Sunday night marked a huge win for Viola Davis. Not only did she take the award for Best Supporting Actress for her critically acclaimed work in “Fences,” but the star made history.
As a teary-eyed Davis accepted the Oscar at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, she achieved what’s known as the triple crown of the industry by adding that honor to her past Emmy and Tony awards for acting; a feat only 22 others have ever accomplished. Davis stands apart because she is the only Black star to have ever done it at all.
In fact, the actress is a bit of an overachiever — she now has an Oscar, Emmy (for her work in “How to Get Away With Murder”) and two Tonys (for “King Hedley II” and the Broadway production of “Fences”).
“People ask me all the time, what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola?” she said as she accepted her Oscar. “And I say, exhume those bodies, exhume those stories. The stories of the people who dreamed big, and never saw those dreams to fruition, people who fell in love and lost. I became an artist, and thank God I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life.”
