Post by BIGFANBOY on Feb 24, 2009 1:52:20 GMT -5
WITHOUT A DOUBT - The Viola Davis Interview
Review by Gary Dean Murray
The first things one notices about Viola Davis is how young, thin and pretty she is in person. The actress, Oscar nominated for her role in the movie Doubt, is very different physically from the character Mrs. Miller that she plays. This must lauded film stars Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. It is a riveting drama that takes place in a Catholic school is about Sister Aloysius (Streep), Father Flynn (Hoffman) and a young nun Sister James (Adams). The nun believes that something is amiss between the priest and a black student who is a recent transfer to the school. Viola Davis plays the young man's mother.
Viola Davis is only in the movie for a few scenes but she has left a strong impression on everyone who has experienced the film. Though new to many, she has been been in a number of films such as Disturbia, Nights In Rodanthe, Far From Heaven, Traffic, and Out of Sight.
Before the audition, Viola Davis admits that she hadn't seen the play but knew that it won the Pulitzer and the Tony. “It was enough for me to solicit myself for the role.” Every black actress came out of the woodwork to audition for this role. “Even Oprah,” she said.
Director John Patrick Shandley said of her, “I have to say that I feel she is one of the most talented actresses I've ever seen.” She did a screen test in front of the entire crew. “It was divine intervention. Terrifying and horrifying.” was how she described the process “This is going to be a great, great failure or a great success.” she thought of her performance in the role.
Then, the realization hits in. Viola Davis has to perform with Meryl Streep. “She's the 500 pound gorilla in the room. She's MERYL STREEP. She's not going to be bad,” Viola said about the much lauded actress.
Her role takes place in just two scenes, an interior shot of her talking with the Sister Aloysius, and then them walking to a bus station. According to Davis the shoot was one day for the interior and two weeks later for two days for the exterior. When Shandley saw the dailies, he decided that his direction wasn't exactly what was needed and they needed her to come back and do parts again. Said Viola with a laugh, “You want me to do the whole damn scene over again?”
She based the character on the strength of her mother who moved her family to a neighborhood much like the one in Doubt when she was a young girl. For the role, she admits that she gained twenty pounds, 'but not intentionally, just hanging out with Meryl Streep. She offered me donuts and chocolate, and when Meryl Streep offers you sweets, you take them."
Since Shandley was working from his own play, there was no improvising on the set. Viola did the part word for word and she had no problem with the scenes. “I can't write them any better and I was too tight to begin with.”
Viola admits that she is still not over her nerves about performing with Streep. “It's self-generated. It doesn't come from her. She's a great broad. She's funny, she generous. She makes you feel like you are a part of it. She's normal. And you feel like you are going to fall apart in front of her.”
Mrs. Davis said that Meryl Streep is the best acting partner to have because, “She is for you 100%.”
Though she has won a Tony for King Hedley II and garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Antwone Fisher, she is almost unknown to most audiences. She was very philosophical about it saying that being discovered at 43 is better than never being discovered. “I don't mind. At the end of the day you know who you are.”
And now she is an Academy Award nominated actress, something so few in Hollywood have experienced. “You remember those moments,” she said. “I was at the Four Seasons (when I found out). It was a primal scream. I was jumping up and down like an animal. It was a dream come to fruition and how can you put that into words. It's an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.”
But the roles she loved the best have almost all been on stage and she prefers theater over movies and TV. She said, “I get immediate gratification from theater. You know what's working and what's not because the audience responds or not. You bond with the actors. Growing and learning with the play is wonderful.”
And she said she is more interested in producing than being a director because she sees actors as 'too neurotic' which she includes herself in that group. With a producer, you “Come on the stage and let the actors, writers and directors live out their dreams and then go home.”
Her future project is the Russell Crowe movie State of Play which will be released in April 2009. But currently she is on the promotional post-Doubt junket. She recalls that seeing Cicely Tyson in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as being the spark that pushed her into acting. “I really, really wanted to be an actor at all costs. Once I made the commitment, I felt like I had to stay the course. Any kind of joy I got would be the result of my hard work.”
As far as finding the right role, she just asks for “people to see the possibilities in you.”
In a world where most people just have jobs, she gets to be want she always wanted to be. “I love doing what I do. Not a lot of people get to play out their dreams everyday. I'm blessed."
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