Viola Davis was on hand at the Rome Film Festival, where she was honored with a lifetime achievement award. Davis also spoke at a Close Encounter talk with festival head Antonio Monda, where she discussed a wide variety of topics pertaining to her career. Also in attendance at the Rome Film Festival was Martin Scorsese, who was promoting his new Netflix movie ‘The Irishman’, who continued to rail against the proliferation of superhero movies, specifically targeting those from Marvel.
Davis appeared in the DC comic book movie ‘Suicide Squad’ and will return in the upcoming sequel/reboot ‘The Suicide Squad’, as government official Amanda Waller. So of course, the topic of Scorsese’s criticisms came up during Davis’ discussion.
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“I do like a good Marvel movie. I do like a good DC Comics movie,” she said, before continuing:
“Albert Einstein said that imagination is more valuable than knowledge. If I did not have my imagination, I would still be poor Viola living in Central Falls, Rhode Island, who is not considered attractive or whatever. My imagination defined me. I could escape into a world that’s infinite, a world that I could create on my own, a world where I could redefine myself. That’s where art lives.
“Art lives in that world of imagination. It’s a playground there. It’s God’s playground. It’s not up to anyone to say what deserves to be there and what doesn’t deserve to be there. It’s anything that you want to be in that place can live there. And that is why we have some of the greatest painters, some of the greatest actors, some of the greatest writers, and that’s why we live. So I do believe that there’s a place for all of it.”
She did clarify that she is a fan of Scorsese’s work and that she respected his opinion. “I think he was voicing his opinion. I think it’s valid. Everyone had a place, an opinion. But I like a good Marvel movie.”
Davis also discussed the representation of women and minorities, not just in Hollywood but in the world as a whole.
Davis has won an Emmy Award for her work on her ABC series ‘How to Get Away with Murder’, a Golden Globe and Academy Award for ‘Fences’, and two Tony Awards. She is the first black actor to win the Triple Crown of Acting, and the first African-American to win five Screen Actors Guild Awards.
‘The Suicide Squad’ is now filming, with James Gunn directing. That picture is due out on September 6, 2011.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
