Viola Davis Says Julliard Tried to Shape Her Into a ‘Perfect White Actress'

Here is an excerpt from the podcast.

Poor Viola.

She uses the words I, I'm, me, myself 12 times in those 3 paragraphs.

It's all about HER, HER, HER!

I get itchy just looking at her hair.

Those earrings could get her caught on something.

Then give back the degree. 🙄

It's never enough.

Viola - just a tip: shut the fuck up, nobody cares except you.

Gawd this interbiew made me hate Viola Davis more than I did!

Simply ATTENDING Juilliard is about THE WHITEST MOTHER FUCKING THING anyone on earth could do!

Does Viola dismiss Shakespeare as forcing her to be a white actress? Does Viola Davis think black acting students are incapable of refined language in plays? What plays written in English (Viola's first and likely only language) does she yearn to be a black actress in? I guess Juilliard was a four-year micro-aggression against her? Apparently her real victimization was receiving an expensive, ultra-elite arts education seemingly against her will, only to be cast in prestige projects and make 5 million bucks a year on a crappy network tv show. Why she's practically a modern day share cropper!

Suzan-Lori Parks had her start and early support at Mount Holyoke (under the radar HCBU?) and has had multiple plays on Broadway, but she's never come close to writing a role for Viola Davis. Maybe it was all her white actress training?

Who taught her that snot drip thing she does?

There is nothing wrong with what she is saying here, and fuck any BLATANT racist who either takes exception to these statements or tries to paint them as extreme. She is saying very reasonable things.

It sounds like she's been racially microaggressed! Were her teachers aware they were rooted in privilege??

I’m actually torn by her comments because I understand diversity and exposing people to black and other storytelling.

But non black people can’t play black roles. Anyone can play Lady Macbeth. A lot of white roles are open to everyone so when she says she was made to be the perfect white actress, I don’t understand it.

As an actress, she has one style, even as a producer and picking roles and scripts. She’s done all sorts of characters in the last 10 years and they’re all Viola Davis being Viola Davis.

I heard that the only person in NYC that Marian Seldes never kissed while saying "Bless you!" was Viola Davis.

When pressed for an explanation, Miss Seldes replied "Ain't nobody got time for that".

If she finds the whole “being a Black actress” thing so torturous maybe she could either rest on her laurels, retire (amid much fanfare, obvs) and live a quiet life on her investments, or, failing that, find another fucking job.

I’m sure that the 99% of Black actresses scratching for good roles will sympathize with her dreadful plight.

Did you know that the only person to win a SAG award twice and then lose the Oscar is Viola?

How do I put that on Wikipedia. Mamie? Marty? How does the Wikipedia work?

R11 Quincy Jones was a classically trained musician. He had a Eurocentric based education of music and is one of the most innovative pioneering black producers of all time who contributed so much to black music and black culture.

Cause he went where the black culture was. Viola has always gone for white films and TV and recently tried to make black cinema to white markets.

Viola Davis chose white systems as her path to success. She built her career in prestige white-centered narratives. She rarely worked with Black directors in the first two decades of her career, even when Black cinema was thriving in the indie or urban space (like John Singleton, the Hughes Brothers, Gina Prince-Bythewood in her early days).

Her tone and messaging is aimed at gaining respect within white institutions - her focus on Emmys, Oscars, Juilliard, and legacy status in white mainstream media.

She did not participate in Black cinema movements that were bubbling in the 90s/early 2000s, like the rise of urban dramas or even early Tyler Perry.

Viola Davis made a deliberate choice to aspire toward white-centric prestige cinema instead of aligning herself with Black cinema traditions earlier in her career.

She could have had a real career 30-40 years ago but was above black cinema.

That’s the truth.

Viola Davis: when oppressed turns into permapressed.

Shut up Viola Davis!

If she was such a victim of Julliard then why didn't she drop out and go to Spelman? It's an Ivy League college and I'm sure they have acting classes there.

Julliard failed!

Deadline- Viola Davis seeks to revive Chit'lin Circuit to prevent black actresses from being forced to attend Juilliard and be shaped into "Perfect White Actresses".

Ms. Davis declared from her home in Hollywood that her upcoming one-woman stage bio of LaWanda Page will be the first fundraiser for her new endeavor.

[quote]She uses the words I, I'm, me, myself 12 times in those 3 paragraphs. It's all about HER, HER, HER!

She was doing an interview about her acting career and being Black in the industry. Of course it's going to be mostly about herself--the questions are worded that way.

It's all just non-stop grievances and microaggressions at this point. No wonder Patti's fed up, we all are.

I’m sure Juilliard trained her to be an actress. I doubt they trained her to be a white actress and that perception is all in her head. Like the agents and producers that told her she is the black Meryl Streep, this never happened.

Misogynoir!!!

Barely earned EGOT, multimillionaire and all she does is complain about her hardships. A disgusting human being.

Viola is the most racist bitch in Hollywood.

There’s nothing more awkward and hilarious than watching Viola attempt to be a glamorous, sexy woman.

She always looks like she’d be happier in her bathrobe in a La-Z-Boy smoking a pack of Benson & Hedges and watching her stories.

Poor, Viola.

It’s always some Woe Is Me story with her.

So she complains that a premier acting school taught her “white acting”? Then go to a ghetto school instead.

Viola has compared herself to Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Sigourney Weaver based on they have the same background.

But something tells me a B movie sci-fi horror movie with a first time director in the 1970s and getting naked and playing a porn star would have been beneath her.

And Meryl Streep’s range isn’t just built in skill but saying yes to weird, wild, and unexpected material. She’s played villains, bad mothers, and unstable women.

Viola is right to say she hasn’t had the same opportunities but she also hasn’t pursued or embraced the same kind of risky, out-of-the-box roles that made those other actresses iconic.

If Viola’s critique is, “The industry never gave me range,” then once she gained power—we should’ve seen her break that mold. But she didn’t.

Even now she has the power of choosing roles, she still plays the same characters. Ma Rainey, Woman King, G20 - all about being the moral center and in control and burdened with responsibility and pain.

So it raises the fair question: Is the lack of range still about the system or about Viola’s own taste, comfort zone, and brand?

Could she have played Cleopatra? She was meant to be Black African?

Nope.

While some scholars suggest a possible one-quarter Egyptian heritage, the prevailing view is that Cleopatra was primarily of Greek ancestry.

And she was meant to be beautiful.

She always seems a bit dykey to me. Is her marriage lavender?

This is why blacks never advance. Constantly complaining that education is “white” and they won’t do “white work”. Fuck off.

In that diatribe where she mentions Sigourney, Meryl, and Julianne Moore she says they all came out of the big three drama schools (Julliard, NYU and Yale graduate schools.)

That's not even true Julianne Moore just has a BFA from Boston University. She started out in soap operas. Viola has a much more esteemed education background than Julianne.

And is Sigourney really still A-list? She doesn't seem to work much.

And only her mother called her the black Meryl Streep.

R35 Black people advance I don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re not at the bottom of education levels in the US by race. And West Virginia is the least educated state in the country and it’s mostly white.

I can't really see viola as Blanche dubois.

I think she’s a fabulous actress, but the reductionist identity politics are exhausting.

that straight bob does her no favors.

If only Alfre Woodard had a third of the chances VD has had...

There are some great black playwrights, and I can well believe that their works were never staged at Juilliard. August Wilson, Langston Hughes, Lorraine Newberry, Adrienne Kennedy, Leslie Lee, Ntozake Shange, Samm-Art Williams.

Alfre Woodard and Regina Taylor are both in the league of Viola Davis in my opinion. All very fine actresses.

[quote]It's all just non-stop grievances and microaggressions at this point. No wonder Patti's fed up, we all are.

It's called black fatigue and it's real.

She sounds racist. Are you allowed to say that about a black actress?

r43 As is white fatigue, seen in November. Entirely your choice if you want even more of that going forward. And the numbers are not on your side, that's all I'm gonna say.

"I can do the best I can with Tennessee Williams, but he writes for fragile, white women," she added. "Beautiful work, but it's not me.""

So many DLers in the thread above attacking her actually agree with her on this. Those DLers are the ones ranting and raving at Audra in GYPSY.

Why are the most privileged people always the ones who are most miserable and/or complaining about their hardships?

[quote]Why are the most privileged people always the ones who are most miserable and/or complaining about their hardships?

Because in her mind she’s not privileged. She doesn’t believe a black person can be privileged. Everything to her is endless racial grievances and perpetual victimhood.

R48: Same thing with Michelle Obama. How much longer can perpetual victimhood be a currency? Tell me this will just be a 2020s thing.

Spelman is not Ivy League

She’s a racist pos.

And sometimes Viola was cinnamon…..

Insufferable. She’d be nowhere without her Julliard training

This is why Trump won a second term.

25 years ago I saw a magnificent all-Black "Streetcar" in Denver. That Blanche didn't have any qualms about accepting a "perfect white actress" role, presumably.

Despite having a career that 99 percent of white actresses and actors would sell their first born to claim - an Oscar (category fraud), Emmy, Tony, Grammy (for narrating her own audiobook; how narcissistic and embarrassing), a hit TV show, acclaimed films, millions of dollars, an education at one of the most prestigious performing arts institutions on earth, and top roles even though she’s an old, ugly bat - Vile-ola can only bitch about what she didn’t have, doesn’t have and potentially won’t have.

Has she ever made a single statement expressing one iota of gratitude for an amazing career beyond most performer’s dreams? Never. She is the fucking most ungrateful bitch. Never a thank you. Always “Where are my awards? You’re racist if I don’t get more of those.”

But it really isn’t about race. It’s what’s in the mirror.

She desperately wants to be a glamorous, gorgeous sexpot and that just isn’t happening. If Vile-ola looked like Angela Bassett, about 75 percent of her complaints would disappear.

And if it wasn’t for race, her bullshit would not be tolerated.

If Michelle Pfeiffer, who has no awards, made one awards-related complaint similar to Vile-ola’s, she’d be castigated as a privileged white woman. The hypocrisy is stunning.

Alas, we’re stuck with Vile-ola’s ugly mug, endless grievances and baseless claims of discrimination for the foreseeable future.

A detestable cunt.

[quote]She desperately wants to be a glamorous, gorgeous sexpot and that just isn’t happening.

So she wants to be Sharon Stone or Jennifer Lopez. I can guarantee both of those women would rather have Viola’s career and awards.

Why hasn't Oprah hired her for her biopic? They are like sisters.

[quote]So she wants to be Sharon Stone or Jennifer Lopez. I can guarantee both of those women would rather have Viola’s career and awards.

I highly doubt that.

I honestly believe this. Drama schools are focused around training white actors to play their parts. They haven’t a clue how to train black actors

^ Oh, so helpless. Funny how Asian and Hispanic actors don't care about that shit.

I always assumed going to Juilliard was a choice.

Poor Viola.

The work was so beautiful and meaningful, but that ain't ME.

I stopped watching Joy Reid because I was sick of hearing stuff like this.

As stated above, Tyler Perry would love to hire her, but that’s beneath her. She won her Oscar for an August Wilson project.

This needless bitching becomes divisive. It’s not 2018 anymore.

She's probably right. Keep in mind, she attended Julliard from 1989-1993. Times were certainly different back then.

[quote] why didn't she drop out and go to Spelman? It's an Ivy League college

Spelman is not an Ivy League college.

All the Ivy League colleges/universities are in New England, NYC, or NJ. They are: Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, Brown, Yale, Columbia, Penn, and Princeton.

It’s never enough. American black people will never not be self proclaimed victims regardless of what successes they have, regardless of wealth, specialized assistance programs to help, accolades, fame, adoration that transcends race, the high offices of politics or corporate leadership they achieve, the advances they make and contribute to the world…..they will never, ever admit to their own equality and success, unless they want to brag about it.

They’ve pre-programmed themselves to be victims regardless of it all. To black Americans, there will never be anything they didn’t invent, start, create or build that wasn’t taken away from them, no matter what fact or history proves otherwise. To American black people, famous people from antiquity were never any other race but African; white people just scammed you into believing Cleopatra or Jesus Christ didn’t have black skin. The organized conspiracy against them is never ending. And Caucasian people will always be evil, racist cultural appropriators who lurk around every corner to attack or marginalize them.

And ironically, it’s only becoming worse. The younger generation of American black people have been brainwashed into believing they created everything, from Opera to country music, to space technology to the founding of the United States. They did it all, they built it all, they all suffered from it, and they are all still suffering from it, and none of them have ever received credit for it. There will never be any fix, or correction, acknowledgement, award or reparation that will satisfy or make it better. - this is the prevalent belief of black America.

Too funny that somebody thought Spelman was Ivy League! JFC

[quote]Viola Davis Says Julliard

Oh, dear.

J-U-I-L-L-I-A-R-D

In a press release, Juilliard said: "Over those long four years Viola Davis took her place amongst our most unforgettable performers and as a working actress, continues to be."

In a press release, Spelman College said: "Bitch shoulda come and done her actin' shit here. We woulda treated her right, but she a bougie bitch and gone to Juilliard instead. We see yo' ass, Viola!"

She has a point. If part of the reason you invest in formal training at a prestigious institution like Juilliard is to set yourself up as a professional working actor, what good does it do a Black student to only be versed in white roles when those aren't the ones they are likely to be cast in? Granted, race-blind casting is normalized now but back then it wasn't (Shakespeare being primary exception). Yeah, mastering Blanche DuBois or Martha will help expand your emotional range and that is necessary training but not the most practical use of your time and money.

r72, drama school is not "the most practical use of your time and money" for most people.

Many successful actors never went to college.

I just can't get past the snot thing. It's too distracting.

What are you, r75? RACIST?

Regarding her complaint that she could not bring me to the role she was cast in, someone should remind her that acting isn't just about playing yourself. You're supposed to have the imagination to be someone else, no matter the skin.

I can say that Ive never seen one thing shes in and now I dont want to . I never heard of her until a few years ago.

I think the classics went over her head.

R60 - what about gay actors? Are they training them to play straight parts? And is that offensive to a gay actor?

How would the acting training be different for a black actor than a white actor?

Thousands of actors are rejected by Juilliard and are crushed to not have that experience.

Was there ANY positive professional experience in her life?

It's not just about her being black and talking about it nonstop, it's that normal people are tired of seeing rich, successful people complain. Normal and poor people don't want to hear rich people complain. And no, it's not inspirational - it's just complaining.

White actors have had their share of bad experiences - the acting world SUCKS - it's competitive, unforgiving, capricious. Shut up.

Always the victim.

R72 It’s about learning how to act; not memorizing specific roles. Plus, the cachet of that institution alone is beyond valuable.

I can’t imagine being as successful as Viola and continually being aggrieved by what I don’t have instead of feeling grateful for my amazing success.

She’s despicable.

You’re not a veteran, bitch!

[quote] getting naked and playing a porn star would have been beneath her.

And an assault to our eyes.

Since she is a fierce black actress and she has been trained as a white actress ( which seems to really bother her), one way to purge herself of the shame is to return all of the awards and salaries she achieved playing white.

Michelle Obama has the same grievance attitude. All the resources in the world at her fingertips, yet all she chooses to do with her time is complain.

Do they train black doctors differently than white ones? Do black accountants learn different techniques than white ones?

Of course not. Saying she requires special writing in roles due to her skin color is a wildly ignorant and racist statement. She should be able to play a toaster if the role requires it.

The fact that Viola wants roles specifically tailored toward her personality and her blackness is beyond disappointing and shows how limited she is as an actress.

Plus, she’s a cunt.

#violasowhite

LOL, has anyone watched this?!

[QUOTE] Terrorists take over the G20 summit with President Sutton, bringing her governing and military experience to defend her family, company, and the world.

The black population represents 14% of the United States population. Of course the majority of films and television will be told from a white perspective since that’s is the majority. I think the black culture is over represented compared to other minorities…..it’s just never enough for these perpetual victims and never will be.

We speak her name!

R89 I turned it off after 30 minutes. The plot holes were so ridiculous and you could see exactly what was going to happen before it did. The budget looked akin to an episode of “Burn Notice.”

Notice how glamorous and gorgeous Vile-ola looks in her evening gown. Men want her and white women want to be her.

But they can’t! She’s suffered enough!

I don’t know if it was her performance or the awkward lines she was given, but she is the one false note in Soderbergh’s remake of Solaris (2001). It’s a very small cast and the other actors are excellent. I’m not a Clooney fan typically but this is one of my favorite movies.

I can't even get any roles you bitch!

Don’t forget Clooney gave Viola a free honeymoon at his Lake Como estate, complete with white servants. You know she loved that.

I bet that poor staff has horror stories to share about Queen Viola.

Who says I'm not a gorgeous, glamorous sexpot? That's racist!

I love that Viola played the president in that low-rent, garbage streaming movie while the glorious Angels Bassett is playing the president in “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning,” a real, A-list movie with a real budget that plays in theaters.

You’ll never be as gorgeous or talented as Angela, Viola! Focus on your Shirley Hemphill biopic.

Viola will always be aggrieved because she did not get Meryl Streep's prestige career and Julia Roberts' box office career combined as she feels she deserved and was denied in favor of white women.

Film, TV, stage production - they are all an extremely expensive art medium. It's a business. Some great actors have had limited success because of their looks and personality.

Other mediocre actors have had great success because of their looks and personality - both men and women.

There are only so many 'presige' roles and productions being made - the majority of the medium is pure light entertainment with beautiful faces in beautiful houses with beautiful weather and beautiful cars, etc. Escapism sells and it's a formula.

The formula does not change because you want it to. There are thousands of athletes who are just out of the top performers who are outstanding athletes but get ZERO credit or acknowledgement.

Look at ANY professional sports team - there are maybe 1-2 stars who everyone knows their name, but the rest are amazing athletes as well, but never get the product endorsements or other acknowledgement.

She's at the top - stop pissing down on everyone and everything around you. She's very talented and is working - which is more than 99% of very talented actors can say.

R67 The irony in your post is off the charts. You accuse Black Americans of playing victim while clinging to the fantasy that white people invented everything. That’s especially rich coming from a country that used to lynch Italians and Greeks for being “not white enough.” Now those same groups are magically part of the club of “whites who built civilization”?

Let’s talk about Cleopatra and Jesus. Some Black Americans, not all, have looked to those figures as a way to survive in a society that’s never fully accepted them. It’s no different from how Italian immigrants clung to Christopher Columbus to gain validation in white America. The difference? Italians eventually got their “you’re one of us” pass. Black Americans, despite being here longer than most white families, are still treated like outsiders.

And here’s where your ignorance really shows. Not all Black people think this way. Most aren’t clinging to ancient history—they’ve built one of the most powerful and influential cultures in the world right here in the U.S. From music to language to fashion and social movements, Black Americans created a legacy that doesn’t need to borrow from anyone.

Reclaiming historical figures isn’t delusion. It’s a response to centuries of erasure and whitewashing. That’s not victimhood. That’s survival. That’s resilience. And the fact that you can’t tell the difference says more about you than it does about them.

Surveys have shown that white Americans now believe they are the biggest victims of racism. That delusion is exactly how we ended up with Trump.

And such a fabulous culture they built R100 . Give me a fucking break .

[quote]That’s especially rich coming from a country that used to lynch Italians and Greeks for being “not white enough.”

A subset of ignorant rednecks in the Deep South are hardly the whole country.

[quote]I honestly believe this. Drama schools are focused around training white actors to play their parts. They haven’t a clue how to train black actors

HUH???

In what possible way would the acting training and instruction be any different! Drama school trains students how to ACT, not how to be black! The Juilliard School is quite small, there aren't a lot of students in the program and certainly not enough black students to cast and produce an August Wilson play! While Viola was at Juilliard, August Wilson was one of the biggest commercial playwrights on Broadway and he never would have given them the rights to do a play of his anyway!

You sound completely insane!

A remarkably tone deaf statement in so many ways.

[quote]That’s especially rich coming from a country that used to lynch Italians and Greeks for being “not white enough.”

The COUNTRY did not lynch Italians and Greeks for being “not white enough.” What a stupid ass comment.

[quote]Let’s talk about Cleopatra and Jesus. Some Black Americans, not all, have looked to those figures as a way to survive in a society that’s never fully accepted them.

Cleopatra and Jesus were not black, dear. We know for a fact that Cleopatra was Macedonian Greek, i.e. white.

[quote]If part of the reason you invest in formal training at a prestigious institution like Juilliard is to set yourself up as a professional working actor, what good does it do a Black student to only be versed in white roles when those aren't the ones they are likely to be cast in?

Uhm, because acting is ACTING! The role doesn't define your skills, the training and process of learning how to examine a script and play a human being different from one's self does!

Oh, the irreparable HARM poor Viola's career has suffered at the lily-white hands of Juilliard! If we could find the list of Viola's fellow graduates, I can guarantee you'd see a list of actors with few awards many of whom you'd never heard of!

She looks more like Joy Reid with each passing day. And just as insufferable.

She was saying this shit two years ago.

she was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard School, of which she is critical for its crushing white-centrism, its desire to create the “perfect white actor”, “something devoid of joy but steeped in technique”. “There is no set rule to how a character should be played,” she tells me emphatically. “That was my issue with Juilliard. Whatever character I play, I’m not gonna play with the same palette as my white counterparts, because I’m different. My voice is different. Who I am is different. It was like, ‘Your voice is too deep, you’re too hard. So you have to be light, but you have to be light like a 90lb white girl, you can’t be your light.’

“I think that sometimes, everything that you are can crumble under the weight of Eurocentric and white-centric notions. There’s nowhere for someone like me to go – nowhere. I got a wide nose, big lips, dark skin – I mean, where do I go? Look at me – I might as well walk through the doors of Juilliard and walk my ass out!”

Her Michelle Obama was a master class in bad acting.

Bitch say what?

She's like Patti LuPone. Despite all her success, she's deeply bitter because she feels entitled to so much more.

At least Patti is entertaining in her cuntitude.

Do you think Viola would up for playing Ouisa in Six Degrees Of Separation? That's a nice white lady role she could get her teeth in to.

It's true. They tried to cast her in White Chicks instead of one of the Wayans Brothers.

This puts an end to my plan for a race and gender swapped The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone with Viola as Mrs Stone and Dylan Mulvaney as Pauline di Leo in her Broadway debut

Shut up, Viola.

Of course you can avail yourself of opportunities to play white characters, a fact that does not apply to white actresses for black characters.

Just shut up, you precious fool.

What's wrong with playing white characters???

I think Viola is really just trying to say "I wish my education featured some of the esteemed black playwrights". That's very fair and valid critique.

But that's not how it's coming across, and it's not racist to challenge her on her presentation of this.

Also, Blanche DuBois was supposed to be breathtakingly beautiful and mysterious. If there were an all black Streetcar, which would be really cool, I think - she'd be better as Stella.

[quote] Also, Blanche DuBois was supposed to be breathtakingly beautiful and mysterious. If there were an all black Streetcar, which would be really cool, I think - she'd be better as Stella.

At her age, she'd be lucky to play the "Flores para los muertos" woman.

R120 Have you ever seen or read the play? Seen the film versions? Blanche is a faded, phony belle. Your assessment is way off. Back to ripping Viola to shreds now.

The poor woman has suffered so terribly!

R123, I know! Didn't she claim that she ate rotten food out of a garbage bin? Did this bitch grow up in India or something?

Viola can’t do comedy can she? If you are comparing her with other black actresses, Alfre Woodard, Whoopi Goldberg, Regina King, Loretta Devine, and Octavia Spencer are far better actresses and are much more versatile.

True, Blanche Dubois is a faded Southern Belle. She was beautiful, but not anymore. She's only supposed to be around 35, which in the time the play was written was a lot older than it is now.

[quote] As is white fatigue, seen in November. Entirely your choice if you want even more of that going forward. And the numbers are not on your side, that's all I'm gonna say.

R45 " More of that going forward" It's always been there, you big dummy. November was the second time "white fatigue" revealed your rotting brains, except this time, even your purse strings and private information are being affected by Trump, the sequel. Cut off your nose to spite your face. We won't ever accuse you of being smart R45, especially with numbers. You don't want to talk about numbers . I hope you're bilingual because in about 20 years, Spanish will be required for every position, and jobs will require you to rub more than your two dying brain cells together for any advancement. Good luck, amigo

R122, yes and I've been in that play.

Blanche needs to be beautiful, but faded yes. She has to be set aside from Stella in order for Stanley to find her desirable.

Hey, Viola - ZZZZZZZZZ.

So let me get this straight...one should assume what an actress is capable of because of her race?

R128. Not faded...unless you think someone in their early 30s is faded completely. Fading is what she is.

I can understand her wishing to have more material written by black writers, but the idea that people forced HER only to do the classics is insane. As someone who studied acting for 6 years, everyone has to do that shit. Her thinking its just her and due to her race just shows you how self obsessed she is.

[quote]I think Viola is really just trying to say "I wish my education featured some of the esteemed black playwrights".

You'd be wrong, because if Viola wished to say that she would have, yet she most certainly did not say anything of the kind.

Churlish: adjective- rude in a mean-spirited and surly way.

[quote]If there were an all black Streetcar, which would be really cool, I think - she'd be better as Stella.

Nope. In the real world here on earth, the only character Viola could convincingly play is Eunice.

That seems like an awful lot of shaping

Yeah but what does she think about Julliard graduate Audra McDonald?

Jeesh - does she ever shut up? Must be something in the water at Julliard.

My advice? Be humble!

R120 there was an all black Streetcar. It was on Broadway in 2012. I didn't love it. I much preferred the all black version of Cat on a hit tin roof that had been on Broadway a few years before

She is fucking insufferable. She never stops complaining. She went to Julliard and is having a fucking hissy. God damn. Shut up already.

They should just throw her into a role in Bridgerton where she can play a white role as a black

No, r140! That's exactly what she's still bitching about!

R141 Well then throw her into a revival of Holiday Inn and she can sing Abraham

Then do still more research on African History classic literature and legendary characters and produce or star in projects built around them, Whine-ola.

[quote]Well then throw her into a revival of Holiday Inn and she can sing Abraham

Well then throw her into a revival of Showboat and she can sing Ol' Man River

Her self-centered whining is tiresome.

There are several ways Juilliard could cuntily push back-

-An award ceremony featuring three Black actors but Viola. -Offer to sponsor a Master class, but at the very last minute rescind the offer and give it to Issa Rae instead. -

Whenever I hear an extremely successful and talented artist complaining about obstacles they face achieving universal acclaim and adoration “ why can’t I be Mary, Julia, tom Spielberg” etc…. I have to wonder- why does anyone want that? Why is having universal appreciation important in a world where a good percent of the universe is made from people with terrible taste and values? You want to be the McDonalds of artists, really? Why?

Who is Mary?

Mary Louise!

Quit making excuses for the racist Viola.

She purposely uses phrasing that highlights her special kind of victimhood.

"Perfect white actress?"

Fuck you, OP. As far a black characters and playwrights not being used: BULLSHIT.

She's a liar.

[quote]I can do the best I can with Tennessee Williams, but he writes for fragile, white women," she added. "Beautiful work, but it's not me.

Oh, really?

R147, I've wondered about that too. Why would anyone wish to be a famous entertainer, when the bulk of your life is then dealing with mouth breathing worshippers trying to get closer to you.

Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry, Octavia Spencer, and other stars on how Hollywood treats Black women-FORTUNE

The constant whining has become so tedious.

Well she had the opportunity to portray the most influential black woman going (Michelle Obama) and a classy, educated, dignified woman at that. Instead, she chose to give an offensive, stereotyped performance almost bordering on minstrel show. I'd pay a good fortune to hear Michell Obama's true opinions on THAT trainwreck, BTW.

Viola has issues. Saying that she was jealous of Chadwick Boseman being treated well on set but bragging that she followed Meryl Streep into the bathroom to "smell her" and jumping for joy that she filmed a love scene with Liam Neeson because she felt "Validated" or some weird shit.

Viola like Kecia Lewis thinks she is keeping her racism hidden.

To R12, I wanted to post that "racial-microaggression" comment.

data lounge, see you can teach olde white boomers new stuff!!

[quote]Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry, Octavia Spencer, and other stars on how Hollywood treats Black women-FORTUNE The constant whining has become so tedious.

You don't think it's possible that a male dominated industry might treat women less favourably than men, and black women less favourably than white women?

“I want to make this very clear – I’m not saying that Brad or Cate shouldn’t have gotten what they got,” Henson said at the time. “They put asses in seats, so give them their money. They deserve it. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get what they’re getting. I was just asking for half a million – that’s all. That’s it. When I was doing ‘Benjamin Button,’ I wasn’t worth a million yet. My audience was still getting to know me. We thought we were asking for what was fair for me, at the time.” Tataji P. Henson on the math ain't mathin'

R157 It's show BUSINESS hon! Brad Pitt has a long record of box office hits Fuck 'em!

She thinks she's Hollywood royalty and the negative publicity she created surrounding the musical version of the Color Purple didn't help the film which fared poorly at the box office. H

She comes across as a royal pain in the ass!

Henson took issue with having to audition for the role of Shug Avery, despite being director Blitz Bazawule’s first choice for the part. “Oftentimes in the industry, you can be the director’s choice but not the studio’s, so I had to audition,” she told the New York Times. “I had to sing, dance, and they read me. I was like, ‘Ouch.’”

According to Henson, the production also lacked basic amenities, such as car or van services to transport them to set each day, a common industry practice. “I can’t drive myself to set in Atlanta. This is insurance liability, it’s dangerous.” she told the Times. “So I was like, ‘Can I get a driver or security to take me?’ I’m not asking for the moon. They’re like, ‘Well, if we do it for you, we got to do it for everybody.’ Well, do it for everybody! It’s stuff like that, stuff I shouldn’t have to fight for.’”

Letitia Wright opens up about the ‘burden’ on Black artists as she gears up to make her directorial debut

burdened by what has been 🥱🥱🥱

[Quote] To [R12], I wanted to post that "racial-microaggression" comment.

[Quote] data lounge, see you can teach olde white boomers new stuff!!

And maybe teach us to spot microaggressions as well as to see the inequity in every single situation R156

She’s addressing her fan base and they know it’s still true. It’s an adventure in mediocre white guy industry where all the true talent is in rehab at any given moment.

R163 posting from the 80s

There is a huge chasm between "working actress" and "A-List movie star"

So now she's not an actress but a black actress? Got it. I get confused about when we're supposed to see color and when we aren't.

I guess the rainbow wasn’t enuf.

Her entire identity is based on being a victim. As the kids are saying, ICK.

A lot of blatant racism in this thread. People are allowed to say what they feel they've experienced, even if from the outside it looks as though the statement is false. As a gay man, I hate hate hate it when straight people tell me about my own experience. "Gay men have never experienced job discrimination". "Gay men have never faced problems in getting housing". "Gay people have never been subject to arbitrary arrest". "Gay people have never been blocked from adopting children".

I'm white, but I had an adult student say to me, without a trace of irony, that it was completely racist for Biden to announce that he was looking for a black female for the Supreme Court. "Shouldn't they be searching for the best?" he asked, sincerely. I said, "Don't you think that it would be healthy for the Supreme Court to look a bit more like our country?" "That perhaps a black judge might have a better notion of what black people experienced with voter obstruction than a bunch of white men?" "For 250 years, no one ever considered nominating a black female for the Supreme Court. For 200 years, no female at all. For 190 years, no black man. For 230 years, no person from a Hispanic background. For 160 years, no Jew. For 185 years, no Catholic." " In all those years, were the best judges only to be found among white Protestant men"?

Yeah it's a shame R169 that all those groups you mentioned didn't get to make millions of dollars and still complain in interviews about how tough it is like we do!

Yep there are 2 things which can be true at the same time

1. Racism (and misogyny) for these women is real and in a lot of cases there are well established examples of pay inequality and a lack of roles for black women, and an expectation that films with black women won't be commercial. And there is truth in what Viola says, that the default position at drama schools was white European plays. Other black actors have said the same. Look at the reaction to Cynthia Erivo playing a green person, in a role that is literally race less.

2. Some of the language used around racism (microaggressions etc) is ridiculous and the attacks on Patti LuPone are an example of this. That woman is an equal opportunities cunt, she hates everyone but the fear of not being nasty about a black woman because that's racist is ridiculous.

[Quote] Look at the reaction to Cynthia Erivo playing a green person, in a role that is literally race less.

You got a problem with that R171

Viola Davis hasn’t had an interesting performance in years. She goes for the money over the art most of the time.

Exactly what kind of experience did she expect to get at Juilliard? Did she do any kind of research prior to attending. Was she forced to go there?

Viola's experience was probably similar to a lot of gay men of that era who were told they needed to butch up to play the classics.

[quote]Viola's experience was probably similar to a lot of gay men of that era who were told they needed to butch up to play the classics.

Yes. That's why they call it "acting".

[Quote] Viola's experience was probably similar to a lot of gay men of that era who were told they needed to butch up to play the classics.

So only gay actors should play gay characters, and only straight actors should play straight characters?

Juilliard made me into what I am today

So, Sharon Stone can play Mama in "Raison in the Sun" and no black woman would have a problem with it!!

[quote]So only gay actors should play gay characters, and only straight actors should play straight characters?

For fuck's sake no, that's not what I said or meant.

But you can imagine Sean Hayes being told he'd never play Hamlet or Stanley Kowalski in a drama school production because he was too swishy.

R180 that's what was implied whether you realize it or not. Actors are told to act a certain way so rather than have a straight actor put on 'swishy 'mannerisms which some might find offensive hire a gay actor for gay roles and by logical extension . . .

[quote] So, Sharon Stone can play Mama in "Raison in the Sun"

Sharon Stone has a talent that allows her to play everything, from Lady MacBeth to Scooby-Doo.

From her explosive performance in “Basic Instinct” that shook cinema to its core, Sharon has commanded the silver screen with a near-hypnotic force, rivaled only by her once-in-a-lifetime beauty and unrivaled sensuality.

Her Oscar-nominated performance in Martin Scorcese’s “Casino” cemented her as a cinematic legend, cementing her legacy as film’s greatest femme fatale. She has since taken moviegoers’ breath away with an intoxicating combination of thespian brilliance, seductive brilliance and the parched of a grand comedienne.

So where you need a righteous martyr, a suffering patriot or a woman of danger and intrigue, there is only one actress Hollywood turns to with excitement and passion.

That actress, that icon, is Sharon Stone

[quote]Juilliard made me into what I am today

Unemployed?

Poor Viola. She’s never recovered from using the n-word as Michelle Obama.

Poor Viola.

[quote]The younger generation of American black people have been brainwashed into believing they created everything, from Opera to country music, to space technology to the founding of the United States. They did it all, they built it all, they all suffered from it, and they are all still suffering from it, and none of them have ever received credit for it.

Please, sub-Saharan Africans were still living as prehistoric hunter-gatherers when Europeans started coming around in the 15th century.

Blacks also try to claim that they (13% of the population now, much less back then) built America, never mind the great white majority who did most everything.

The fact is, most inventors and explorers were white men, which of course is why woke progressives are trying to rewrite history.

R186 None of this is accurate. But you’re from the same group of people who believe Jesus had long blonde hair and blue eyes.

[quote]The fact is, most inventors and explorers were white men, which of course is why woke progressives are trying to rewrite history.

Whoever would do anything like rewriting history?

[quote]None of this is accurate. But you’re from the same group of people who believe Jesus had long blonde hair and blue eyes.

No. You are wrong.

What R186 wrote is the truth.

[quote]The fact is, most inventors and explorers were white men, which of course is why woke progressives are trying to rewrite history.

They can't get away with that bullshit any place outside of the USA.

Not bad for a white actress:

[quote]Viola Davis is an American actress who has a net worth of $25 million. Viola Davis began her career as a successful theater actress and eventually transitioned towards film and television. On February 5, 2023, Viola joined the "EGOT" club after winning a Grammy for the audiobook of her memoir. She had already previously won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. She won her Oscar for her role in the 2017 film "Fences." She won her Emmy in 2015 for her role in "How To Get Away With Murder." She won a Tony Award in 2001 and 2010 for roles in the plays "King Hedley II" and "Fences," respectively. Outside of acting, Viola also has a number of credits as a producer. In addition, she is an activist who is passionate about human rights issues like child hunger. She is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world, earning roughly $15 million between September 2019 and September 2020.

R186 No, he’s not correct at all. Inaccurate and ignorant.

You don’t know about Americans like Granville T. Woods or Benjamin Banneker or Lewis Latimer.

You also don’t know about the Mali Empire or Timbuktu.

Among other things I don’t care to school you on. It doesn’t matter what history says, you’ll believe whites invented the universe anyways so there’s no point in arguing with delusions.

White people didn’t invent paper, numbers, medicine, cities, writing, agriculture, or even the gods they pray to — they just wrote the textbooks.

Just a tip R192, seeing as you have taken it upon yourself to “school us” - intelligent people don’t use the non-word “anyways”.

[quote]White people didn’t invent paper, numbers, medicine, cities, writing, agriculture, or even the gods they pray to — they just wrote the textbooks.

LOL.

Whites unlocked the secrets of DNA and relativity, launched satellites, created automation, discovered electricity and nuclear energy, invented automobiles, aircraft, steam engines, gas engines, jet engines, batteries, submarines, radio, television, computers, medicine, cinema, x-rays, lasers, telephones, light bulbs, photography, and countless other technological miracles. Whites were the first to circumnavigate the planet by ship, orbit it by spacecraft, walk on the moon, probe beyond the solar system, climb the highest peaks, reach both poles, exceed the sound barrier, descend to the oceans depths...

And BTW: white men are only 8% of the world's population.

If Meryl Streep were a professional pot-stirrer, she could comment that Viola's whining is "getting really loud"!

I like her with natural hair. Her wigs always look fake.

Impressive list, r195,

Electric rice cooker The Shinkansen Tactile paving The Laptop The Walkman The Novel Blue LED lights Car Navigation System Katana Imari Porcelain Microcomputer CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray Karaoke Emoji Pokemon Jet ski

That's just Japanese men. .25% of the world's population.

My point is simply that when a particular place prioritizes education and invention and there is a political system and infrastructure to support that, an incredible list of inventions can quickly accumulate. Britain, the US, Germany, and to a lesser extent, Russia and France put these conditions into place in the second half of the 19th century into the 20th century and there was an explosion of inventiveness. That center of inventiveness shifted to Asia in the second half of the 20th century. That says little about individuals or races. Instead, it's all about where the CONDITIONS of creativity have been put into place.

Black people DID build the southeast and the south of the US. There's no doubt about that. The population of the south was 1/3rd black from the founding of the nation through the beginning of the 20th century. White people did not do the majority of manual labor in slave-holding states. With few exceptions, they did not clear the land, they did not plant the crops, they did not dig the drainage ditches, they did not pave the roads, they did not lay the railroad tracks, they did not cut the forests, they did not make the bricks, they did not lay the foundations of the houses, they did not do any of that. They also didn't cook, clean, wash clothes, feed the pigs, or slaughter the cattle. They didn't bale the cotton, organize the tobacco into sheaves, or groom the horses. They may have supplied materials, they might have had a plan and told people (slaves) what to do, but they didn't do most of the labor themselves. Washington DC was surrounded by Virginia, a slave state, so it too was built by black people. Alexander Archie, a civil engineer, designed and built many of the most iconic roads in DC. Considering the obstacles put into place for black people, having a George Washington Carver, or an Alexander Miles who invented the automatic closure for elevators is rather incredible.

Among more modern inventions by black people have been laser cataract surgery, the color PC monitor, the X-ray imaging spectrometer, the inventor of extraction and industrial synthesis of steroids, the first effective medical treatment for leprosy, the rotary blade lawnmower, the first gigaherz processor chip, first online banking website, the dry-cleaning process, refrigerated trucks for transporting food, the gas mask, central heating furnace using natural gas, and many more things. I would term these inventions AMERICAN inventions, because the conditions for creativity were in place.

I would be very surprised if you knew any of this.

How did Viola contribute to the building of America? I thought this thread was about her accusing Julliard of training her to be white.

[quote]Electric rice cooker The Shinkansen Tactile paving The Laptop The Walkman The Novel Blue LED lights Car Navigation System Katana Imari Porcelain Microcomputer CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray Karaoke Emoji Pokemon Jet ski

Good try but uh....thats not the most impressive list and few would have been possible without the invention of the harnessing of electricity, computers, the speaker, electronics, the transistor, the laser etc.

Did Viola Davis invent post its?

[quote]With few exceptions, they did not clear the land, they did not plant the crops, they did not dig the drainage ditches, they did not pave the roads, they did not lay the railroad tracks, they did not cut the forests, they did not make the bricks, they did not lay the foundations of the houses, they did not do any of that. They also didn't cook, clean, wash clothes, feed the pigs, or slaughter the cattle. They didn't bale the cotton, organize the tobacco into sheaves, or groom the horses.

In fact, they did not.

They invented, developed systems, designed, projected, held the plans.

[quote]Black people DID build the southeast and the south of the US.

Without brilliant minds, nothing would have been accomplished.

When we think of an orchestra performance we think of the composer and the conductor not the guy playing the oboe.

Laborers are interchangeable. Brilliant minds are not.

[quote]Electric rice cooker The Shinkansen Tactile paving The Laptop The Walkman The Novel Blue LED lights Car Navigation System Katana Imari Porcelain Microcomputer CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray Karaoke Emoji Pokemon Jet ski That's just Japanese men. .25% of the world's population.

Yeah. OK.

Read this list of inventions that came out of the tiny country of Italy.