Oscar-winner Viola Davis being told she’s not ‘classically’ beautiful is exactly why representation matters

Oscar-winner Viola Davis being told she’s not ‘classically’ beautiful is exactly why representation matters

Metro.co.uk - Entertainment·2022-05-03 00:01

Viola Davis is one of the most vulnerable actresses in Hollywood (Picture: Getty Images)

One of my favourite on-screen performances from Viola Davis took place in a scene in How To Get Away With Murder. 

The very confronting moment occurs in an early episode of the hit ABC series, created by TV powerhouse Shonda Rhimes, and sees Annalise Keating (Davis) in the privacy of her bedroom, stripping back all the hair, all the make-up, and just… being. 

As she peeled off the lashes one by one and smudged the foundation, it felt like a very real moment happening for Viola as much as Annalise. 

It’s stuck in my head ever since because, not only was I watching the rarity of a Black woman starring as the lead in an award-winning primetime television show – Viola would go on to win an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series that year – but I was watching her removing all the things that made her palatable within society’s idea of the standard of beauty. 

I’m sure a huge part of the relief Annalise felt in that scene was more of Viola’s than the character herself. 

This is something I believe even more now in light of Viola’s recent comments about beauty.

In her new memoir Finding Me, Viola opens up about the pressures she has faced her entire life to look a certain way, after being labelled ‘ugly’ in her childhood and attempts to mould her – and others – into ‘perfect white actors’ at performing arts school Juilliard. 

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