The incomparable Viola Davis won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Rose Maxon in Fences.
During her acceptance speech, Viola shared the importance of playwright August Wilson’s work:
Uhm, you know they say that maybe all one can hope for is the right regret. And what August did so beautifully is he honored the average man, who happened to be a man of color. And sometimes, we don’t have to shape the world and move the world and create anything that is going to be in a history back. The fact that we breathed and live a life and was a god to our children, just that means we have a story and it deserves to be told.
We deserve to be in the cannon of any — in the center of any narrative that’s written out there. And that’s what August did. He elevated my father, my mother, my uncles, who had eighth and fifth grade educations, and he just encapsulated him in history. So thank you, August.
Watch Viola Davis’ full acceptance speech below:
Congratulations, Viola – you’ve got the Oscar in the bag!
