Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer Talk to Tavis Smiley
They kind of “go there” — this is a worthwhile, interesting conversation….for those of you interested. Viola Davis speaks quite passionately about the stigma and crippling dilemma of being a black artist who must carry the burden, I think, of both the black and white community. They pay the price, white actors don’t. Anyway, Davis says it all a lot better than I can….have a listen.
Watch Actresses Viola Davis & Octavia Spencer on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.
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I agree with everything Viola said, everything. I also know it is extremely difficult for black actors to openly discuss such topics because they don’t want to burn bridges in Hollywood. However, it is highly suspicious that Viola is gotten the courage to honestly address race in Hollywood only during Oscar season. I was going to state the obvious but I don’t want my comments to enter moderation, so I’ll just end here. Learn wise minds discern the truth.
Thanks for posting this. As a non-American I wouldn’t have known this existed otherwise.
I already loved Davis, but I think this awards season I fell in love completely. Very few actresses/actors would dare to go there and step on such thin ice, even fewer actresses are so articulate and so honest about their job. Particularly during awards season when anything you say can go either way, play in your favor or completely against you and destroy all your possibilities.
Wonderful insights from Davis. In particular when discussing the current mindset of African Americans “destroying” black actors as artists because their roles are too often watered down to non-realistic amalgams of stereotypes instead of being allowed to be truth-tellers. Home run, Viola.
Deena it’s highly suspicious that Meryl Streep ends up on Fresh Air, Sixty Minutes and Kennedy Center Honors during Oscar season too. Give me yet another in an endless stream of breaks.
Viola looked like she wanted to slap the shit out of Tavis Smiley. And had she done so, he would have deserved it. On the one hand he says he want Viola and Octavia to win, but he wants them to win for parts that he thinks are beneath them.
Viola is right, it’s not important what the women did for a living, it’s how they were written and performed that makes them compelling subjects and gives them their humanity.
Sasha
You are making absolutely no sense.
Fascinating interview. Thanks for sharing, Sasha.
Utterly brilliant. Thanks for posting.
I completely agreed with so much that was said in this interview, and found myself “siding” with different individuals. Like Octavia, I don’t care what other people think of my roles. Like Tavis, I think it’s a shame that “big Hollywood” – my term for it – doesn’t tell more varied stories. Like Viola, I think it’s the crab-in-a-bucket mentality on a far more complex level. Every once in a while we support a “Love & Basketball”, a “Waiting to Exhale”, or “love jones”, but far too often, we only want it if its a Wayans-type buffoonery, or a Tyler Perry-type righteousness. We’re coming along, but too often it slows to a crawl.
My girlfriend and I saw your recent interview with Ms. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. I was appaulded at the level of your disrespect for them and their craft. As you know, great actors make us-the audience-believe that the character they are portraying is real and convincing. Didn’t they do a marvelous job in the movie, The Help? Because you obviously believe that they are “maids.” They are to be congratulated for their tremendous acting talent. And in the future, I wish them great success in any role they choose to play.
Blessings to all real-life housekeepers, maids, cooks, and nanny’s. They, too, are footsoldiers who make it possible for the rest of us to become intellectual elites. Their stories must be told in such a way that makes them visable and respected when they walk down the street.
Herbert and Belinda
This is a very important interview. Thanks to Sasha for posting such a lightning rod.
Viola Davis either won the Oscar with this interview, or lost it. It can’t decide which.
But it’s the CONVERSATION that is the most important of all. It’s the only way we’re ever going to grow. And I understand totally why all three of them said what they said.
So, in essence, with a Black President in the White House and looking like a good shot to be re-elected, America as a whole is less racist than Hollywood or the Academy. And I think that’s true.
And also, if it was only Viola Davis nominated in Supporting, which is the category it was thought she might be placed in to start with, she would’ve simply won, and we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.
Did any of this pop up around Jennifer Hudson and “Dreamgirls”? And her win – in Supporting? No. But she SHOULD’Ve been in lead.
This isn’t the kind of conversation that gets Academy voters to vote for you – in a leading role. But maybe Viola Davis IS gonna change all that.
Jennifer Hudson`s Oscar win is one of the worst acting choices the Academy made in the last decade. Any of the other 4 should have beaten her. If she went lead, she would loose. Simple as that. And I think Jennifer looks like a really nice person, but Oscar win… not worthy.