Viola Davis Regrets Taking Part In 2011 Film ‘The Help’

Viola Davis has played many roles since she started acting in 1996. However, of all of the projects she has been featured in, she perhaps regrets the 2011 film The Help the most.

VIOLA DAVIS REGRETS TAKING PART IN 2011 FILM THE HELP

Speaking with The New York Times, Davis confesses she skipped a few roles over the years she momentarily regretted, but nothing stuck with her as a massive missed opportunity. And as she’s getting older, she knows all too well that when she’s in a movie, she has to promote it. “And I don’t want to promote anything that I don’t believe in,” Davis explains.

50 CELEBRITIES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

Conversely, The Help sticks out as one role she wishes she passed on. That’s not because of any poor experiences regarding the people she worked with, as Davis had nothing but praise for them and the lifelong friendships she forged. She laments taking part in the film because it failed to connect with her.

“I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard,” the actress explained. “I know Aibileen. I know Minny. They’re my grandma. They’re my mom. And I know that if you do a movie where the whole premise is, I want to know what it feels like to work for white people and to bring up children in 1963, I want to hear how you really feel about it. I never heard that in the course of the movie.”

SLIDESHOW: Met Gala 2018 – 23 Best Dressed Stars

While the movie garnered positive reviews, it was also accused of sanitizing the racial problems and violence that characterized the Jim Crow-era. Notably, the award-winning actress has previously challenged the historical accuracy of the film. Ava DuVernay, the director behind 13th and Selma, tweeted out her own negative experiences with The Help while praising Davis’ candor: