Actress Viola Davis has been an authority figure in a number of films and will soon play another in The Woman King. The work premieres in September, is about the world’s only all-female army, and is sure to be yet another visual feast from director Gina Prince-Bythewood following 2020’s The Old Guard.
Star Viola Davis, too, is excited to get audiences in front of the big screen to see her in action as General Nanisca. In a recent interview with Empire, Davis detailed how she signed on to the project in response to the notion Black women are often marginalized or rendered invisible in society, and she hopes the piece challenges the claim in a way that is not even respectful like some have been to the idea in prior decades.
“This movie is not even my respectful response to that. It is an illustration of the insurmountable beauty, strength, vulnerability, femininity, and absolute power of the dark-skinned Black woman. It’s our way of redefining who we are. And I believe from the first moment you enter this movie, you will see that in a very beautiful way.”
Elsewhere in the piece, Davis says the role did not just require physicality from her 56-year-old self, either. It was also challenging to find a warrior spirit and to convey this to a group of young women who would then need to remove their vulnerability to fight.
“To dig deep and find that warrior spirit that understands you have to fight for something bigger than yourself – and that it may cost you your life. That was difficult for me.”
The Woman King opens on Sept. 16. The real Dahomey Amazons it is based on were located within the Kingdom of Dahomey, which exists within present-day Benin in West Africa.