*Viola Davis transformed television with her bold portrayal of Annalise Keating in “How to Get Away with Murder,” a role she says “put me on the map.”
Speaking to PEOPLE on August 16 at The Television Academy Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, the 60-year-old Oscar winner revealed how she shaped the character to defy expectations.
“I did not follow the sort of script of what you’re supposed to do being a leading lady on television,” she said.
“I took my wig off. I took my makeup off. I stayed the size I am. I stayed as Black as I could be. And my age… Everything about me was unapologetic,” Davis added.
Her choices paid off. “Sometimes you make choices in life — it doesn’t always land. But this landed,” Davis continued.
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In 2015, she became the first Black woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the ABC thriller, which ran from 2014 to 2020. During her acceptance speech, she highlighted systemic barriers, stating, “The only thing that separates women of color from everyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”
Davis has long addressed the scarcity of meaningful roles for older Black women in entertainment.
“When it comes to Black women who are over 50, then that is when [the lack of interesting roles] is problematic,” she told PEOPLE at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, describing it as a “vast desert.” Yet, she remains hopeful, pointing to trailblazers like Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Marsai Martin.
“Women are no longer begging for a seat at the table. They’re creating their own,” she said, celebrating those who are “empowering themselves by understanding that they’re the change that they want to see.”
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