Viola Davis received critical acclaim for her role as a 1960s Mississippi maid in 2011’s The Help, but the film also received quite a bit of flak for its portrayal of black female domestics. While she defended her role in the blockbuster, she feels differently about portraying a black maid in a movie set in the present day.
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She explained to the Hollywood Reporter that she’s glad Amma, whom she plays in the upcoming Beautiful Creatures, is a librarian and not a maid, which is the character’s occupation in the book the movie is based on. “This is a total reimagining of the character, and I like it,” she said. “I’m going to be confident and bold and say I like it because … this is 2013, and I think that when black people are woven into the lives of characters in 2013, then I think they play other roles than maids.”
Read more at the Hollywood Reporter.
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Lauren is a former Deputy Editor of The Root.
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