Before earning the starring role of Nanisca in the 2022 film The Woman King or the complex figure Annalise Keating from the television series How to Get Away with Murder, Viola Davis took on the minor role of a nurse in the 1996 film The Substance of Fire.
That was her debut on the big screen, and perhaps hardly anyone noticed. Today though, Viola Davis is an acclaimed actress, well known among television viewers and moviegoers.
You’re listening to Remarkable Receptions—a podcast about popular and critical responses to African American novels and more.
Viola Davis’s ascent from an unnamed nurse to a powerful woman warrior was not swift. Before she could portray the ruthless Amanda Waller in The Suicide Squad, or the influential blues singer in the 2020 film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, she had to play an unnamed social worker in the 2000 film Traffic and the supportive stereotypical keepin’ it real Black best friend to Cortney Cox’s character in the 2001 The Shrink Is In.
Davis's early career is an example of how Hollywood has a history of casting Black actors as sideline or supporting characters, roles that help the main, typically White characters progress. Her career trajectory highlights widening possibilities for opportunities for Black women characters and diversity in film in general. Yet, there is room for more.
Even with the status and recognition that comes with being Viola Davis today, she notes that she still has to push and fight for the depiction of Black women characters who are more than just best friends or struggling mothers. This fight becomes even harder when pitching for the casting of darker skin Black women, and women over the age of forty. Hollywood actresses of Davis’s caliber still struggle against barriers associated with racism, colorism, and ageism.
Viola Davis's careful consideration of the characters she portrays now is a culmination of multiple factors. Of course, her undeniable talent has aided in her ability to be selective when choosing roles. Equally she has benefitted from television producers and casting directors taking a chance and deciding to invest in an actress who has not fit the historical mold.
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This episode was written by Nicole Dixon. The episode was edited by Elizabeth Cali and Howard Rambsy.
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This podcast, Remarkable Receptions, is part of the Black Literature Network, a joint project from African American literary studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the History of Black Writing at the University of Kansas. The project was made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation. For more information, visit blacklitnetwork.org.