The Woman King: Viola Davis Says Film Will Move The Conversation Forward About Colorism In Hollywood
Viola Davis stars in her latest film The Woman King directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and the award-winning actress believes that the movie will help apply pressure to the conversation about colorism in Hollywood.
The Woman King features a cast dark skin Black women with actresses like Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch and Shelia Atim at the forefront. Davis plays Nanisca, a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies in an effort to protect the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries.
In a conversation with BET.com, Davis thinks that the action film which peels back the layers of power, resilience, womanhood and more, will further address the issue of colorism on screen.
“There is something about being seen that has transformative powers and there's something about being seen and defined in a way that is empowering, that is human, that is vulnerable,” the Oscar winning actress explains. That gives us strength to be able to not wait to be seen and I feel like colorism is the last sort of vestiges of racism that is never discussed.”
Adding, “From the moment we come out of our mother's wombs and your dark skin, the language, the behavior, and the mindset that is out there, just within culture itself, is everything that is about erasure. What these women refuse to be, they refuse to not matter. Everybody wants to matter in this and the fact that you could sit in a movie and for two hours and six minutes all you see is this right here. You cannot tell me that this is not going to be a moment!”
The Woman King premieres nationwide in theaters on Sept. 16!
Watch the trailer below:
