Viola Davis will be honored at the upcoming Cannes Festival when she picks up the prestigious Kering’s Women in Motion Award.
Davis is being honored for her commitment to the entertainment industry, as well as her dedication to the rights of women and minorities, with the luxury group calling her “one of the most influential American actresses and producers of her time.”
Previous winners include Jane Fonda, Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon, Isabelle Huppert, Patty Jenkins, Gong Li and Salma Hayek.
Kering listed several instances of Davis’ activism.
At the 2018 Women’s March, Davis delivered a rousing speech to the crowd:
“I am speaking today not just for the #MeToos, because I was a #MeToo. But when I raise my hand, I am aware of all the women who are still in silence. The women who are faceless. The women who don’t have the money, and don’t have the Constitution, and who don’t have the confidence, and who don’t have the images in our media that gives them a sense of self-worth enough to break their silence that’s rooted in the shame of assault, that’s rooted in the stigma of assault.”
Davis has consistently spoken out about the lack of diversity and parity in the entertainment industry. She may be one of the most successful actresses on the planet but it was a long and hard journey to get there.
“What they’re getting paid, which is half of what a man is getting paid … well, we get probably a tenth of what a Caucasian woman gets, and I’m No. 1 on the call sheet,” Davis famously said at a 2018 Women in the World event
“I had a friend who said, ‘Yeah, but Viola, your career is better than my career.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but you can’t compare me to you, because, once again, I got the Oscar, I got the Emmy, I got the two Tonys, I’ve done Broadway, I’ve done off-Broadway, I’ve done TV and I’ve done film. I’ve done all of it.”
We’re glad she’s finally getting her flowers.
