‘When I put it on I felt liberated’: Viola Davis reveals the padding she wore for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom made her feel ‘more sexy’ and helped her take ‘ownership’ of her body
Viola Davis has revealed the padding she wore for her role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom made her feel ‘liberated’ and ‘more sexy’.
The Oscar-winning actress, 55, spoke about her transformation into Ma Rainey while appearing on The Graham Norton Show, which is set to air on Friday night, and claimed the look helped her take ‘more ownership’ of her body.
In the Netflix film Viola takes on the role of the Mother Of The Blues opposite the late Chadwick Boseman, and she said of her costume: ‘The boobs are all mine, but I also had a lot of padding. I told the costume designer, “I want to look like Aretha Franklin, that’s the body I want.”
‘When I put it on I felt liberated’: Viola Davis revealed the padding she wore for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom made her feel ‘sexy’ in an interview set to air on Friday’s Graham Norton Show
‘The padding had such an effect on me – when I put it on I felt liberated, I felt way more sexy than I am, and I also felt way more ownership of my body. I was surprised, but I loved it.’
Viola went on to talk about acting with the late Black Panther star in his final film, and she admitted she ‘lost it’ when she learned of his passing in August.
Chadwick was dealing with stage IV colon cancer for a number of years before his death this year at age 43, but preferred to keep his illness private.
Candid: The Oscar-winning actress (pictured left in February) also claimed the look she wore for the role of the Mother Of The Blues (R) helped her take ‘more ownership’ of her body
Transformation: Viola said of her look: ‘The boobs are all mine, but I also had a lot of padding. I told the costume designer, “I want to look like Aretha Franklin, that’s the body I want”‘
‘When I found out he was gone, I lost it,’ she explained to Graham Norton. ‘I was so surprised because I had worked with him.
‘I saw him thin and tired, but there are a lot of thin, tired actors in our business – it’s an exhausting profession.
‘But I cannot see his life as tragic because of his integrity and authenticity – he had those in great supply. He was a character actor in the body of a leading man.’
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s 1982 play and tells the tale of the real life ‘Mother of the Blues’ in Chicago in 1927, with Viola in the title role and Chadwick as her hotheaded trumpet player Levee.
Look: Viola added, ‘The padding had such an effect on me – when I put it on I felt liberated, I felt way more sexy than I am, and I also felt way more ownership of my body. I was surprised’
Co-star: Viola went on to talk about acting with the late Chadwick Boseman in his final film, and she admitted she ‘lost it’ when she learned of his passing in August aged 43
Viola is also set to portray Michelle Obama in Showtime’s new drama First Ladies, which examines the lives of the First Ladies throughout history.
Of taking the part, Viola claimed: ‘I wish someone had taken me aside and said, “Really think about this” because people love her, they feel like they know her and own her, and they don’t want anything negative to touch her.
‘As an actor you’re like, “Now, where’s the mess? Where’s the complexity?” How am I going to do that with her?’
The Graham Norton Show is set to air on BBC One on December 18, at 10.45pm. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer.
Reflective: Viola said, ‘I was so surprised because I had worked with him… But I cannot see his life as tragic because of his integrity and authenticity – he had those in great supply’