Viola Davis Says 'The Woman King' Offered 'Ownership, Agency'

Viola Davis Says 'The Woman King' Offered 'Ownership, Agency'

Viola Davis served as both an actor and producer on a new historical film called The Woman King. She says the Sony Pictures' movie – which tells the story of heroic Black women – was unlike any other project she has worked on.

The movie was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. It is based on the true story of the Agojie, a real-life group of female warriors¹. The group protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s.

Academy Award winner Davis told Reuters, "What felt different was ownership, agency, controlling my voice." The actor plays a general who trains the next generation of fighters.

Davis added, "It's our story. There is no white savior in the movie. There's none. We save ourselves."

The film's director was Gina Prince-Bythewood. She said the creative team knew early on they wanted to shoot the movie in Africa to make the story more realistic.

Prince-Bythewood said, "Let's shoot where this took place, have our feet in the soil, allow us to have great scope²."

She added, "I knew I couldn't do that with green screen. I didn't want that for the actors. I wanted them to have a 360 environment to play in and make it feel real. I just didn't want anything to take an audience out of the fact that this was a real story [from the] 1800s."

To reach that goal, Prince-Bythewood said the work required mental strength and for everyone to come together like a family.

Davis' co-stars, John Boyega and Thuso Mbedu, have high hopes for audience reactions to the film.

Boyega plays Dahomey's King Ghezo. He believes the film will be well received by audiences and that the actresses will feel personally celebrated³.

South African actress Mbedu said, "I'm honored to be a part of telling a story like this that is long overdue⁴, that will hopefully change how society views women, views Black women, views dark-skinned Black women."

The film was released in theaters in the United States on September 16.

Words in This Story

allow – v. to permit (something)

scope – n. space or opportunity for action or thought

green screen – n. a green surface used as a background when making a movie or television show

audience – n. a group of people that gather together in one place to watch a movie, watch a music performance, etc.

society – n. people in general thought of as living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values

1 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

2 scope   

n.（处理、研究事物的）范围，余地，机会

参考例句：

• There is limited scope for creativity in my job.我的工作中发挥创造力的空间有限。
• There is little scope for initiative in this job.这工作几乎没有发挥主动性的余地。

3 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。