Viola Davis admits HTGAWM didn't really open doors for women who look like her

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https://variety.com/2022/film/news/v...me-1235271687/

“I had a director who did that to me. 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 Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress said during a Variety Women In Motion conversation at the Cannes Film Festival. "I was maybe around 30 at the time, so it was a while ago. But what you have to realize is that those micro-aggressions happen all the time.” Davis added that HTGAWM didn't have that big an impact. “I know that when I left How to Get Away With Murder that I don’t see a lot of dark skin women in lead roles on TV and not even in streaming services,” Davis said. “And that ties into ideology and ethos and mentality, and that’s speaking in the abstract. Why aren’t you hiring a dark skin woman when she walks in the room and you say she blows you away? Create space and storytelling for her so when she thrives she’s not thriving despite of her circumstance but thriving because of her circumstance.”