Viola Davis reveals what it’s like to have black hair in Hollywood.
Viola Davis is one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood. Her acting skills in How To Get Away with Murder exemplifies why she received a Doctorate degree from the most prestigious Art and Drama schools in the world, Julliard.
But, having the talent may not save you from walking on set and walking in front of the camera with a bad hair day.
While being a guest on Late Show With Stephen Colbert a few weeks ago, Viola Davis talked about American Cocoa, a new TV series that she is producing. The TV series is about an agency that solve s”sticky racial situations”
But, what is a sticky racial situation?
Davis explains, ““I was doing a movie and I was doing it with my ‘fro, and this Caucasian woman had her fingers in my hair. She said, ‘I’m going to make it really pretty!’ So she put some white goo in it and I wanted to say something.”
Davis added: “She put that and then she took a big spray bottle filled with water and just started spraying my fro with it. With the goo in the hair. I wanted to say, ‘This is not going to work.’ But I knew if I said it that I would be insulting her. So then I went to the set and slowly the sun caught my hair and my whole fro turned white.”
Colbert admitted that it was literally a stick racial situation. The star said that had she told the stylists the truth, they would have had an uncomfortable conversation about Black hair and what doesn’t work for it.
“Because then you gotta talk about hair and then you gotta say, ‘You don’t know what to do with my hair!’
It seems hard to believe that a hair stylists may not know how to style an African American woman’s hair. But, it’s important to point out that Zoe Kravitz was bashed last year for wearing dreadlocks at the Oscars. Kravitz responded by saying, “I think it’s just about black women being able to be who they are and people are getting that or not getting that,” she said. “But I don’t think we should have to change the way we look at all, depending on what’s in fashion.”
Davis has proudly worn and discussed her hair over the years. At the 2012 Oscars, she sported her short curls and ditched the wig she used to always where. Her decision to show off her unprocessed hair is a testament to her confidence on and off set. Confidence that took a long time to grow as the actress suffered from Alopecia in her 20’s.
“I wore a wig in the Jacuzzi. I had a wig I wore around the house. I had a wig that I wore to events,” she once told Vulture. “I had a wig that I wore when I worked out. I never showed my natural hair. It was a crutch, not an enhancement. I was so desperate for people to think that I was beautiful. I had to be liberated from that [feeling] to a certain extent.”
You can check out the full conversation below.
What do you think? Discuss this story with fellow Project Casting fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @projectcasting.
