Viola Davis regrets her role in The Help
Actor Viola Davis says that she regrets her role in The Help (2011). “Have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and The Help is on that list,” nytimes.com quotes Davis as saying.
“But not in terms of the experience and the people involved, because they were all great. The friendships that I formed are ones that I’m going to have for the rest of my life. I had a great experience with these other actresses, who are extraordinary human beings. And I could not ask for a better collaborator than Tate Taylor,” she adds.
Adapted from the 2009 Kathryn Stockett novel of the same name, The Help also featured Emma Stone as Skeeter Phelan, a young woman writing a book, collected from the stories of black maids.
The film shot Davis to national prominence as she earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Aibileen.
Talking about her regret, Davis says, “I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard. 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.”
Have I ever done roles that I’ve regretted? I have, and The Help is on that list. But, not in terms of the experience. [However] I just felt that at the end of the day that it wasn’t the voices of the maids that were heard.
VIOLA DAVIS ACTOR