Viola Davis makes history with SAG Award win for ‘Ma Rainey’
The Oscar-winning actress took home an award for her performance in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'
Viola Davis is on fire this awards season. Barely a week after winning two NAACP Image Awards, Davis scored an award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Having won for her roles in Fences, The Help, and How To Get Away With Murder, Davis is no stranger to the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Nominated for her role in the critically acclaimed Netflix film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Davis took home the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role on Sunday night, making it her third solo win at the SAG awards.
With this award, Davis makes history as the first Black actress to win this category twice.
Read More: Viola Davis, daughter appear in photo essay directed by ‘auntie’ Regina King
In a lime green Louis Vuitton dress, a stunned Davis jumped for joy as she accepted her award. In her speech, Davis thanked the Screen Actors Guild and the entire team behind Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. She also took time to honor her late co-star, Chadwick Boseman, who was posthumously honored with Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.
Honoring August Wilson, the prolific playwright who wrote Ma Rainey, she explained in her speech, “Thank you, August, for leaving a legacy to actors of color that we can relish for the rest of our lives. Thank you so much.” Davis also thanked and congratulated her fellow nominees.
In March, Davis took home NAACP Image Awards for Ma Rainey and for her final season as Annalise Keating in How To Get Away With Murder. While winning her award for HTGAWM, she revealed in her speech that the series was “the joy of her life.”
She thanked executive producer Shonda Rhimes and series creator Pete Nowalk, explaining, “Thank you for redefining what it means to be a leading lady, what it means to be a woman, what it means to be Black on network television…thank you for the ride of my life!”
Read More: Viola Davis, daughter appear in photo essay directed by ‘auntie’ Regina King
Davis caught up with theGrio in 2020 and opened up about what the role meant to her. She explained at the time, “I’m sad about leaving behind Annalise. She’s tugging at me. It’s such a dynamic character and she’s an unpredictable character and variety is the spice of life and she sort of put a lot of variety in my life. It’s sort of like jumping out of a plane.”
Check out her heartfelt speech from the SAG Awards below:
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