Viola Davis Said She Regrets Her Oscar Nominated Role In ‘The Help’

Viola Davis has said that she regretted ever acting in Oscar winning film The Help.

The Help, which was adapted from the 2009 Kathryn Stockett novel of the same name, centres around Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) interviewing and publishing a book about black maids who worked for white families in Jackson, Mississippi, during segregation.

In an interview with the New York Times that used reader-submitted questions, Viola said that she has done roles she regretted, and on that list is her Oscar nominated role as Aibileen in The Help.

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.

Despite regretting ever taking part in the production, Viola assured readers that the cast played no part in that.

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.

Davis was favoured to win an Oscar for playing one of the maids in the 2011 film but lost to Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Davis’s costar, Octavia Spencer, who plays the maid Minny, was the sole Oscar winner for the film.

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• The Help
• Viola Davis