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Viola Davis: A Director Once Called Me by His Maid’s Name

The Oscar and Emmy Award-winning actress said she has faced persistent colorism in Hollywood.

In a conversation about Hollywood’s perceptions of and racism toward Black women, Oscar and Emmy Award-winning actress Viola Davis revealed that a director once called her by his maid’s name. “I had a director who did that to me,” Davis told Variety during a discussion at the Cannes Film Festival. “He said, ‘Louise!’ I knew him for 10 years and he called me Louise and I find out that it’s because his maid’s name is Louise.” The now 56-year-old Davis said she was in her 30s at the time of the incident but emphasized that similar microaggressions occur often, especially toward dark-skinned Black women who consistently face colorism in Hollywood. Even with her level of fame, Davis said she believes she has been passed over for not being “pretty enough” in the industry’s eyes. “Let’s be honest. If I had my same features and I were five shades lighter, it would just be a little bit different,” she said.