Viola Davis To Receive The ‘Women In Motion’ Award At 2022 Cannes Film Festival

Viola Davis recently did an interview with Oprah Winfrey in a Netflix special to discuss her newly released memoir “Finding Me.” In the novel, Davis speaks about her childhood in South Carolina, along with some of her experiences in the entertainment industry. While chatting with Oprah Winfrey, Davis shared how as a child her hygiene was negatively affected as a result of her poor living conditions. She recalled an incident at her school where she and her sister were called to the school office due to their “smell.” She said,

“I think that people just automatically assume you just clean yourself. Well, not if anyone doesn’t show you. A lot of times we didn’t have any soap. A lot of times we didn’t even have any clean clothes.”

Davis continued and revealed that a school teacher showed “compassion” and “empathy,” calling her to the office to give her a “bag full of the most beautiful clothes that were hand-me-downs from her daughter.”

She added,

“When you are in the face of compassion and empathy, it’s amazing how it kills shame. Because you’re seen, and you’re seen for something way more valuable than your circumstances.”

 Davis also briefly spoke about what it was like to set boundaries as a little black girl. She shared,

“You know, it’s just not that dirty old man on the street who wanted to give you a quarter, but then wanted a kiss. No one knows what boundaries are with little girls, especially back in the day. So if a guy said, ‘Give me a kiss,’ someone said, ‘Oh, give him a kiss. It’s not a big deal.’ Or someone leaves you with a male babysitter because that male babysitter is a friend of the family, and then your parents go out, and they leave you alone.”

Viola Davis is currently playing Michelle Obama in Showtime’s The First Lady. She will also star in the upcoming film The Woman King, which is slated for release this fall.

Congratulations to Viola Davis! What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

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