Many believed/hoped that the Best Actress Emmy for Drama would go to Taraji P. Henson. Many believed it would go to Robin Wright. But at the end of the day, the Emmy ended up going to our Queen V, Viola Davis, for How To Get Away with Murder. I actually didn’t realize that this is Viola’s first Emmy, because Viola has been dominating at so many of the awards shows this year, I thought she had already won the Emmy! But no, this was her first Emmy. And this was the first-ever Best Actress Emmy for an African-American woman.
Viola Davis wore this Carmen Marc Valvo gown which looks, to me, like a custom piece. It’s a beautiful dress and I always love how Viola shows off her arms. I like she went for a clean look in white, but the dress still has some princess qualities to it. It’s princess-y without being twee or age-inappropriate. I also love that Viola didn’t wear a wig! She spoke about that several years ago, that she got to a point where she didn’t want to wear a wig on the red carpet anymore, she wanted to show that she accepted who she is and she owned her look.
Viola talked a lot about her historic win backstage, calling herself a “journeyman actress” who got started doing Chekhov at Julliard (bless her). On stage, she said this: “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” I said on Twitter last night that I would have loved if she name-checked Matt Damon in that moment, but you know what? She didn’t even need to. Her victory did that. Oh, and Taraji Henson & Kerry Washington had all the feels!!!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Elisabeth Moss was my personal preference but I love Viola so much, I don’t begrudge it being her.
Wow, just Wow. Viola looks stunning.
Elizabeth Moss looked too Prom Queen ! IMO and I hated her hair, Elizabeth’s hair looked just messy.
Love Viola, but hate the dress. 🙁 Love her hair, but wish she would have styled it differently (undone two-strand twists about the face maybe). Her look is a missed opportunity to me. Still soooooo happy she won.
This is exactly how I felt. And her pure emotion at winning made me emotional too!
Viola looks amazing. I have major arm-envy.
She and Michelle Obama make me feel bad about my arms/life.
Her arms are amazing!
MTE, Matador. As a Mad Men fan, I hoped Elisabeth Moss would win, but there were so many good women on that show. And I thought Teyonah Parris could’ve had an interesting storyline…
Anyway, I only just saw this short clip of Viola’s acceptance speech. It brought tears to my eyes, and I hope she and other WOC keep getting more and better opportunities – or creating their own.
Good for her. Just too bad that she won for such a crappy show.
I tried to get into HTGAWM and it was so ridiculously bad, I gave up.
Uh oh, is HTGAWM really that bad? I watched Shondra Rhimes’ other shows in their first few seasons but then gave up when they became too soapy.
With all the excitement around Scandal, I really wanted to like it, had my big glass of red wine and bowl of popcorn at the ready, but dramatic series are hard to watch in marathon sessions. So I gave up around S4 when it just became too ridiculous.
(Then again, I also gave up on The Killing, too, and I still have yet to finish Breaking Bad…)
With that said, there’s SO much to watch nowadays, just streaming alone, that there’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t see more diversity on-screen!
For me, it’s just TOO over the top detached from reality. I’m very glad Viola has a hit show and is being rewarded for it – but I sure wish the vehicle was better than that :/
It’s not like the worst show on tv. But it’s not good at all.
I know, I mean, I watched maybe 5 episodes of HTGAWM and it’s good, it’s just not great. but one thing that i saw from the 1st episode is that this woman is FIERCE and she’s amazing!!
But as I said on another post, I’m disappointed that KW didn’t get nominated this year, since I think that her performance on S4 of Scandal was amazing, as opposed to the previous season that was so limited because of the effort of hiding her pregnancy.
But in any case, I’m super happy for Viola, and the speech was beautiful.
I think all shows that Shonda is involved in are pretty shit. Scandal is also horrible. That show should never win anything.
Agree to disagree, I think all three shows are pretty good, the best one is no doubt Grey’s Anatomy (yes I know, “is it still on?”, but if you watched it for 11 years/seasons, you would know why it is such a great show. And scandal had bad moments but its gotten much better now IMO. And I also LOVED Private Practice. So I do think Shonda does a great job and i think the best part of all shows (maybe not so much with scandal) is that they all speak to different moments in our lives, it doesn’t look too much like fiction. Highly relatable events are portrayed, and emotions as well.
But hey, that is just my opinion (and probably the one of anyone who loves these shows, and it is a LOT of people). But I understand that it’s not everybody’s cup of tea.
I will say is again, Shondra Rimes can not write period. Her shows especially Scandal is just over the top romance novels and ridiculous soap operas; but, I will say this Viola Davis deserves that Emmy, because she can act. I was so happy for her.
I love the show and Viola’s performance was outstanding. She showed us the crazy behind a powerful woman. So good.
Taraji was also good but her character wasn’t layered.
Claire Danes gets on my nerves …. she is a pompous ass
I like Elizabeth Moss but her best acting really was the Lake miniseries not Mad Men.
Big ups for Claire Danes being a pompous ass. She is talented, but sooooooo full of herself.
I watched the entire season, I’m still it gets better. It has potential.
I agree – I adore her, I think she is supremely talented and beautiful and so what the industry needs, and I was thrilled to hear her name, but I just don’t care for the show. She’s great on it, but everything else about it is not.
So true but viola just rises so far above the material that you forget for a minute she is on a terrible show because she is that good.
Taraji held a master class last night in being a supportive nominee and friend her excitement for Regina (I’m so freaking happy about Regina kings win) was touching.
I so agree! Taraji was genuinely supportive and happy for the wins. She gets it. In some ways, their win is her win, and a win for all women of color. Its an example of true feminism. Hear that, Taylor Swift???
THIS. When no one was clapping and cheering Taraji put them all on blast and got the crowd going for Regina, it was amazing and it made me truky in awe of her. She’s an amazing soul.
So true. The young actors in particular are terrible.
I agree. As a law student I eventually tune in to laugh at how horribly inaccurate it is in terms of law (with the most generic and simple principles). But I can’t watch it for too long. Viola gives a great performance, but I don’t think it’s enough to make up for it’s tackiness or the absolutely terrible performances of everyone else in the cast.
You are so right about the inaccuracies. I’m actually a prosecutor. I remember watching one of the episodes where they’re trying to get someone’s blog admitted into evidence and all they had to do was get the witness to mention the blog in his testimony for the judge the deem the blog admissible. Not at all how it works, lol.
I watch the show and I LOVE Viola, but that show just isn’t award worthy, IMO. It is just so melodramatic and heavy handed.
I was really hoping Tatiana Maslany would have won, but she deserved it for season 1 of Orphan Black.
crappy show indeed. I dont mind her, but her “Fierceness” seems heavy handed and over done to me. It may be the fault of the script though, not hers.
Strictly based on acting chops showed by the nominees last season, IMO the Emmy should have gone to Robin Wright or tatiana Maslany. But I understand the historic momentum was against them, as having two women of color nominated would have got them and the Academy a black internet riot. Add to that the whole Hollywood diversity discussion, and the last year’s whitewashed Oscars and you have why the voters had no choice. I absolutely love Viola, but her acting, and her show, weren’t the best this year. As a paradox, to give an award to an actor that belongs to a minority just because it is time, lessens her talent and merit.
I’m thrilled for her of course, but yeah…Tatiana should have won.
@alice
Tatiana is a great actress especially in season 1
Pray tell what was to blame when she didnt win /wasn’t nominated at least twice before this and the award went to white actresses ?
So much ugliness in your comment
Of course the obligatory “he/she won because they are black”. Although the show is just good not great Viola is great in her role. Discrediting her role and acting ability by saying the voters were afraid not to vote for her is ridiculous. If anything the criticism means that voters won’t vote for black people in the future because everytime one wins, people claim the voters were pressured to do it.
This comment irritates me to no end. Why is it that when a PoC wins something somebody has to come muttering crap about how it was a “PC choice” or “affirmative action”. Look, entertainment awards are subjective. What strikes you as awesome may not have struck the judges the same way. Everybody on that list deserved to be there and there were bound to be disgruntled fans. If Claire had won it, I’m sure Orphan Black fans wouldn’t be pleased but the one thing they wouldn’t be doing is making dumb “PC” arguments. I mean how do you explain Jim Parsons domination of the comedy category a few years back? Judges fear of “white twitter”?
Please define “black internet riot”.
OP is afraid of big bad Black Twitter. 😏
“Black internet riot” sounds like a hacker’s group. I knew that comment was coming though….
Ooooh a black internet riot? Fun!
I’m bringing vodka and white girl dance moves.
Kitten
I’ll see your white girl dance moves and raise you one epic struggle twerk session.
IMO, I’ll struggle twerk with you. I have long come to accept that my ass will never clap.
LMAO, Shambles! This comment had me rolling. #thestruggleisreal
I’d be excited for a black internet riot! Now that’d be something to watch on the iPad. We could even start here on CB. Anarchy!
shambles
Thanks to you there is now herbal tea all over my ipad. And yes, the herbal tea is an indicator that I, also, can not clap back.
Shambles
Thanks to you there is now herbal tea all over my ipad. And yes, herbal tea is an indication that I, also, can not make it clap back.
Sounds like the name of an awesome new band. Too bad I don’t play the violin. But I can sing. 😉
ETA. Lol @Shambles. I also can’t ass clap to save my life.
Tatiana is awesome but the quality of writing on Orphan Black has fallen considerably and it’s now just as unwatchable as HTGAWM except it’s sci-fi which isn’t really a strong suit for the Emmys. I think you could make a case for each actress that was nominated and to an extent each one deserved it and is just as talented and masterful but really it was between Viola, Elizabeth Moss , and Taraji There is absolutely no reason to bring some BS about Viola only winning because she is black into it especially since there was another black actress nominated so if that’s all it were about that would split that vote. I think if anything Viola won because she was snubbed for Oscars.
You’re right, the writing on Orphan Black isn’t as great it was the first season. Tatiana really should have won her first season, but the show wasn’t nominated at all!
So what you’re saying (in a pc type of way) is that Viola won the award because she’s black. Kind of like Affirmative Action for the Emmys. Got it.
Black internet riot, really?
And Robin Wright is a wooden actress.
Thought the cooment she only won because she is a minority ignorant but Love the new name Black Internet Riot. Sounds like an awesime rockband,
Based on acting chops Viola does great in her role, but you know what that’s subjective and I won’t try to control your thoughts. What I will say is this Hollywood DOES NOT care if black twitter is upset! Plenty of ppl on less deserving shows have won but I bet you didn’t make the point of saying they only won bc their white. Again hollywood doesn’t care what poc and especially what woc have to say.
Tatiana is by far the actress doing the best and most ambitious work IMO. She IS Orphan Black and the reason I stuck with the show through the crappy third season…
agreed!
can’t believe she hasn’t won every year.
Wow. I never comment but your response is infuriating. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. If you really want to use the argument that this was based on the quality of writing, then Tatiana absolutely didn’t deserve to win since OB hasnt been good since season 1. The reality is she should’ve been nominated and won for the show’s first season but the Emmys have never been fond of sci-fi shows. Yes, HTGAWM is uneven, but Viola Davis consistently manages to elevate the material. I was more moved by her performance this year than Tatiana’s and Tatiana is an extraordinary actor. Tatiana will have plenty more opportunities. She’s young and white and actually talented unlike some of her contemporaries, who simply get attention for being white and pretty (some aren’t even that pretty) but have no talent. She’ll be fine.
Exactly this!!!
Agreed.
Nailed it!
The same people who think Viola won because of her ethnicity, must be the same people who are Donald Trump supporters. I don’t understand them or their ignorance!
Are these people insane?
Viola Davis has been nominated for Academy Awards, the woman is a major acting talent and deserved to win.
Well done Viola, Congratulations.
For the first time in Emmy history the winners were chosen by the entire Emmy members (15,000ish) not just a few select team (a handful). The winners were selected by their peers and their peers voted for talent, not skin color.
Viola’s win was legit, not a token award.
THIS!
So this was the FIRST TIME all the Emmy members could select a winner and some people have the gall to the say it’s an affirmative action win?
Comments like alice’s are what’s wrong with this country.
Oh I didn’t know that. That’s really cool.
Yes her win was 100% legit 🙂
And yet here we are not sh-tting over Jon Hamm’s win at the emmy’s despite the fact that the only reason he really won it was because he’s a white man and it was the final season of Mad Men. It was a pity win for him pretty clearly no? So why aren’t you crapping all over his emmy win too? Especially considering his horrible past crimes for which he is not labeled thug, gangster, or menance to society. But hey he was just having fun right? Really your anger should be more directed to that privileged jackass who basically got away with violent, sadistic, sexual assault with very little backlash but a surprising outpouring of sympathy. No. Let us moralize over Viola Davis’s win. We all know the Emmy’s are terrified about getting black twitter in a tiff (they really should though, some of those damonsplaining tweets were gold and put a lot of “comedy” writers to shame).
Get out of here with your faux sympathy about her talent and merit. There are so many times where she did not win and her talent and merit outweighed the contemporaries that did. Viola Davis is great and deserves her win.
+1000 to everything Naya and everyone else said.
I’ll say it Jon Hamm was a complete and utter pity win. It had nothing to do with talent it was completely and utterly to do with pity.
Viola was about talent. Look I think it is safe to say all the women in the category are talent actors, but viola is an incredible actress and beyond deserving. That Emmy was earned and no one can say otherwise. She was the best actress.
Uh, no. Jon Hamm was outstanding on that show and had been overlooked for far too long. It was a fantastic show and he did an amazing job.
@Nikki that’s not the point Nikki. The point was to show how differently people think of these two. Viola only got her award because she’s black right? Let’s not mention that she’s done brilliant roles in television, stage, and film. She’s oscar nominated which ole hammy boy doesn’t have going for him and shown herself to be capable in a diverse range of roles. And yet her Emmy win is circumspect while Hamm’s isn’t. Her Emmy win brings about controversy with regards to her merit and talent, while Hamm’s doesn’t at all. If all Alice had done was criticize the acting this would NOT be an issue.
Well if that’s not the point, then why did you mention it?
“Viola only got her award because she’s black right?”
No, I don’t think that at all. I’ve never even seen her show. I was taking issue with “the only reason he really won it was because he’s a white man and it was the final season of Mad Men”, which is untrue.
….um either you’re obtuse or I’ve mad my point badly. It falls in line with how alice wanted to treat Viola’s win. I’ll readily admit to not liking Jon Hamm. But obviously you see how offensive it is to suggest that that’s the only reason he won? Which is the point I’m trying to make to alice, because she’s only taking viola’s emmy win into circumspect. We all know why she’s doing that.
Hamm completely deserved his award, just throwing that in.
His performances got better and better each year, particularly as Don Draper hit the skids.
Jon Hamm is a outstanding actor and that’s why he was awarded.
People need to stop the nonsense . they got awarded because they deserved it.
No, I’m not “obtuse”. I know what your overall point was. I’m not addressing it. I’m addressing your side statement of “the only reason he really won it was because he’s a white man and it was the final season of Mad Men”. Which is false. You don’t like him, so it’s colored your opinion of his acting and of the show in general.
“But obviously you see how offensive it is to suggest that that’s the only reason he won?”
Nice try. That wasn’t what you were trying to do, you meant that statement about Hamm. Racist statements don’t sound any better when you try to use them as a counter-argument. It was an untrue thing to say about Hamm’s talent or Mad Men. Doesn’t make me obtuse for not caring about your primary point.
The difference is that Viola makes a mediocre show better. House of cards and orphan black were not good this year but Robin’s and Tatiana’s performances didn’t make the show better.
A black Internet riot???
#bishwhere
There’s always one in the crowd that’s putting on their running shoes to hop up and explain why the black person’s win while wonderful (cause you love black people and diversity and rah rah) is a result of tokenism, public opinion, and any excuse other than hard work and achievement.
It’s 2015 and typically silent groups now have access to forums that gives their voices equal platform, you might wanna get used to black people defending and passionately voicing their opinions cause it ain’t going nowhere.
Thiiiiiiis!!
Testify!
I think Viola Davis has had to play more difficult scenes on How To Get Away with Murder.
She also has the responsibility of elevating everyone else around her, whereas someone like Robin Wright gets to play off of Kevin Spacey.
Plus, the award goes to the person who did the best acting, not the person who did the best acting on a well-written show. So I don’t think it much matters that her show might suck when it comes to writing. Black Swan was a terribly written movie, but Natalie Portman didn’t lose out on the acting award just because the movie was weirdly written. I don’t get why the writing of a show would be judged on an award given for acting.
Anyway she’s a really talented actress. I’m baffled that anyone could question whether she’s really doing as good of a job as other actresses. I mean, I can see how one might be tempted to do that with someone like Halle Berry whose skills people are more divided on, but not with someone like Viola Davis who I’ve never heard referred to as untalented on any level.
I wish I’d made up a different name. There are too many alice/Alices on here with opinions quite different than mine.
@’Diversity’ Alice, comment 3, who wrote: “But I understand the historic momentum was against them, as having two women of color nominated would have got them and the Academy a black internet riot. Add to that the whole Hollywood diversity discussion, and the last year’s whitewashed Oscars and you have why the voters had no choice. ”
Now see? ‘This’ is bigotry. @’Diversity’ Alice, you ‘do’ know that the Emmy’s has a Peer Voting Awards process, right?
You’re speaking to the wrong person. Lowercase alice made that remark. Uppercase Alice is 180 degrees opposed to it. Please do not attach my name to racist statements. Why can’t CB have a “user name alreay taken” feature to avoid confusion?
@Alice Her comment is towards the alice who made comment #3. She’s not referring to you. But yeah a username already feature would be nice.
@korna. Yeah, but when she uses Alice(me) instead of alice(her with the pc comment) it could confuse people. I would be mortified if people thought I felt that way.
She made it quite clear though that she’s referring to comment #3 alice though.
Of course, if you don’t like the show, or your opinion that Viola didn’t give the best performances is your business. But”a black internet riot”? Really? Sigh. All of the actresses nominated did outstanding work, and Maslany is certainly amazing. But YOU demean all of them with your remark.
Someone said Tatiana M. Is a White woman. I’m just asking because I really thought she was multiracial . On Orphan black, the woman’s character who gave birth to Tatiana was a African woman.
Anyway Congratulations to the Emmy Winners and Nominees.
Viola is a wonderful actress, Jullaird trained,does Broadway, paid her dues, Talented, well deserved.
Very happy for her, and she looks beautiful.
I can’t believe she is 50. She looks amazing and I love her hair.
Agreed, she really does look fantastic. She’s beaming! Love everything about her look here.
Such an elegant dress, loved it. Probably the best or one of the best of the night. This is how you dress for the RC. (I didn’t like the lip colour and the bracelet, I would have gone with a different piece, but she wins anyway.)
Congratulations for her.
The episode for which she was nominated was amazing. She gave so many raws perf in that show.
I am not surprised by her win being already dimunished by some with the usual :
– she had to win or there will be backlash from black twitter (as if the academy care about that!!!)
– the show is not good, when actresses had already won in not so good show.
…
We judge her perf as an actor not her whole show here.
Ugh.
Congrats to Viola..
did you all see that this actress Nancy Lee Grahn went to twitter to finger wag Viola on her speech.. I swear some people get a bee up their butt for anything. Why can’t you just say congrats and move on..
Jealousy
What did Nancy say on Twitter?
I just read back nine hours and I’m pretty confident that she was drunk.
Yeah, if you were an unknown soap opera has-been trolling for attention on Twitter, you’d probably be drunk, too. And now, this is the only thing negative Nancy will ever be known for – envy!
Who? /runs to Google.
“Nancy Lee Grahn is an American actress known primarily for her work in daytime soap operas, portraying Julia Wainwright Capwell on Santa Barbara from 1985 to 1993 and Alexis Davis on General Hospital since 1996.”
Oh. Who cares? 🙂
Well she costarred on Santa Barbara with Robin Wright so maybe she was just mad viola won over her. 🙂 (I’m old enough to remember watching it way back in the day.)
Did you see her old tweet praising Patricia Arquette’s Oscar speech? LOL. So when a white person does it, it’s commendable, but when a black person does it, it’s inappropriate. Racists are idiots. . .
LOL, the funny thing is that Patricia Arquette tweeted this lady and basically told her to STFU.
https://twitter.com/PattyArquette/status/645827983551279104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I had to goggle her as well. I’m pretty sure her twitter account has shut up shop. She is a fool.
That’s because PA got some flack for her white feminism (I don’t think that was her intention she just doesn’t explain herself well) but at the core she actually is not here for that BS.
Holy shitballs, Dana. You’re right! She had to be drinking. It looks like she went on apologizing for 4 hours. Uh, want attention much, soap opera lady? Well, she got it, didn’t she? I’ve never even heard of her before this. And I’ve already forgotten her name, hehe!
Right?
One thing if you privately bitch to your girlfriends about how you think Viola didn’t deserve it but you’re gonna hop on Twitter and come up with A Thousand and One Excuses for why this woman hasn’t experienced racism or discrimination??
Some people can’t even help their ignorance, lmao, #prayingforhermentions.
Nancy is a soap actress-translation medicore talent and is trolling for attention. This gave her attention. You are talking about her as is Patricia A.
If you read the rest of her tweets (which I did after you brought this one to my attention) you can see she is a bitter self pitying fool. Who as someone correctly pointed out is jealous of everyone at that show last night.
She is a star and is excellent in everything that she does…He inner light shines though and that makes her even more amazing
Well put. Agree.
Well deserved.
Love this gown on her!
I loved her speech.
Me too, especially the comments about opportunity. She was RIGHT ON with that. And looked fabulous in a gorgeous gown while she did it.
Also want to add, in case she’s not in another post, how thrilled I was for Regina King as well – I haven’t seen American Crime but she was so damn amazing in Southland, to see her rewarded was awesome.
I’ve only seen one episode of AC because it was just too heavy for me to watch but Regina was AMAZING.
Well she deserves it. She makes HTGAWM watchable. And her entire look is flawless.
Terrible dress, but she’s Viola Davis, so it doesn’t matter. I’m just sad that HTGAWM seems to be disappointing everyone.
Viola has been so good for so long. She was a standout even in the small roles she did on the various Law and Orders. Congratulations.
I love her.
Great dress. Favorite of the night.
Congratulations to Viola and I am happy that for once a winner says coloured women and not just black women.
Other coloured women (Asian, Latin, Aboriginals, Native Americans) are never even considered when talking about opportunities in Hollywood for women.
That moment was so beautiful, seeing as Kerry W. and Taraji were crying or cheering for her so hard.. it seriously made me cry a bit. I’m so happy Viola won, she is so talented and beautiful!
I love her dress! I think she’s a great actress, tho have never watched this show. Tatianna tho- so sad it took her this long to get even a nomination-she really does a masterful job on Orphan Black.
Love her, loved her dress, loved her speech.
So proud of Viola…what a speech!
I literally said out loud, “I WANT that dress.” Well, I would if I had her arms. Thought she had the most stunning dress of the evening.
I am damned proud that Viola Davis won. She is an amazing actress , and she is amazing on HTGWM. I love the show. There is nothing PC about her win. She was the best choice in her category. Viola Davis deserved the best leading actress award. She out shined the white actresses in the category and Taraji. I hate it when folks say that white people deserved their award but blacks are simply getting their award so as to not upset the black viewership. As if blacks don’t win based on their own hard work and merit. Just STFU.
Isn’t Viola’s Emmy just first for black Actress to get for Drama Leading Actress and Comedy Leading Actress has been won by black Actresses before? Or so I heard.
Love Viola, love HTGAWM, love her speech, love her dress. You do you, Viola and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
She is tremendously talented, so her obsession with talking about her looks is so horrible and embarrassing. Love her and hope to g-o-d this makes her stop.
You’re totally missing the point.
No, I am not.
I am thinking beyond this to the time when she stops showing her personal insecurities to the public.
It is not about her beauty or lack thereof, it is about talent and opportunity for Black women, or women of color, and all other women, whatever their looks. Making it about beauty standards negates the overall problems faced by all women regardless of color, but of course these problems are even worse for women of color in every employment arena in the US..
I love her for her talent and her warm heart. I think she is very lovely, but t isn’t about her hair or face for me.
Except lack of respect for beauty is a very real issue. People need to realize there is no ‘it’s just this’ it’s all very much connected. It’s the same reason gasps were heard when Viola removed her wig on HTGAWM and showed not a polished form of natural but it’s reality. When your hair has flattened and is shapeless.
A white woman with messy hair would be praised for being ‘realistic’ but a black woman with the same is still a form of oddity and taboo. This isn’t only about Viola’s insecurities but about the system that creates these insecurities in many girls.
It’s all about talent until they mock your hair, skin, name etc.
In every way, I find her inspiring. I love when a woman says to the world “Here I am. Look at my awesomeness”. She makes me want to say that, anyway. Congrats, Viola.
Beautiful speech. She deserved it. As much as I love Tatiana Maslany, Viola is the true winner.
Just so damn true. People want to complain about Internet opinions and public pressure but it’s clear they don’t appreciate that to many this is a long burning issue that’s become an inferno.
There are excuses for days and days why more women of color aren’t given better roles. Long diatribes defending why talent should be rewarded and yet minorities are never talented. That merely being nominated (again) is an honor. The sad truth is people think Viola rolled out of bed, got on HTGAWM and merely won an Emmy not realizing how much rejection she faced for things we reward other actors for.
Her speech was on point. If we had more genuine diversity and respect for people’s cultures we wouldn’t need to keep hinging brilliant and accomplished actors talent on an award show and ‘prize’. We would already feel they have been honored and respected. We do not and so these award shows take on greater significance. Rock on Viola!
I love Viola, her speech was captivating and I almost cried. I couldn’t care less about the gown/look. She RULES !!
And I love her show, can’t wait for the second season.
I just had to stop in to say, I can’t believe it’s 2015 and this is the first time a WoC has won an Emmy for best actress. Shameful. But it does speak to Viola’s comment that you can’t win for roles that don’t exist.
HTGAWM has huge ratings so someone is watching. Great writing as well. Viola does elevate the show and brings her A++ game. I honestly could care less what she had on. She looked appropriate, dignified and elegant. Her speech broke the mold. All the actresses in the category were worthy. Viola did rise above the rest. And consider her acting creed: Doubt, Get On Up, Antwone Fisher, The Help. She’s earned the award.
Viola is really talented, but..who even watches that show?
I do. And many of my friends. We actually had a season finale party, lol. If you read entertainment blogs there are usually tons of comments on the recaps so it’s more popular than you think.
I think the show does well in the ratings. Or so Entertainment Weekly tells me.
The plots are kind of weird on HTGAWM, but a lot less weird than you’d see on Scandal, which has struck me as somewhat ridiculous at times, but is still considered a quality show on some level for some reason. (No, I don’t think Scandal is terrible or anything like that, but I don’t think the plots are less odd. Ditto for Grey’s Anatomy where doctors are stealing heart transplants or whatever).
The show is pretty succesful as far as ratings go.
I think the show is in the top 10, and until Empire came along, was the most watched new show of the year.
Lord help me but I cried watching. Congrats Viola. I had no idea this the first time a black woman won in this category at the Emmy. When my husband told me Viola won I screamed and jumped up like a buffoon.
Why no post on Uzo Aduba? She won an Emmy, wore a pretty frock and gave a great speech?
And why didn’t Viola mention Uzo and mention Regina King, two women of color also in the room and nominated?
Or are only the Black women deemed beautiful okay to mention?
“…Taraji P. Hensons, the Kerry Washingtons, the Halle Berrys, the Nicole Beharies, the Meagan Goods, to Gabrielle Union…”
That is my issue with her speech; it was about who Viola think is beautiful (by white standards) and her need to be included with them.. It is sad to me and I hope she works on getting past this because she can never win. No woman can every win judging herself against the rarest of flowers and the most unfair of beauty standards, and that includes women of every color.
Huh? She was clearly mentioning leading black actresses in primetime tv shows. Taraji (Empire), Kerry (Scandal), Halle (Extant), Nicole (Sleepy Hollow), Meagan Good (Minority Report) and Gabrielle (Being Mary Jane). All women who could/may be nominated alongside her in this catergory. I love Uzo but she part of large ensemable of an online series, and Regina King was in a mini-series again not as the lead. I think you completely missed her point, and projected your own shit onto what she actually said.
Viola is 50 years old, I’m sure she isn’t going to be hoping to wake up looking like Halle Berry. She acknowledging that all these women who are making sure that it isn’t another 60 + years until another black woman wins the best actress emmy. The fact that they’re all beautiful (Uzo and Regina included) is secondary to the quality of the work they’re doing and how they’re challenging the landscape of TV.
I forgot that Halle Berry is on a tv show now. Yeah, all of the names she mentioned align with being a lead actress in a prime time tv show. This makes sense.
I assumed she picked actresses who she knew personally, was friends with, or held in high esteem on a friendship level (she did say Taraji P. Henson is the most supportive person you could know). The ones mentioned sitting in the audience all looked so happy for her I assumed they were close to each other. I found the Gabrielle Union mention a little random (as opposed to mentioning someone like Angela Bassett who has always been hailed as very talented), so I figured they are perhaps friends. I don’t know if she’s actually close to Halle Berry, but since she is the first African American winner of a lead actress Oscar, I did think the mention of her name in this instance made sense.
I hear you but because she has been going on and on about her own personal need to be considered beautiful I think she picked the women considered beautiful by the very standards she has a problem with. I don’t think she did it on purpose, I think she has a personal issue with her looks and comes across needing that very same affirmation too much.
Like I said when I started, love her and hope she gets past her self-limitations that make her unhappy. The best, most lasting actresses are rarely the most beautiful. Hollywood creates and destroys, but it can also respect real talent like hers.
Even though I hated The Help, I was profoundly moved by her performance in that film. I’ve since watched some youtube videos of her stage acting. She is an UNBELIEVABLE actress!
So many tears!!!
I wanted Taraji to win, but damn, Viola’s speech made tears roll down my face. Incredible.
Yawning! !!!!!
Viola looked amazing. Where does this “princessy” thing come into play? Just because it’s not done skin tight mermaid dress?