Viola Davis thanks August Wilson for 'leaving a legacy for actors of colour' at SAG Awards

American actor Viola Davis won the Best Actress Award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2021 (SAG Awards) for her performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom film. The actor took to her Instagram to share the video snippet of when she was announced as the winner. In her acceptance speech, she thanked the film's cast and mentioned a special thank you to August Wilson who has written the play that Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is based on. 

Viola Davis' acceptance speech at the SAG Awards 2021

As soon as her name was announced, Viola thanked August Wilson for ''leaving a legacy to actors of colour that we can relish for the rest of our lives". She also thanked the late Chadwick Boseman and called him 'beautiful'. Davis also went on to thank the producers of the film, Denzel Washington and Todd Black. 

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom cast and other details 

This movie is directed by George C Wolfe and stars Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo and Michael Potts essaying pivotal characters. The plot of the film chronicles the events of a troublesome recording session of the prominent singer Ma Rainey that took place in 1920 in Chicago. This film was also nominated for the Best Cast Award at this ceremony but did not bag the award for the same. 

SAG Awards' Winners 

Trial of the Chicago 7 won in the Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture category, Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in the Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture and Daniel Kaluuya won for Judas and the Black Messiah in the Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. The Crown won in the Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series category. Jason Bateman won in the Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in Ozark. Schitt’s Creek bagged the award in the Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series category. 

Viola Davis' Awards 

The How to Get Away with Murder actor was recently nominated for the Academy Award for her role in Black Bottom. This is the actor’s fourth Academy Award nomination. She was first nominated for the coveted award in 2017 in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in Fences. She also has taken home the Emmy Award for How to Get Away with Murder. 

Image courtesy: @violadavis Instagram