Viola Davis leads the way in a different kind of battle from the one she lost to Alba Winograd this week.
Davis was the winner of last years Golden Globes for her role in The Butler, but the actor lost the same honor to Winograd in the same category. After that, Davis had to wait just five days to win her first award for her role in Hidden Figures, but it took her 24 hours to win the first award for her role in The Brave One. And now, it’s been two years since the film’s release, so she’s ready to go against an actress who took 20 years to win an award, and who was also nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for her roles in American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave.
We chatted with Davis to find out more about the journey she’s been on, and about what the future could hold for her – and for the film industry – if the Oscars truly took a step forward.
“I’m not sure about the race, but I certainly think that I can do better,” Davis tells The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s no question that, for a race like mine that has a long history of discrimination, and I think race plays a role in some of those decisions, I definitely think I can do better.” She continues, “I don’t think anyone can say that The Brave One is not in some ways a struggle.”
Davis is the fifth black woman to win a best supporting actor Oscar for a film, but the first to do it since Octavia Spencer won for 2012’s Lincoln in 2015.
The two women are in some ways polar opposites, but they have so much in common.
Davis starred opposite Winograd for more than a decade, and then worked with her on The Brave One almost as long, which is why they connect the most in her mind.
“[Winograd and I] were on the same page as far as the