Viola Davis Says She Wants “The Same Filet Mignon” That White Actresses Get When It Comes To Pay

Viola Davis Says She Wants “The Same Filet Mignon” That White Actresses Get When It Comes To Pay

Viola Davis, 55, is a Black actress who has broken down barriers in the genre of acting for women of color.  She has earned an Oscar, Emmy and Tony award, and is considered one of Hollywood’s leading ladies; but, the accolades alone aren’t enough for Viola Davis.

The actress recently opened up about knowing her worth and said,

“Here’s my big thing, and people in Hollywood know this: I have great agents; I love them. I love my manager. I love my publicist. But I say this to them all the time, I say, ‘I want and I expect to get the same filet mignon that white actresses get. Cooked at the exact temperature.’”

Passionate about Black women’s equality, Viola Davis has spoken about this topic on many occasions. She continued,

“‘You cannot throw me a bone with a really nice little piece of meat still on it and expect that’s good enough for me. I love my collard greens and all of that, and I know we were given the leftovers. I know how to cook that, but I want a filet mignon.’”

The “How To Get Away With Murder” star is the only Black actress and ranks 10th at $15.5 million on Forbes’ Highest-Paid Actresses list for 2020 and admits that she knows that she isn’t like everyone else when it comes to acting.  She stated,

“It’s only until you reach a certain point, and maybe you have a certain level of expectation, that you realize you are not like everyone else. In Hollywood, actresses don’t share their salary with each other while they’re sitting around drinking a glass of wine. A huge part of that, I’ll say, is ego. Ego because you don’t want people to know that you make less than what they think you make. Another part of it is etiquette.”

You can watch Davis in her upcoming film, Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, released on Dec. 18.

Do you agree with Viola Davis on making what her white counterparts are making?  Share your opinion with us below.