Without question, Viola Davis is one of the best actresses in the world. Through her career, she has compiled a laundry list of awards and nominations, including winning an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and an Emmy. But other than her acting talent, Davis is also known as someone who speaks her mind, even when the opinion might be unpopular. And that’s exactly what she does in a new interview where she claims that there’s a role she regrets taking, and it actually earned her an Oscar nomination.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Davis is asked a variety of questions from fans. While most are just your run of the mill fan questions, one inquiry took a turn that was unexpected. A fan asked Davis if there were any roles she regretted turning down. But Davis’ answer took things in a very different direction.
“I have passed on a lot of roles. There have been one or two that I regretted for maybe a minute, and then I let it go,” Davis said.
And instead of listing those roles, the actress decided to turn the question on its head, saying, “Almost a better question is, have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and ‘The Help‘ is on that list. But not in terms of the experience and the people involved because they were all great. The friendships that I formed are ones that I’m going to have for the rest of my life. I had a great experience with these other actresses, who are extraordinary human beings. And I could not ask for a better collaborator than Tate Taylor.”
“The Help?” Really? Davis’ role in the 2011 critically-acclaimed film earned the actress one of her multiple Oscar noms. So why does Davis regret starring in the film?
She explains:
“I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie.”
It’s an interesting thought, no doubt. Looking back at “The Help,” it doesn’t really give the women in those roles the fully fleshed out characterizations that might happen if the film was made today. But it’s still interesting that of all the roles, Davis has accepted, this is the one that she goes out of her way to tell the world she regrets.
We could have sworn she would say “Beautiful Creatures.”
