KEY POINTS

  • Viola Davis accepted the award virtually
  • In her speech, she talked about brown-skinned girls being "invisible"
  • She thanked the late Chadwick Boseman, who won the Best Actor award

Actress Viola Davis received the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Icon Award on Wednesday. In her speech, the actress reflected on being "invisible" because of her skin color and how she wants to leave a legacy.

"What makes it an easy pill to swallow is when I think about people like August Wilson, and I think about directors like George C. Wolfe and Denzel Washington," Davis, who accepted the award virtually, said as per The Hollywood Reporter.

"And the reason why I say that is my acceptance of any of this praise is equal to my absolute passion to leave a legacy," she added. "A legacy for brown-skinned girls just like me who were told that they were invisible."

AAFCA Awards congratulated the actress on its official Twitter account.

The 55-year-old actress accepted the award for her work in musical drama, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," which was released on Netflix last year. Meanwhile, Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed Levee Green's character in this movie, won Best Actor.

Davis thanked Boseman along with the other cast members during her speech.

"It's been the ride of my life to have this career," she explained. "I have been blessed and fortunate in every single way to be able to literally give you all the human beings, the black and brown human beings that I've embodied and to give them to you and to help you to feel less alone through their stories."

She further explained how she wants to leave her legacy and also reflected on the pandemic.

"I will continue to leave a legacy of hope, of life, of humor, of pathos, of humanity for as long as God will have me here," she continued. "We have within us, all the tools that are necessary to elevate our lives in the most unbelievable profound ways.

"I have found it through my acting, but my God, we can find it through every area in our life," she concluded.

Davis will be seen in the most-awaited movie "The Suicide Squad," which is slated to release on Aug. 6. The actress is also working on "The First Lady" television series in which she will portray Michelle Obama.

Viola Davis
Viola Davis is proud of her character’s pansexuality in “How to Get Away With Murder.” In this photo, the actress arrives at the 22nd Annual Critics’ Choice Awards in Santa Monica, California, on Dec. 11, 2016. Reuters/Danny Moloshok
RELATED STORIES