Viola Davis has been slammed for her portrayal of former First Lady Michelle Obama in The First Lady Season 1. The scathing criticism from both crowds and critics is surprising given that the celebrated performer has been Hollywood's darling throughout her illustrious career.
Davis is now retaliating against critics, stating that their comments are irrelevant.
Critics bash Viola Davis in The First Lady Season 1
Viola Davis' portrayal of Michelle Obama has been panned by both fans and reviewers. According to others, the actor's performance includes an exaggerated facial expression known as "duckface."
Viewers feel Davis' continually pursed lips are distracting and disrespectful, that her tone and voice are diametrically opposed to Obama's, and that she failed to effectively depict the public figure.
It's easy to see why Davis appears down in light of these remarks.“How do you move on from the hurt, from failure?” she said in a BBC interview, calling the negative comments for The First Lady Season 1 “incredibly hurtful.” But she didn’t exactly back down.
“Critics absolutely serve no purpose,” she retaliated. “And I’m not saying that to be nasty either. They always feel like they’re telling you something that you don’t know.”
Davis, for her part, told Entertainment Weekly that playing Michelle Obama, a much admired and famous figure, was "absolutely terrifying."
Davis went on to say that, regardless of her past successes, failing to accurately represent Michelle Obama would be "a defining moment in [her] life" and that she worried about major repercussions if her performance in The First Lady Season 1 was subpar.
Viola Davis’ stellar career
Davis, who is perhaps best recognized for her part in the Shonda Rhimes series How to Get Away With Murder, has a long and varied acting career way before The First Lady Season 1. For her role in the 2008 film Doubt, she received her first Academy Award nomination. Davis went on to star in The Help in 2011.
She portrayed James Brown's mother in the 2014 film Get on Up. She played Rose, Denzel Washington's character's wife, in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fences in 2016.
Four years later, Davis portrayed blues superstar Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. She is now preparing to play Harriet Tubman in an upcoming film.
The First Lady Season 1 premiered on Showtime on Apr. 17. The series stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, and, of course, Davis as Obama.
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