Viola Davis has been labeled as the “black Meryl Streep” but says she is not being paid like Meryl.
And she feels like things won’t change until white actresses take a stand with their black peers.
Here’s an excerpt of Viola’s interview with Net-A-Porter:
There’s also the issue of pay, “especially for actresses of color,” she says. “If Caucasian women are getting 50% of what men are getting paid, we’re not even getting a quarter of what white women are getting paid. We don’t even get the magazine covers white women get. And that is not speaking in a way that is angry,” she adds. “They deserve everything they get paid. Nicole Kidman deserves it. Reese Witherspoon deserves it. Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Frances McDormand… But guess what – I deserve it too. So does Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, Halle Berry. We’ve put the work in too.”
Does she think white actresses have a part to play in changing that? “I don’t want to tell anyone what to do,” she says, “but I think Jessica Chastain did a really boss move with Octavia Spencer [on their latest, as yet untitled project] by saying Octavia’s got to be paid the same as her. She actually upped Octavia’s quote for that movie because she took a salary cut. I think Caucasian women have to stand in solidarity with us. And they have to understand we are not in the same boat. Even a lot of female-driven events in Hollywood, like power luncheons – which I’ve been to, and are awesome by the way – there will be 3,000 women in that room and five of them are women of color. And it’s by invite! So, you’re not even inviting us.”
These white actresses don’t care.
Love Viola.
Some people can’t wrap their minds around this. They figure that Taraji is getting paid well because she stays book. Mary’s situation should have opened a lot of eyes. But some will play dumb still because then that would mean MoNique really does have a point. LOL.
I appreciate so many other black actresses speaking up. This just validates MoNique’s claim. However, this isn’t the first time someone’s spoken on this dynamic. Not only are black actresses underpaid but they have to all fight for the same roles. Smh ??♀️
This is why I side eye all these so called movements in Hollywood.
Damn. I had no idea it was this bad for black actresses. I just assumed that if you got an Oscar, you were good.
Anybody watching the Oscars? Viola looks gorgeous.
Viola seems better suited to lead an awareness campaign on this issue than anyone else. While Mo’Nique is certainly spot on about the lack of gender and racial equality in Hollywood, she has yet to show us how her Netflix deal is an example of either…particularly when such a low offer might also be related to her reputation and inability to prove she can draw large audiences on her own. I believe she deserved more than a half mill for a streaming special, but asking us to boycott NF and all of the publicity she’s garnered since then have been bad moves all the way around.
Viola needs to give it a rest. Hollywood doesn’t owe her anything. If she feels so strongly on the matter then she should contact Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels. She’s not entitled. She needs to just be quiet.