and “All they want is my voice” in the emotional scenes of fighting to maintain power, and honest revelation to a band member why she acts so obnoxiously. In the start of the Tilbury 7 movie, the character is described as aggressive by a white police character. Her entrances are always her first, and she holds the commanding decision how the music should be done, and occurred in the studio run by the white manager. The polarization to her co-star acting in the same way without the stern final command, but the pathway for success is not there for him showing the duality of the denied liberties and desires of black Americans. Ma Rainey’s character being played by the gritty and refreshing Viola Davis in the CoCola scene continues to reflect Davis’s ability to show the empowering roles as a black woman. Lastly, she reprises her role as Amanda Waller in The Suicde Squad, and appears in the drama film The Unforgivable in 2021. Davis was able to executively produce once more the film The First Lady as Michelle Obama in 2022. However, there was mixed criticism marking this the first executive produced film to be made. Davis receives once more mixed reviews when she executively produced with her husband, and production company JuVee productions in the making of The Woman King (How). The actress, and producer points to money as one of the reasons they faced challenges (Jones). It was not the cultural representation, but the budget she was able to gather citing the concerns was the ability for a black film cast, not normally leading the box office to receive back the money and more. Davis continues to be cited in the article as seeing her role as the general as not a hero, but a woman who is a warrior as the representation shows Davi’s power to change how there is “more than the stamp” for “dark-skinned women.” The women are sexual, desirable, smart, and more expensive, the identity seen in the gaze that Davis feels she can change within the film industry. (Jones). The role of a general is a stern, desirable, not victimized, and strong leader for her tribe. Lastly, Davis appears in 2023 for the film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and revokes the antagonist chameleon in Kung Fu Panda 4. The Tilbury 8 roles Viola Davis was casted for the present career showcases the continued themes of power, emotional vulnerability, and justice within not only the legal system, but the society for other black Americans.

The acclaimed roles in movies like Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and The Woman

King, pulls from her career beginnings in the portrayal struggles and triumphs for Black women. The roles in the legal system, and leading characters over a group of characters or other characters under her command bridges those genres of drama, thriller, and historical narratives to give the audiences about the representation in contemporary cinema. The representation surrounding her strong, multifaceted roles opens up the discussions about the complexities of race and identity for black artists. The characterization of realistic truthfulness in her tones, and identity, the cultural nuances in her performances bringing up the struggles of the black-working class to better the next generation outlook, and challenge and resilience to the stereotypes continues to reflect the need for the stories to be told by other black actors. As a black writer reviewed the roles by Viola Davis, the castings were no longer the “fat, funny, sidekick. She wasn’t asexual or mummified. She was a boss; bisexual, alcoholic, preternaturally ambitious, and Black” (Williams). The empowering inspiration for future actors to tell their own story through these roles are a powerful reminder of the diversity in storytelling, and impact of the single voice in this collaborative film industry.

Works Cited

ABC. Annalise’s Powerful Closing Argument - How to Get Away with Murder, 15 May

2020, youtu.be/oYEAHjNId5Y.

Anand, Priyanka. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: A Window into the Past and the Present.”

The Epic, lhsepic.com/9230/features/ma-raineys-black-bottom-a-window-into-the-past-an d-the-present/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.

Ebert, Roger. “The Help Keep Right on Helping Movie Review (2011).” Roger Ebert, 9

Aug. 2011, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-help-2011.

Desta, Yohana. “Viola Davis Regrets Making the Help: ‘It Wasn’t the Voices of the Maids

That Were Heard.’” Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, 12 Sept. 2018, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/viola-davis-the-help-regret.

“Doubt: A Parable the Representation of Black Motherhood in Doubt.” GradeSaver,

www.gradesaver.com/doubt-a-parable/study-guide/the-representation-of-blackmotherhood-in-doubt#google_vignette.

“How Viola Davis Became One of the Greatest Actors of Her Generation.” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 31 May 2023, www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/card-story/viola-davis.

IMDb. “Viola Davis | Actress, Producer, Soundtrack.” IMDb, IMDb.com,

www.imdb.com/name/nm0205626/.

Jones, Ellen E. “Viola Davis: ‘I Was Too Big. I Was Too Black. My Voice Was Too Deep.’”

The Irish Times, The Irish Times, 12 Oct. 2022, www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/2022/10/12/viola-davis-i-was-too-big-i-was-to o-black-my-voice-was-too-deep/.

Wikipedia contributors. "Viola Davis." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The

Free Encyclopedia, 1 Oct. 2024. Web. 1 Oct. 2024. Williams, Nikesha Elise. “Viola Davis Moved Dark-Skinned Women from the Margins to the Forefront.” SheKnows, 22 Feb. 2023, www.sheknows.com/feature/viola-davis-dark-skin-black-women-representation2543998/