The more I'm pushed in a position of leadership and I know I have to be the mouthpiece for so many other people who can't speak for themselves, the more confidence I'm gaining.
Viola DavisRead
I have been given a lot of roles that are downtrodden, mammy-ish. A lot of lawyers or doctors who have names but absolutely no lives. You're going to get your three or four scenes; you're not going to be able to show what you can do.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the struggles of performers in roles that lack depth and humanity.
Viola Davis highlights the limitations faced by actors, especially those portraying marginalized characters or roles that are stereotypical and lacking in substance. She emphasizes how these roles do not allow for a full expression of talent, as they often reduce complex human beings to simplistic archetypes, robbing them of life and individuality.
Themes
RolesActingStereotypesIdentityPerformance
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in discussions about diversity in Hollywood during film festivals.
More from Viola Davis
All quotes →What excites me is just taking some time to breathe in life. The mundane is very exciting.
Viola DavisRead
I don't care if someone is new to acting or experienced in acting: you always learn something from them. It's just like people in life - whether they're young or middle-aged or old, you always learn something from someone.
Viola DavisRead
I don't see a lot of narratives written where a woman who looks like me gets to be beautiful and sexualized and upwardly mobile, middle-class, funny, quirky. They're very seldom written.
Viola DavisRead
And that's what people want to see when they go to the theater. I believe at the end of the day, they want to see themselves - parts of their lives they can recognize. And I feel if I can achieve that, it's pretty spectacular.
Viola DavisRead
There's no prerequisites to worthiness. You're born worthy, and I think that's a message a lot of women need to hear.
Viola DavisRead
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